Job Description

Closing Date 2025/07/24
Reference Number MMH250710-1
Job Title Data Scientist (Life)
Position Type Permanent
Role Family Business Intelligence
Cluster Guardrisk
Remote Opportunity Some of the time
Location - Country South Africa
Location - Province Gauteng
Location - Town / City Sandton
Introduction
The successful candidate will work closely with internal stakeholders across technical and business teams to identify opportunities, solve complex problems, and translate data into practical insights. Responsibilities include building automated reports and dashboards, developing scalable analytics solutions, and driving data-informed decision-making across key areas of the business.
This role requires strong proficiency in Python, SQL, and Power BI, along with the ability to operate independently in a dynamic and often ambiguous environment. A curious mindset, strong communication skills, and the ability to "own the problem" from end to end are essential to success.
Disclaimer As an applicant, please verify the legitimacy of this job advert on our company career page.
Role Purpose
The primary purpose of this role is to deliver actionable insights, robust analytics, and data-driven support across Guardrisk Life's portfolio. This is a mid-to-senior level Data Scientist role within the Data Analytics Life team, focused on unlocking business value through intelligent use of data.
Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in sciences or engineering with a strong focus on computer science, statistics, mathematics and/or actuarial sciences
• Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Actuarial Science, or a related quantitative field
• Postgraduate qualification in a relevant field advantageous
• Proficiency in Python and SQL is essential
• Beneficial: familiarity with DAX, Power BI, or VBA for reporting and automation tasks
• Solid understanding of data infrastructure, version control (e.g., Git), and software development principles3-5 years of experience in data science, data analytics, or data engineering within a commercial or financial services environment
• Experience working with large datasets in SQL and Python, with the ability to extract, clean, and analyse data efficiently
• Experience with business intelligence tools, particularly Power BI, including data modelling and DAX measures
• Experience validating data and outputs across multiple sources/systems (UAT or product testing experience advantageous)
• Familiarity with insurance and/or actuarial data preferred

Duties & Responsibilities

• Predictive modelling capability
• Familiarity with machine learning principles, with the ability to implement models when appropriate
• Critical analytical thinking and strong attention to detail
• Creative, out-of-the-box problem solving
• Ability to load, clean, and transform data from various formats (files, databases, APIs)
• Validate and enrich data using external/internal sources
• Feature engineering capabilities
• Ensure data version control and integrity for audit purposes
• Use BI tools (e.g., Power BI) to generate actionable insights
• Build automated, reusable Power BI reports for stakeholders across business units
• Present insights in a format that is both technically accurate and business-ready
• Understand operational insurance environments and the data flows within them
• Analyse and document business processes to unlock value from data
• Assist with user acceptance testing (UAT) for product implementations, ensuring pricing logic and system configuration align with specifications
• Conduct root cause analysis when test results deviate from expected outcomes
• Ability to present complex findings clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Proactively engage with business users to refine requirements and validate results
• Intellectual curiosity and drive to continuously learn new tools, frameworks, and domain knowledge
• Ability to understand and break down insurance processes and translate them into business and data requirements
• Identify opportunities for process automation
• Understanding of insurance and product lifecycles is advantageous; willingness to learn sector-specific concepts is essential

Competencies

• Data Mining
• Stakeholder engagement and Teamwork
• Data Visualisation and Communication
• Self-Awareness and Insight
• Programming and Logical Thinking
• Diversity and Inclusiveness
• Strong self-organization and time management
• Self-starter with the ability to manage deadlines, escalate blockers, and deliver high-impact work with minimal supervision
• Comfortable working independently or collaboratively in a team
• Effective collaboration across technical and non-technical teams
• Analytical creativity and problem-solving mindset
• Clear and concise communicator
• High attention to detail

Policy
We are committed to Employment Equity, diversity and inclusion when recruiting internally and externally. All appointments are made in alignment to our Employment Equity goals and we encourage people with disabilities to apply.