Senior Actuarial Test Engineer

Company Description

You and Northwestern Mutual. We believe relationships are built on trust. That our lives and our work matter. And we’re much stronger together than we are apart. These beliefs launched our company nearly 160 years ago. Today, they’re just a few of the reasons why people choose to build careers at Northwestern Mutual.

Our business is about helping people secure their financial futures, and that starts with putting people first – our clients, our employees and our field representatives. Northwestern Mutual is known for financial strength. We’re strong, innovative and growing. Come grow with us.

Job Description

At Northwestern Mutual, we believe relationships are built on trust. That our lives and our work matter. These beliefs launched our company nearly 160 years ago. Today, they're just a few of the reasons why people choose to build careers at Northwestern Mutual.

We're strong and growing. In a company with such a long and storied history, this may be the most exciting and important time to be a part of Northwestern Mutual. We're strong, innovative and growing.

We invest in our people. We provide opportunities for employees to grow themselves, their career and in turn, our business.

We care.  We make a positive difference in our communities. Nationally, thousands have benefitted from our support of research and programs to fight childhood cancer. Each year, our Foundation, employees and financial representatives donate time, talent and financial support to causes they're passionate about.

We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

What's the role?

As a technical, hands-on actuary, you will be integrated into a software development team as a quality advocate that tests and analyzes the actuarial data given by a proprietary algorithm that is used to generate insurance illustrations for our clients.  The illustrations algorithm is a piece of software that feeds into other web and mobile-based software projects and services thousands of clients a month.

In addition to leveraging your actuarial background to ensure that our insurance illustrations are excellent by all measurable standards, you will be expected to learn (with provided time and training) industry-standard software test engineering practices and software development processes.

Your general milestones are the following:

• Within first month, demonstrate broad understanding of our application as a whole and how the algorithm fits into individual pieces of software.  Should also be able to demonstrate both a holistic and nuanced view in how the algorithm works.  Training and guidance will be provided.
• Within two months, successfully complete the actuary training bootcamp to understand our standards and how our clients interface with our product.
• Within three months, with guidance from the technical lead, be able to successfully demonstrate the ability to exhaustively test small portions of the algorithm and give valuable feedback / ask questions that show you grasp the software and basic testing concepts.
• Within four months, pass the ISQTB Foundation Level exam for apprentice QA Engineers (see http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/foundation-level/foundation-level-content.html) - sufficient time and training material will be provided.
• Within five months, with minimal assistance from technical and product leads, be able to analyze new features or modifications to the algorithm and create a testing plan upon which you then execute.

Bring Your Best! What this role needs:

• Actuarial background.
• Technical, must enjoy getting your hands dirty and be excited to learn about new technology.
• Can move quickly.  Everyone here is incredibly kind and extremely willing to share knowledge and a helping hand, but you have to be willing to take ownership of the outlined goals and make things happen.

Req ID: 16809
Position Type: Regular Full Time
Education Experience: Bachelor's Desired
Employment Experience: 6-8 years
Licenses/Certifications:
FLSA Status: Exempt
Posting Date: 08/24/2017