(Senior) Data Scientist

PartnerRe; Dublin; Hybrid; EUR 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

PartnerRe seeks a Health data science researcher to support medical underwriting on Life & Health business globally. You will turn data and medical research into insights guiding biometric risk assessment over years, liaising with underwriters and medical officers.

The role emphasizes R and Python with a collaborative, evolving agenda. Based in a hybrid setting, you will work with a small research team, advancing future-ready capabilities and strategic differentiation beyond two years, with

Qualifications

• PhD in epidemiology, biostatistics, health economics, or related field.
• Experience in health research and medical underwriting is a strong asset.
• Strong ability to translate business questions into research questions.

Responsibilities

• Track emerging trends in medical research, data availability, and relevant technologies, translating them into a perspective on what the business will need to understand in the coming years, not just today.
• Turn ambiguous business questions into well-defined, answerable research questions.
• Prioritize research questions with the greatest potential business impact.
• Analyze data and build models to generate forward-looking insights.
• Evaluate and adapt emerging technical methods to meet PartnerRe’s specific needs.
• Read and critically appraise medical and other health-related research, assessing study design, identifying limitations, and determining relevance to our context.
• Communicate findings clearly to underwriters, medical doctors, and other non-technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrate strong data analysis and modeling skills, including sound judgment on real-world issues such as weak proxies, outcome-entangled variables, and informative missingness.
• Engage hands‑on with new technical methods relevant to the domain, rather than simply following developments from a distance.
• Critically evaluate empirical research, recognizing design weaknesses and correctly interpreting findings.
• Think strategically about value and differentiation, turning observed trends into a clear view of future business needs rather than a collection of technically interesting problems.
• Shape vague business requests into structured, answerable research questions.
• Work directly and effectively with stakeholders, including medical underwriters, physicians, actuaries, and their managers.
• Thrive in a research environment with evolving priorities and limited predefined roadmaps.
• Bring a health-related research background (e.g., epidemiology, biostatistics, public health, health economics and outcomes research, or clinical epidemiology), enabling quicker development of medical domain expertise.
• Demonstrate a genuine interest in medical and health research, even without prior industry experience.
• Prior exposure to life insurance products or medical underwriting processes is a strong asset but not required.
• Experience with R is a plus and may shorten ramp-up time, although analytical judgment is valued more highly than proficiency in any specific programming language.
• Hold a PhD in a field with a strong empirical, hypothesis-driven research tradition (such as epidemiology, biology, chemistry, or another life or physical science), or possess equivalent demonstrated research experience, evidenced by a substantial independent research project that can be discussed in depth.

Skills

R

Python

Biostatistics

Epidemiology

Data analysis

Education

PhD in Epidemiology or related field

Tools

R (Studio)

Python environments

Job description

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PartnerRe is a leading, privately owned, multi-line global reinsurer with a reputation of financial stability and strength, and a commitment to rebuilding businesses and communities after risk events around the world.

Our mission is to continue to be a financially stable and predictable business partner, supporting our clients with solutions tailored to their needs, delivering superior returns to our owner, providing rewarding opportunities for our people and making a positive contribution to society. To achieve this, we live by our values of Integrity, Performance, Collaboration, Straightforward Communication and Respect and Care.

Core to The PartnerRe Experience is our global nature. No matter where you sit in the company, you are part of something bigger. Our teams represent our truly international mindset, forging connections across office locations and all levels of the organization and building a network of mutual success. The result is a day-to-day experience that will allow you to:

We are always looking for bright, proactive individuals to join our team!

PartnerRe is an equal opportunities employer.

Compensation and Benefits

The expected base salary range for this position, when hired into our Toronto location, is CAD $100-150Kper year. For positions based in other jurisdictions, compensation will be determined in alignment with local regulations, market benchmarks, and internal compensation frameworks.The above range reflects the typical base salary range for candidates hired into this position. The actual salary will vary depending on a number of factors, including job location, experience, qualifications, education/training, skills, market conditions, and alignment with the role’s requirements.

In addition to base salary, eligible employees may participate in our annual incentive program, payment under which is at the discretion of PartnerRe and subject to individual and company performance. Eligible employees also have the opportunity to participate in an array of benefits, including medical, dental and vision coverage, a health spending account, a defined contribution pension plan, life insurance, short- and long-term disability coverage, etc.

Working Arrangement

PartnerRe operates with a hybrid work approach that balances in‑office collaboration with the flexibility of remote work. Our employees are required to be in the office 3 days a week. Our goal is to create an environment where employees can connect, innovate, and perform at their best.

This position is for an existing vacancy within our organization.

PartnerRe is committed to an inclusive, accessible recruitment experience. Reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities are available upon request throughout the hiring process.

About the position:

We are a small data science research team with a mandate to build future-ready capabilities and strategic differentiation for PartnerRe’s Life & Health business globally, working on a horizon beyond 2 years. This role's initial and primary focus is medical underwriting in life insurance: turning data and medical research into insight that shapes how we assess biometric risk over the years ahead, not necessarily how we operate today.

As a research team, priorities are set collectively with our stakeholders and evolve with business needs. The role may extend into other areas over time, potentially including AI applications or actuarial questions, as the team's agenda develops.

This is not a subject matter expert role in medical underwriting. We are data scientists who support and inform underwriters and medical officers, not a team building independent underwriting authority.

Our day-to-day work is currently primarily in R, reflecting where our core infrastructure is strongest today, though this may shift over time. Python is supported for specific needs, and our broader computing infrastructure is largely language agnostic.

Key responsibilities:

• Track emerging trends in medical research, data availability, and relevant technologies, translating them into a perspective on what the business will need to understand in the coming years, not just today.
• Turn ambiguous business questions into well-defined, answerable research questions.
• Prioritize research questions with the greatest potential business impact.
• Analyze data and build models to generate forward-looking insights.
• Evaluate and adapt emerging technical methods to meet PartnerRe’s specific needs.
• Read and critically appraise medical and other health-related research, assessing study design, identifying limitations, and determining relevance to our context.
• Communicate findings clearly to underwriters, medical doctors, and other non-technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrate strong data analysis and modeling skills, including sound judgment on real-world issues such as weak proxies, outcome-entangled variables, and informative missingness.
• Engage hands‑on with new technical methods relevant to the domain, rather than simply following developments from a distance.
• Critically evaluate empirical research, recognizing design weaknesses and correctly interpreting findings.
• Think strategically about value and differentiation, turning observed trends into a clear view of future business needs rather than a collection of technically interesting problems.
• Shape vague business requests into structured, answerable research questions.
• Work directly and effectively with stakeholders, including medical underwriters, physicians, actuaries, and their managers.
• Thrive in a research environment with evolving priorities and limited predefined roadmaps.
• Bring a health-related research background (e.g., epidemiology, biostatistics, public health, health economics and outcomes research, or clinical epidemiology), enabling quicker development of medical domain expertise.
• Demonstrate a genuine interest in medical and health research, even without prior industry experience.
• Prior exposure to life insurance products or medical underwriting processes is a strong asset but not required.
• Experience with R is a plus and may shorten ramp-up time, although analytical judgment is valued more highly than proficiency in any specific programming language.
• Hold a PhD in a field with a strong empirical, hypothesis-driven research tradition (such as epidemiology, biology, chemistry, or another life or physical science), or possess equivalent demonstrated research experience, evidenced by a substantial independent research project that can be discussed in depth.

Additional Information

#LI-Hybrid:

PartnerRe provides a working environment in which diversity is valued, where all employees feel welcome, respected, and empowered to perform at their best. We invite you to learn more about D&I at PartnerRe.

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