Senior Data Scientist - Risk Intelligence & Engineering

Let's Write Africa's Story Together!

Old Mutual is a firm believer in the African opportunity and our diverse talent reflects this.

Job Description

Are you passionate about using data to fundamentally rethink how insurance works? Are you energized by the idea of designing the future model of insurance—one that’s fast, fair, predictive, and personal? At Old Mutual Insure, we’re building exactly that.

As a Senior Data Scientist, you will act as a technical lead within a small high-performance team modernising the 2nd-line risk function. We believe in a code-first approach to risk: no manual reporting and no tick box compliance. We are replacing manual oversight with automated pipelines, real-time monitoring, and code-first governance.

Responsibilities will include the following:

• Act as the lead engineer on complex projects. Take ambiguous business requirements, define the technical architecture, and drive the solution to production.

• Architect and build end-to-end automated solutions to validate insurance models, monitor risk exposure, and detect anomalies.

• Build predictive models for early warning indicators of risk events, deploy LLM-based agents to parse regulatory changes, and implement graph theory for fraud network detection.

• Lead the technical validation and benchmarking of 1st-Line operational and pricing AI models, acting as the technical authority on mathematical integrity and code robustness.

• Guide, review the code of, and develop junior data scientists and analysts. Enforce strict code quality, CI/CD, and documentation standards.

• Build robust ETL processes to ingest structured and unstructured data, ensuring strict data quality and lineage.

• Collaborating with 1st Line and other stakeholders to develop best practice frameworks and policies.

Who you are

• You can navigate uncertainty, structure complex problems, and independently drive a project to completion.

• You understand that a Jupyter notebook is not a product. You care about system design, clean code, type hinting, unit testing, and reproducibility.

• You optimise for implementation over theory. You know when to use a simple logistic regression and when to deploy a complex deep learning model.

• You can fluidly translate complex mathematical or computational concepts into commercial strategy for C-suite stakeholders.

What we are looking for

• 5+ years of experience in data science, quantitative risk, actuarial engineering, or software engineering, preferably in financial services

• Strong demonstrable production-grade proficiency with Python and SQL

• Proven track record of deploying models into production environments (not just training them)

• Comfortable working in a version-controlled environment with review processes

• Demonstrated experience in project management, technical leadership, or mentoring junior staff

• Bonus: Exposure to Cloud platforms (Azure/AWS/Databricks)

• Bonus: Familiarity with Generative AI / LLM APIs

• Bonus: Progress toward Actuarial qualification or a quantitative Master’s degree.

Competencies

• Takes ownership of project delivery and technical outcomes

• Understands how data drives commercial outcomes

• Simplifies, automates, and scales processes relentlessly

• Delivers with discipline, quality, and impact without requiring micro-management

• Follows through and learns from feedback

• Handles competing deadlines and tasks with resilience, structure, and delivery focus

• Understanding of risk management processes

• Keeps up with new tools, AI trends, and best practices

• Works fluidly across business and technical teams

Education

Bachelor’s degree in one of the following (or equivalent experience):

• Data Science

• Statistics

• Computer Science

• Actuarial Science

• Engineering

• Applied Mathematics

Advantages – Risk Management

The Recruitment Process:

• TA Interview: This will be a discussion with our Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist to give you an understanding of our business, our culture & values and more context on the role. It will also allow us the opportunity to get to know you more and ensure OMI can meet your career aspirations.

• Panel Interview: This will be with 2 members of the Senior Leadership of the Hiring Team and 1 member of the HC Leadership Team.

• Technical & Psychometric Assessments: These will depend on the role and will sometimes happen concurrently with Vetting through an external service provider & Internal Verification.

• Final Feedback.

All About OMI:

https://www.oldmutual.co.za/about/old-mutual-insure/

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/old-mutual-insure_i-work-at-old-mutual-insure-of-course-activity-7161674472469524483-w0j6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Please note that, unfortunately, we cannot accept any applications after the closing date

 

Skills

Action Planning, Application Programming Interface (API), Business, Business Requirements Analysis, Computer Literacy, Data Compilation, Data Controls, Data Management, Data Science, Executing Plans, IT Architecture, IT Network Security, Policies & Procedures, Python (Programming Language), Structured Query Language (SQL), Technical Leadership

Competencies

Business Insight

Cultivates Innovation

Drives Results

Manages Ambiguity

Manages Complexity

Plans and Aligns

Situational Adaptability

Strategic Mindset

Education

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom): Computer Science And Engineering (Required), NQF Level 7 - Degree, Advance Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate or equivalent

Closing Date

26 August 2026 , 23:59

The appointment will be made from the designated group in line with the Employment Equity Plan of Old Mutual South Africa and the specific business unit in question.

The Old Mutual Story!