Discovery

The Programme 

Discovery’s core purpose is to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. We seek out and invest in exceptional individuals who understand and support our core purpose, and whose own values align with those of Discovery. Our fast-paced and dynamic environment enables smart, self-driven people to be their best.  
 
As global thought leaders, Discovery is passionate about innovating in order to not only achieve financial success, but to ignite positive and meaningful change within our society. 
 
Job Purpose: 
 
The Data Scientist Intern in this role will be using data mining, artificial intelligence, machine learning and statistical tools, to provide insights, analytical results and identify improvement opportunities that would need to be communicated and presented to key stakeholders.   
 
Specifically, in the process and design area of the bank, the Data Scientist must support continuous improvement initiatives through quantitative analysis of data related to current business processes and client journeys through the usage of process mining tools.   
 
The end objective is to drive the efficiency and effectiveness of complex end-to-end processes, by contributing valuable insights for the optimization of the world’s first behavioral bank; Discovery Bank. 
 
Areas of responsibility may include but are not limited to 

• Identify appropriate models / algorithms to mine large datasets and develop rich insights into client, process and performance behavior. 
• Identify key trends in large datasets using statistical and machine learning techniques to understand the impact of these trends and identify possible actions to take advantage of the trends identified. 
• Analyze, communicate and present results in a way that provides actionable insights, which are practical and interpretable for business stakeholders. 
• Operationalizing visual reports and metrics to ensure continuous measurement of critical trends and metrics.
• Advise on improvement of processes and databases where opportunities arise across the business. 

Required Skills and Abilities 

Personal Attributes and Skills: 

• Understanding of mathematical and statistical concepts. 
• Technical and coding proficiency (Python, R, SQL, Scala, SAS). 
• Understanding of MS Office. 
• Strong communication skills, both spoken and written. 
• Ability to work with, analyze and report on data. 
• Knowledge of traditional statistical hypotheses testing and experimenting. 
• Self-driven, motivated and proactive individual that works well under pressure. 

Education and Experience 

• Bachelors’ degree in either Actuarial Science, Data Science, Statistics or Mathematics.
• Honours or masters’ degree would be advantageous. 

About Us: 
 
As a proudly South African company and a global financial services provider, we differentiate ourselves by focusing on how our products are adding value to people’s lives, while impacting society in a positive and sustainable way.  
 
We achieve this with our Shared-value Insurance model that offers incentives to encourage people to be healthier and enhances and protects their lives.  
 
Our model delivers better health and value for clients, superior results for the business, and a healthier society.