{"id":3321881,"url":"https://alion.io/job/discovery-junior-data-scientist","title":"Junior Data Scientist","company":{"id":1811548,"name":"Discovery","domain":"discovery.co.za","url":"https://alion.io/company/discovery-co-za","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"SuccessFactors","truth_index":null},"role":"Data Science","role_family":"Data Science","seniority":"junior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Sandton, South Africa"],"countries":["ZA"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false},{"name":"GCP","optional":false},{"name":"Git","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"PHP","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"RAG","optional":false},{"name":"SQL","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-27T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":null,"last_verified_at":"2026-10-27T00:00:00Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"not_scored","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"Junior Data Scientist \n\nAbout Discovery\n\nDiscovery's core purpose is to enhance and protect people's lives through products and services that use incentives, behavioural science, and data to encourage healthier choices. This creates better outcomes for members, lower claims, and shared value for clients and society. \n\nDiscovery has one of the most diverse data assets in financial services and healthcare in the world, spanning health, wellness, lifestyle, driving, investments, and life insurance. This creates a unique opportunity to use advanced analytics, causal inference, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to improve member outcomes, strengthen operational performance, and support more personalized products and services. \n\nAbout the Data Science Lab\n\nThe Data Science Lab (DS Lab) is a specialist team that solves high-impact problems across Discovery Health and the broader Discovery Group. Using large-scale structured and unstructured data, the team develops models, experiments, decision systems, and AI-enabled solutions that create measurable business and member value, like the Personal Health Pathways (PHP) programme. \n\nThe DS Lab partners with teams across Discovery and organisations such as Google, Quantium Health, and world-renowned tertiary institutions to advance personalisation, causal inference, optimisation, and AI. The team also contributes to the Vitality AI platform, delivering scalable capabilities across Discovery, Vitality UK, USA and international partner markets. Junior data scientists gain exposure to cutting-edge work, experienced mentors, and the opportunity to contribute to solutions with real-world impact. \n\nKey Purpose\n\nThe purpose of this role is to support the delivery of data science, machine learning, causal inference, and AI solutions that improve member engagement, health outcomes, operational performance, and business decision-making. You will work on analytical, modelling, and AI initiatives under the guidance of experienced data scientists, taking increasing ownership of defined workstreams as your skills and experience develop. This role is suited to someone early in their data science career who is eager to build strong foundations in statistical thinking, machine learning, causal inference, experimentation, and AI-enabled decision systems. \n\nYou will be part of a team that:\n\nDevelops predictive, causal, and personalised models that improve member and business outcome\n\nDesigns experiments and measurement frameworks to determine what works, for whom, and why.\n\nApply machine learning, optimisation, and AI to healthcare and operational challenges.\n\nBuilds AI-enabled decision systems within a culture of measurement, governance, and continuous improvement.\n\nAreas of responsibility may include but are not limited to: \n\nData Analysis, Modelling and Causal Inference\n\nSupport data analysis, feature engineering, model development, and evaluation.\n\nBuild and refine statistical, machine learning, and causal models.\n\nContribute to experimentation, impact measurement, and evaluation frameworks.\n\nMaintain reproducible analytical pipelines and documentation. \n\nExperimentation and Personalisation\n\nSupport test-and-learn initiatives from design through interpretation.\n\nIdentify personalisation opportunities using behavioural, clinical, digital, and operational data.\n\nDevelop models that improve targeting, prioritisation, and intervention effectiveness. \n\nAgentic AI and AI-Enabled Workflows\n\nSupport the development, evaluation and deployment of AI-enabled workflows that combine language models, structured data, information retrieval, and business rules.\n\nAssess AI solutions for reliability, safety, and business value.\n\nDocument assumptions, limitations, risks, and failure modes. \n\nDelivery and Communication\n\nDeliver well-scoped analytical, modelling, and AI-related workstreams.\n\nCollaborate with stakeholders to translate business problems into analytical approaches.\n\nCommunicate findings, recommendations, and limitations clearly. \n\nTechnical Skills \n\nRequired\n\nProficiency in Python for data analysis, statistical modelling, and machine learning.\n\nExperience working with SQL, relational databases, and structured data.\n\nStrong foundations in statistics, machine learning, experimental design, and model evaluation.\n\nAbility to write clear, reproducible, and well-documented analytical code. \n\nAdvantageous\n\nExposure to causal inference, cloud platforms (preferably GCP), Git, or production data science workflows\n\nExposure to generative AI, large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, or agentic AI.\n\nExperience applying data science in healthcare, insurance, behavioural science, or personalisation contexts. \n\nEducation and Experience \n\nBachelor's or Honours degree in quantitative disciplines such as Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Actuarial Science, Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, or AppliedMathematics.\n\nDemonstrated aptitude for quantitative problem-solving through academic achievement, research, projects, competitions, internships, or work experience.\n\nPostgraduate study, research experience, or data science competition participation would be advantageous.\n\nEquivalent qualifications or alternative pathways will be considered where supported by strong analytical and technical capability.\n\nPrior industry experience is advantageous but not required. \n\nPersonal Attributes and Skills \n\nCurious and motivated to use data, statistics, and AI to solve meaningful healthcare and business challenges.\n\nAnalytical, hypothesis-driven, and evidence-based.\n\nStrong problem-solving and communication skills.\n\nComfortable with ambiguity, continuous learning, and iterative improvement.\n\nAble to balance multiple priorities while maintaining a broader business perspective.\n\nCollaborative, accountable, and proactive.\n\nAligned with Discovery's values and core purpose \n\nEMPLOYMENT EQUITY \n\nThe Company’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6167,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Continuous learning","Equity","Life insurance"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Health Insurance & Benefits","Life Insurance & Annuities"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-27T08:26:00Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":10,"reasons":["seen:1","win:early","comp:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/discovery-junior-data-scientist","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/discovery-junior-data-scientist.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-28T23:02:37Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":31459,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-29T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1811548},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1811548"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fdiscovery-junior-data-scientist"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fdiscovery-junior-data-scientist"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fdiscovery-junior-data-scientist"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/discovery-junior-data-scientist\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fdiscovery-junior-data-scientist"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3321881}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"discovery.co.za","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3321881},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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