Discovery Health
Job Title: Senior Research & Development Manager
About Discovery Discovery's core purpose is to enhance and protect people's lives. It does this through breakthrough product designs that harness incentives to encourage people to make healthier lifestyle choices. Healthy behaviour leads to lower claims, higher margins, and lower lapses. These savings are shared with our clients which in turn leads to a healthier society, improved productivity, and a reduced healthcare burden. One of Discovery's core assets is its large and diverse data, covering health, wellness, driving, investments, and life insurance. This forms the basis for our shared value model, along with innovation, risk management and operational efficiency improvements. Discovery's energetic and motivated analytical teams make this happen.
About the Discovery Health R&D Lab The Health R&D Lab is responsible for driving the innovation and product development agenda for Discovery Health. Made of Actuaries, ex-Management Consults, and other professionals with a strong bias for creative problem solving, the team works closely with the CEO and executive team of Discovery Health to facilitate innovation that supports the business strategy. Our work is cross functional in nature, requiring coordination of project specific teams to drive items to completion, with product ownership transferring to the relevant business unit once execution is complete.
About the Position We are looking for a Senior R&D Manager to conceptualize and drive existing and new R&D projects in support of the Discovery Health growth strategy. Bringing exciting new products and enhancements to the market is a key pillar of our growth strategy and the successful candidate will play a leading role in this.
Core responsibilities:
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 Health strategy. 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 Steercom, Health Exco, Health Product Committee, and the DHMS Board of Trustees. Drive project execution working closely with Project Managers, Systems teams, and other teams affected by a particular R&D project. Take accountability and signoff on product launches. 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 Personal Attributes and skills Self-starter with a bias for action and a strong drive for excellence Strategic thinker Management and leadership skills Exceptional problem solving skills Strong communication skills (written, verbal, and presentation) Networking and cross-functional coordination skills Education and Experience 5-10 years' work experience in financial services, preferably in a product development, problem-solving, or analytical role, e.g. Management Consulting / Actuarial / Data Science. Honor's or master's degree in an analytical field, e.g. Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, Actuarial Science. The following would be advantageous: Leadership experience. Healthcare experience. 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.
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