Job Title: Senior Geospatial Data Scientist
Location: Bexhill/Leicester
Welcome to Hastings Direct
We’re a digital insurance provider with ambitious plans to become the best and biggest in the UK market. We’ve made huge investments in our pricing and data capabilities over the past few years, along with nurturing our 4Cs culture. We provide insurance for over four million customers, but we know there’s even bigger opportunity out there – our Pricing, Data and Analytics community values curiosity, collaboration and constructive challenge. We are always looking for new ideas and diverse perspectives to question established thinking and drive meaningful change. Great pricing is built on trust, innovation and precision, so our aim is to ensure customers receive a fair and accurate price based on their individual risk, supporting fair outcomes, while delivering sustainable and profitable growth for our company.
The Role
The Senior Geospatial Data Scientist will oversee projects and modelling exercises which deliver cutting‑edge data assets and predictive models that feed into Hastings’ market‑leading pricing activities. This role is within a combined team of Actuaries and Data Scientists, championing the adoption of the latest machine learning (ML) techniques to leverage powerful insights from vast amounts of customer information and data enrichment. The Senior Geospatial Data Scientist will use their understanding of geospatial analytics and data science techniques to solve insurance problems and to engineer powerful geospatial risk indices. We are looking to leverage advanced geospatial ML techniques to maximise commercial value, while ensuring a fair outcome for customers. The role requires mentoring junior data science colleagues and there is scope to manage a small team. The role would suit a Geospatial Data Scientist with a track record of delivering powerful geospatial features and spatial machine learning models. Insurance experience is a bonus but not a requirement.
Key Accountabilities
- Taking the technical lead in geospatial machine learning projects
- Develop best‑in‑class models to predict features of a property or insured location
- Engineer powerful new geospatial rating factors to be deployed into our rating algorithms as well as understanding their impact and value
- Identify, analyse and monetise new data sources
- Manage and mentor more junior members of the Geospatial Data Science and Home Pricing teams
- Manage and maintain data and model updates
- Support the Geospatial team in the delivery of the team’s strategic objectives
Essential Skills, Knowledge & Experience
- Experience engineering geospatial features and building predictive models
- Experience in the creation and development of models in Python, using the main Data Science libraries
- Keen interest in emerging ML techniques and the opportunities that these present in geospatial/insurance
- Experience planning and completing a project independently
- Strong Structured Query Language (SQL) coding skills and being comfortable with data manipulation
- Stakeholder management and communication skills with the ability to present technical ideas to a non‑technical audience
Desirable
- Experience working with remote sensing datasets
- Image processing and segmentation experience
- Experience in a Personal Lines pricing team (motor or home)
- Experience with using GitHub for version control and as a code collaboration tool
- Eagerness to work cross‑functionally with Data Engineers, Data Scientists, Actuaries and Risk Pricing Analysts
Personal Attributes
- Natural problem solver who loves building quality solutions to complex real‑world challenges
- Focuses on the bigger picture but not afraid to get into the detail when necessary
- Dynamic, flexible and delivery‑focussed work ethic required to adapt to a fast paced working environment
- Takes ownership and accountability for their aspects of projects and work streams
Interview Process
Recruiter screening call
1st Round – Intro call with Hiring manager
2nd Round – Case study round
What we will give you
Join us and you’ll find a different way of doing things. We call it the 4Cs. We focus on getting it right for our colleagues, customers, company and community. As one of our colleagues, you’ll be helping to drive our growth, so in return, we’ll give you all the support, training and development you need. Not to mention plenty of recognition and rewards, and the scope to voice your ideas and put them into practice. As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are fully inclusive – what this means to you is if you’re applying for a job with us, you’ll have fair access to support and adjustments throughout your recruitment journey. We also welcome applications through the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). For more information on the DCS, please visit our inclusive business page on our careers website.
Benefits
- Flexible working – we champion a flexible hybrid working approach – please speak to your recruiter to discuss in more detail
- Competitive bonus scheme – all colleagues are eligible for our annual 4Cs performance bonus
- Physical wellbeing – as a Band 4 colleague, Hastings pays for you to receive private medical insurance (PMI). This gives you flexibility and convenience to see a specialist or consultant and allows you to decide when and where you will be seen
- Financial wellbeing – as well as providing you with 4× your salary with our life assurance cover, income protection at no extra cost, and matched pension contributions up to 10%, we are proud to provide you with an award‑winning package which includes discounts, cashback, free independent mortgage advice and free access to financial wellbeing support
- Mental wellbeing programme – we have the thrive mental health app, our colleague assistance programme available 24/7, our own in‑house mental health first aiders, support groups and a dedicated team to make sure we are covering your needs
- There’s more – 27 days annual leave + bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell one of your weeks, access to our health care cashback plans, dental plans, discounted health assessments, Cycle to work and tech schemes, discounted and free onsite facilities, social events throughout the year and much more
Hastings Group is an equal opportunities employer which means we treat people fairly. We welcome applications from all suitably skilled persons regardless of their gender, age, race, disability, ethnic background, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or marital/family status. Please also note that we have a thorough referencing process, which includes credit and criminal record checks.
At Hastings Direct, we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, we encourage you to be open with us. Our recruitment team is here to provide the support you need to ensure a fair and accessible experience for all.
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