Commercial Actuary at Lifecheq (Remote)

About Lifecheq

Lifecheq is transforming financial advice and insurance distribution across emerging markets through our cutting-edge technology platform. As Africa's largest advice platform, we empower over 8,000 financial advisers to deliver holistic, personalised financial planning to the underserved mass affluent market.

Our holistic financial advice platform has achieved remarkable results in driving record adviser productivity for our partners. Backed by leading investors, we're expanding across Africa and Southeast Asia – with a mission to create one million sustainable middle-income jobs for financial advisers.

The Opportunity

As we scale rapidly across multiple markets and partnerships, the commercial complexity of our business is growing. We're looking for a recently qualified actuary to join our Commercial team and bring analytical rigour to the partnership and business decisions that will shape our next phase of growth. Partnership economics span distribution partners, insurers, reinsurers and ecosystem partners in multiple emerging markets with their own dynamics.

This role offers the trifecta: Build on your actuarial foundation while developing commercial judgment and technology capability – you'll strengthen all three here.

You'll apply your actuarial training broadly – modelling partnership economics, designing and pricing insurance products, structuring adviser remuneration models, forecasting business performance. Enabled by AI and tools that let you work faster and smarter than traditional roles allow.

Reporting to our Group Commercial Manager, you'll work across the business and be at the heart of how we evaluate opportunities, structure deals, and optimise performance across our platform.

What You'll Do

• Insurance product development and pricing: Design and price products in partnership with insurers and reinsurers, with input from distribution partners.

• Advice practice business planning: Build and maintain financial models for franchise practices – understand unit economics, forecast growth, support business planning and forecasting

• Remuneration and incentive design: Structure adviser remuneration models that incentivise advisers in a way that aligns with customer value with insurer economics, in line with regulations.

• Adviser productivity forecasting: Develop frameworks for assessing adviser productivity and identifying improvement opportunities. Forecast adviser performance at scale. Understand and model what drives high performing advisers.

• Partnership economics: Model VNB impacts, analyse fee structures, stress-test business cases, support deal structuring.

You'll build robust, well-documented models, apply actuarial techniques (scenario modeling, sensitivity analysis, risk quantification) to commercial decisions. You’ll work across product teams, finance, distribution, business development  and translate findings into clear recommendations for senior leadership and external partners.

What We're Looking For

Qualifications

• Associate or Fellow member of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (AMASSA or FASSA), or equivalent internationally recognised qualification

Experience

• 3–4 years experience in actuarial or commercial analysis roles

• Demonstrated experience building and maintaining financial models

• Exposure to insurance or financial services environments

Core Skills

• Analytical Excellence: Strong quantitative problem-solving with meticulous attention to detail

• Commercial Acumen: Understand insurance and distribution economics: how insurers make money, how products are priced, how commission regulations work.

• Modelling Proficiency: Comfortable building models from scratch. Advanced Excel skills, some coding experience.

• Communication: Ability to translate complex technical findings into clear, actionable insights for a range of stakeholders

• Adaptability: Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment where priorities shift

Must-Haves

• South Africa-based - remote office ready

• Genuine interest in applying actuarial skills to commercial problems, more broadly than traditional actuarial work

• Comfortable with ambiguity and incomplete information

• Thrives in a collaborative, remote-first culture

What We Offer

Impact & Growth

• High-ownership role with direct influence on strategic business decisions

• Exposure to senior leadership and external partners

Learning Velocity 

• Work on product development, partnership structuring, distribution economics, and business planning – sometimes concurrently

• Greater breadth than traditional roles typically offer

Technology

• Tech-first company with high AI adoption embedded in daily work

• Use it as a  thinking partner, for data analysis, modelling, market research and new use cases

Flexibility & Support

• Remote-first culture with async-optimised work

• Competitive salary with medical and insurance benefits

• Parental leave and flexible time-off policies

Team & Culture

• Collaborative, mission-driven team passionate about financial inclusion

• Regular team off-sites and potential international travel opportunities

• Culture of excellence, integrity, and continuous improvement

The trifecta: Build on your actuarial foundation while developing commercial judgment and technology capability. You'll strengthen all three here.

Ready to apply your actuarial training to real commercial impact? Join us in building the infrastructure that enables quality financial advice at scale across emerging markets.

This is a permanent, full-time position.