Senior R&D Data Scientist, Descartes Underwriting
CDI
+ Bonus
Parametric insurance against climate risk
Open for applications
Parametric insurance against climate risk
101-200 employees
Open for applications
+ Bonus
101-200 employees
Company mission
To create a new generation of parametric solutions: fully transparent, customised to the client’s needs and providing swift claims payment.
Role
Who you are
- Scientific academic background with a research-oriented Master’s Degree or PhD in meteorological studies, climate science, physics or applied mathematics
- From 5 to 10 years of experience in R&D (PhD included)
- Strong skills in statistics, applied mathematics, physics and machine learning methods
- Proven track record of significant individual contributor roles for solving complex problems and of contribution and leading the design and development of parts of a model
- Ideally a previous experience in climate modeling or data science
- Ideally a previous experience with numerical simulations (e.g. ADCIRC) and high computing power resources
- Proficiency in Python (scikit learn,...)
- Fluency in English (written and verbal communication) is required
- Good command of one additional language (e.g. Chinese, French, Italian, German, Spanish...) is valued
- Interested in weather and natural perils modeling (cyclones, wildfires, flood, hail, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc)
- Strong team spirit and ability to work under pressure
- Eagerness to solve complex problems and technical challenges
- Rigorous, creative and meticulous mind
- Strong desire to learn and commitment to the organization’s mission
- Results oriented, high energy, with the ability to work in a dynamic and multi-cultural environment
- Motivated to help improving businesses’ and communities’ resilience to climate change
What the job involves
- Descartes Underwriting is seeking a Senior R&D Data Scientist to join our R&D Department
- In the Descartes Underwriting R&D department, there are two modelling teams responsible for modelling climate risks: one team in charge of atmospheric perils and the second team is in charge of surface hazards like wildfire and flood
- This opening is in the Surface hazards team
- You will report directly to the R&D Manager
- Lead the improvement of our existing models to enhance and strengthen our understanding of climate risks
- Give relevant technical advice to underwriting for their daily underwriting activities and innovation teams during the product development phase
- Suggest improvements in software or infrastructure challenges
- Master state-of-the-art numerical simulation tools for flood modelling and leverage on high performance computing resources
- Conduct research on the modeling of climate risks and machine learning methods
- Identify new and innovative ideas and testing state-of-the-art methods based on recent research articles
- Collaborate with the underwriting and business teams to ensure our products are efficiently integrated into the underwriting process and meet our clients’ needs
- Propose model developments or features that are technically and economically aligned with company’s strategy
- Take part and help in new products/existing models, translating and combining multiple research ideas and solutions into a new product or module
Application process
- Step 1: HR Interview with our Talent Recruiter
- Step 2: Remote manager interview
- Step 3: Technical online test
- Step 4: Remote technical interview with a R&D Data Scientist
- Step 5: In-person team interview to meet our R&D Data Scientist team and discover our offices (held remotely if you are abroad)
Our take
The corporate insurance market is undergoing a momentous shift driven by a changing climate, the growing impact of natural catastrophes, and a rise in emerging risks. Climate change has become a real risk to businesses - one Nature report, for example, found that the US alone could lose over $500 billion across 22 sectors if rising global temperature predictions materialise. The need for effective corporate insurance has never been higher.
Descartes Underwriting is looking to revolutionise how we approach insurance. Taking on one of the insurance industry’s traditional methods - catastrophe (CAT) risk modelling - Descartes is leveraging new data sources and fusing them with a host of AI algorithms. This provides what it describes as a “product offering which covers the full spectrum of natural catastrophes and emerging risk exposures.” Its AI-driven parametric insurance model is highly disruptive, and has proven highly successful - just a few years after its founding, Descartes had already become the leading InsurTech player worldwide.
Following major funding, Descartes is looking to scale up its approach to corporate and public entity risk exposures, growing its technology platform, expanding into new lines of business and targeting larger deals. With an existing client base spanning hundreds of corporations including a host of Fortune 500 companies, Descartes looks set for big things in the coming years.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
56% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Jan 2022
$120m
SERIES B
Sep 2020
$18.5m
SERIES A
Total funding: $140.8m
Company benefits
- Work in a rewarding and international environment
- Gain exposure to working with top management
- Continued learning and development (think annual seminars, training etc.)
- Frequent team events
- Work in a collaborative and professional environment
- Benefit from a hybrid way of working
Company HQ
Chaillot, Paris, France
Leadership
Tanguy Touffut
(CEO)Previously Global Head of Parametric Insurance at AXA Corporate Solutions, then CEO of AXA Global Parametrics.
Sebastien Piguet
(Chief Underwriting Officer)Previously Head of On-Demand Insurance Products at AXA Global Parametrics.
Kevin Dedieu
(Chief R&D Officer)Previously a Senior Consultant at MPG Partners. Also a visiting lecturer at École Polytechnique.
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