Senior Research & Development Manager

Key Purpose

• Conceptualise and drive existing and new R&D projects in support of the Discovery Insure business strategy. Bringing exciting new products and enhancements to the market on a regular basis is a key priority for Discovery Insure; the individual will play a leading role in driving the work behind this.

Areas of responsibility may include but are not limited to:

• Drive exploratory research and analyses to develop strategic insights and identify core R&D questions, ideas, and solutions to inform the innovation agenda.
• Develop the product strategy and R&D priorities in line with the overall Discovery Group and Discovery Insure strategy.
• Analytical and pricing capabilities to understand the financial implications and parameters involved when developing new products, to ensure profitable results.
• Lead complex R&D projects which have an impact across multiple Discovery businesses, actively driving close collaboration within the team and with relevant business units to ensure buy-in and smooth handover post      execution.
• Present regular updates to obtain executive input on key decisions. Relevant forums include but are not limited to the R&D Steerco, Insure Exco, and Actuarial Committee.
• Drive project execution working closely with Project Managers, Systems teams, Partners teams, and other teams affected by a particular R&D project.
• Take accountability and signoff on product launch items.
• Continuously refine the R&D process solving for maximum business impact, broad input, cross-functional coordination, and timely implementation.
• Build, manage, and train a small team to support the above
• Monitoring and reporting ongoing results to ensure products are producing optimal results.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Analytical and modelling skills, SQL
• Design thinking and innovation processes

Education and Experience

Education:

• Honours or Master’s degree in an analytical field, eg Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, Actuarial Science. 

Minimum Experience:             

• 5-10 years’ work experience in financial services, preferably in a product development, problem-solving, or analytical role, eg. Management Consulting / Actuarial / Data Science.