AI Data Scientist

Discovery – Insure

AI Data Scientist

About Discovery

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.

About Discovery Insure

Discovery Insure is committed to creating a nation of great drivers and building better businesses through our innovative Shared-value Insurance model. Discovery Insure is South Africa’s fastest growing short-term insurance company with comprehensive products that provide protection against current and emerging risks facing clients in the motor, home and business insurance sectors. Vitality Drive, an internationally-recognised and award-winning programme, is a key differentiator in the market that incentivises and rewards clients for driving well. The Vitality Drive programme has been scaled to local and international markets which now include Europe and the Middle East. The company employs over 1 000 people who are committed to putting our customers and financial advisers first by providing unique and innovative solutions and cover.

Key Purpose

A Junior Data Scientist that will help integrate and leverage natural language processing (NLP) and advanced large language models (LLMs) to enhance AI frameworks.  These innovative capabilities will enable unstructured autonomous decision-making processes, increase operational efficiency, and deliver personalized customer experiences.

Areas of responsibility may include but are not limited to

• Project Contribution: By collaborating with contents specialists, data engineers and system architects, contribute to the deployment of solutions and delivery of projects from inception through to business adoption.
• Model Development and Integration: Deploy robust and scalable LLMs that are integrated into AI frameworks, enhancing natural language processing capabilities.
• Advanced Data Retrieval Integration: Incorporate techniques like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), vector databases, and semantic searches to improve precision and relevance in data extraction from large datasets.
• Automation Workflows: Design and implement automation workflows that improve speed and accuracy of processes, reducing manual intervention and operational costs.
• Performance Metrics and System Maintenance: Develop performance metrics to consistently evaluate the efficiency and accuracy of AI models. Actively monitor and maintain these systems to ensure they remain effective and adaptable.
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure that all AI models and data handling practices comply with relevant laws and ethical guidelines, preparing documentation and reports as required for regulatory bodies.
• Experimentation: Prototype ML systems and AI concepts, particularly those using NLP and LLMs, and evaluate the effects of different models and techniques on AI performance.
• Future Trends and Industry Insights: Continuously monitor advancements in AI and LLM technologies and review relevant academic literature and industry releases to ensure our strategies and implementations align with the latest innovations and standards.

Skills

• SQL and working with databases.
• Python for data science and machine learning.
• Competent with TensorFlow, PyTorch, NLP and LLM packages.
• Familiarity with Azure services.
• Familiarity with Databricks.

Education and Experience

Education:

• Matric
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, Actuarial Science, Statistics, Operations Research, Industrial engineering, Applied Mathematics, or similar quantitative field.

 Minimum Experience:              

• 1-3 years’ experience in a data science environment (Essential)
• Demonstrated ability to implement ML workflows at scale, particularly using LLMs (Advantageous)
• Experience in handling, analyzing, and extracting insights from large and complex datasets, particularly unstructured text data (Advantageous)
• Previous experience tuning open source and proprietary large language models (Advantageous)

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY   
                             
The 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.