Data Scientist (Insurance) (KTP Associate)

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) are a unique UK-wide activity that help businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity by making better use of the knowledge, technology and skills within universities, colleges and research organisations.

Further information is available at: https://iuk-ktp.org.uk/.

THE PROJECT
The University of Essex is pleased to be working with Comfort Insurance to find a qualified graduate, with the right skills, to examine historical insurance data and draw insights which support optimised pricing and marketing strategies.

DUTIES OF THE POST
The duties of the post will include:

• Analysing, cleaning and processing historical data.
• Processing large and complex volumes of data.
• Researching models (such as GLMs, regression trees, random forest, etc) using historic data relevant to insurance claim prediction.
• Testing models and evaluating performance across various algorithms, using company data.
• Developing research and commercial objectives for the company related to improving pricing accuracy, optimising risk segmentation, enhancing claims prediction and target marketing/retention segments.
• Calibrating models based on training/validation data sets.
• Developing an internal predictive risk model tool.
• Embedding technical knowledge into the company via presentations and workshops etc.
• Developing proposals & recommendations to improve commercial outcomes.
• Contributing to discussions with underwriters/other third parties to present & refine technical findings/proposals & supporting commercial recommendations.
• Contributing to the drafting of academic papers and case studies.
• Designing a profitability modelling framework.
• Contributing to marketing strategies in support of commercialisation activity.
• Developing a chatbot to identify common queries and capture customer preferences.
• Participating in academic and/or industrial conferences and other events, to disseminate and present research outcomes to the wider community.
• Publishing peer-reviewed articles in high impact journals in collaboration with academics at the University of Essex.

These duties are a guide to the work that the post holder will initially be required to undertake. They may be changed from time to time to meet changing circumstances.

KEY REQUIREMENTS
Qualifications:

• MSc in Data Science, Statistics, Computational Actuarial Science, Computer Sciences or related disciplines.

Knowledge and Experience:

• Practical and theoretical knowledge of computational intelligence/machine learning algorithms for predictive modelling and forecasting.
• Processing and aggregation of heterogeneous data streams based on structured/unstructured data.
• Practical and theoretical knowledge of mathematical and stochastic optimisation approaches.
• Experience of complex data handling and management of large data sets.
• Strong knowledge of R and relevant data science packages (e.g. caret, h2o, mlr).
• Strong knowledge of Python and the relevant data science Python stack (Numpy, Scikit-learn, Scipy, Xgboost).

Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent analytical, problem solving, communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work to tight deadlines; excellent time management and organisational skills.
• Ability to clearly communicate & interact with people with commercial interests and from varied technical backgrounds.
• Commitment to continuous learning and adapting to new technologies and methodologies.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality when handling sensitive data.

BENEFITS
Benefits linked to this KTP Associate appointment can be found within the job pack.

LOCATION
Comfort Insurance,
Comfort House,
8 Goresbrook Road,
Dagenham,
Essex.
RM9 6UR

Please use the 'Apply' button to read further information about this role including the full job description and person specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role. You will also find details of how to make your application here.

Our website http://www.essex.ac.uk contains more information about the University of Essex. If you have a disability and would like information in a different format, please email resourcing@essex.ac.uk.

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