Job Opportunities at Discovery Limited

What you will do?

• In the Data Science unit, our core purpose is “creating intelligence for a healthier tomorrow” by leveraging our vast data to drive valuable insights to improve both clinical and operational environments. Key to our purpose is obtaining and structuring quality data, leveraging cutting edge analytical innovations and delivering actionable insights in a sustainable and meaningful way. We leverage an integrated, collaborative, and multidisciplinary approach to ensure our objectives and goals are met.
• The role entails building a reusable sustainable framework to ensure collection, processing and availability of high-quality health care data to enable us to achieve the core purpose. The Data Engineer will work collaboratively with the Program Managers, Data Scientists, Systems Architects to define data sources and to build a custom data framework that facilitates Machine Learning, AI and productionising AI models based on the principles of ETL/ELT. Together these teams will enable data driven actionable insights.

The role is based in Sandton, South Africa.

Core responsibilities include:

• Work within a highly specialized and growing team to enable delivery of data and advanced analytics system capability.
• Develop and implement a reusable architecture of data pipelines to make data available for various purposes including Machine Learning (ML), Analytics and Reporting
• Work collaboratively as part of team engaging with system architects, data scientists and business in a healthcare context
• Define hardware, tools and software to enable the reusable framework for data sharing and ML model productionization
• Work comfortably with structured and unstructured data in a variety of different programming languages such as SQL, R, python, Java etc
• Understanding of distributing programming and advising data scientists on how to optimally structure program code for maximum efficiency
• Build data solutions that leverage controls to ensure privacy, security, compliance, and data quality
• Understand meta-data management systems and orchestration architecture in the designing of ML/AI pipelines
• Deep understanding of cutting-edge cloud technology and frameworks to enable Data Science
• System integration skills between Business Intelligence and source transactional
• Improving overall production landscape as required
• Define strategies with Data Scientists to monitor models post production
• Write unit tests and participate in code reviews

 What you need to be successful

• Honours or Master’s degree in BSc Computer Science or Engineering or Software Engineering with solid experience in data mining and machine learning
• 5 to 15 years of work experience
• Expert in programming languages such as R, Python, Scala and Java
• Expert database knowledge in SQL
• Experience with MS Azure tools is essential, such as Data Factory, Synapse Analytics, Data Lake, Databricks, Azure stream analytics and PowerBI
• Modern Azure datawarehouse skills
• Expert Unix/Linux admin experience including shell script development
• Exposure to AI or model development
• Experience working on large and complex datasets
• Understanding and application of Big Data and distributed computing principles (Hadoop and MapReduce)
• ML model optimization skills in a production environment
• Production environment machine learning and AI
• DevOps/DataOps and CI/CD experience  

go to method of application »

Job Purpose

Responsible for

• Leading a team of actuaries
• Creating new and innovating retail investment products
• Integrating the products with the broader Discovery group where applicable
• Ideation of and research into new innovations, and
• delivering the required technical actuarial and documentation work
• for new products and enhancements for product launches,
• from the initial brainstorming to the implementation stage,
• considering all stakeholders and aspects involved.

The role has emphasis on the

• sound actuarial modelling of all proposals, from the high-level exploratory stages to the in-depth scrutinization of the final stages,
• leading and growing all team members from a technical modelling perspective,
• with deep insight drawn from the employee’s experience and specialist knowledge in actuarial pricing
• acquiring and taking into account all of the inputs from the key stakeholders during the product development cycle,
• and providing continual feedback into the direction of the launch proposal.

    Key Outputs may include but are not limited to:
     (Please note that only the first 8 Key Outputs will be entered into SmartPeople)

• Direct and guide skilled actuarial staff to develop new products with well-considered pricing methodologies and bases to quantify the financial and other impacts of new developments with which to produce accurate and on-time results throughout the product development cycle.
• Contribute creatively and critically, and with insight into the decision-making process throughout the product development cycle, ensuring that innovative products are launched which meet customers’ needs and treat them fairly, and demonstrating that the underlying actuarial motivations of these innovations exhibit robustness to all angles of critique, especially the actuarial soundness and actuarial evaluation criteria.
• Produce, and assist all team members with the delivery of, critical documentation involving product launches and rate reviews in the appropriate formats, i.e. Product Specifications, Actuarial Committee documents, TCF documents, final rates and values, test models and policy wording.
• Provide specialist assistance and support to the technical marketing team and distribution teams, including interpreting, reviewing, critiquing, and communicating the results obtained and methodologies followed.
• Complete and address various ongoing requests and queries accurately, comprehensively and timeously to ensure that the relevant parties are optimally enabled with the necessary direction and assistance from our side to proceed in the best way.
• Assist key stakeholders with specialist expertise including, Business Analysts and Systems teams, Testing and Quotes Teams, Legal and Compliance areas, as well as the applicable Discovery businesses outside of Discovery Invest.

 Job / Role Requirements

Work Experience

Required

• 10+ years in a Life (Risk) or Investment Product Development role
• Preferred (would be advantageous)
• Discovery-specific role would be advantageous as our unique products and considerations are complex and takes time to master and obtain deep insight

Education / Qualifications / Accreditations with Professional Body

Required

• FASSA/FFA/FIA (or equivalent)
• Preferred (would be advantageous)
• The above would suffice
• Professional Registration
• FASSA/FFA/FIA (or equivalent)

Technical Skills or Knowledge

Required

• Prophet/ Excel actuarial cashflow modelling
• Preferred (would be advantageous)
• SQL, DCS, MS Access, R Studio, any statistical modelling software (e.g. S+, Emblem etc.)