Wildfire Scientist/Engineer - Hiring Now

Who are we?
A strategic and trusted insurance partner, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI), provides a broad range of commercial property, casualty and specialty insurance coverages and outstanding service to customers and brokers around the world. Part of Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance operations, we bring our solutions to market with our stellar brand name, top-rated balance sheet, and the expertise of our global team of professionals, who exude excellent capabilities and strong character.

We are a values-based organization where respect, integrity, excellence, collaboration, and passion define who we are and how we do business. We value diversity of backgrounds, experience, and perspectives and strive to foster an inclusive environment that enables all our team members to bring their best selves to work. We are one team committed to building a culture where every teammate has the opportunity to contribute and be recognized. Want to be part of the team building the finest property, casualty and specialty lines insurance company in the world?

Learn more about our unique culture and history.

Job Opportunity:

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has an exciting opportunity for an analytical and technically minded scientist or engineer with expertise in wildfire risk assessment to join the Catastrophe Engineering and Analytics (CAT E&A) team. CAT E&A is an innovative and versatile technical team conducting catastrophe risk research and development and providing complex quantitative metrics that inform underwriting decisions.

The successful candidate will join the team responsible for conducting research and developing solutions for wildfire risk assessment and should have strong research and development experience with catastrophe models or other risk assessment tools. In addition, you will conduct research and develop internal views of wildfire risks, consult on account-specific risk analyses, and develop internal tools to facilitate account underwriting decision-making and other related activities. The Scientist opportunity is in our Boston, MA or San Ramon, CA location.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Contribute guidance for the development of the BHSI internal view of wildfire risk through probabilistic hazard analysis, data analysis, claims/damage data evaluation, and other independent research tasks. Development work will be incorporated into larger risk methodology used by the CAT E&A team. In addition, review of the analytics considered during account underwriting will be required.

Additional key responsibilities include:

• Development of internal wildfire risk analytics based on the satellite data and government data sets
• Use geospatial analytics to evaluate wildfire metrics and integrate results into the underwriting workflow
• Communicate risk evaluation and development results to both internal and external stakeholders
• Review accounts at risk for wildfire losses as part of the larger CAT E&A processing
• Provide operational assistance during real-time catastrophe events and contribute to real-time estimation of losses to the company portfolio
• Conduct research on a wide range of related natural hazard topics to develop risk management strategies

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• M.S./Ph.D. degree in relevant geophysical science, engineering, or related field
• 2 years of work experience on wildfire-related projects is preferred
• Proficiency working with weather, fuels, and topography data sets
• A thorough knowledge of MODIS, VIIRS, Sentinel, and other similar remote sensing datasets
• Proficiency in geospatial analytics
• Proficient programming skills (R, Python, MATLAB, SQL preferred)
• Advanced knowledge of probability and statistics
• A proven ability to critically evaluate model output, with understanding of catastrophe models preferred
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Highly motivated, detail oriented, and team player

BHSI Offers:
• A competitive package and exciting growth opportunities for career-oriented teammates
• A dynamic, action oriented, and thoughtful environment centered on always doing the right thing for our customers, teammates and our other stakeholders
• A purposely non-bureaucratic organization that embraces simplicity over complexity and emphasizes individual excellence in a team framework

NOTE: Compensation will be commensurate with experience. This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Team Member may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organization

The base salary range for this position in California is from $120,000 – $160,000 along with annual bonus eligibility; a candidate’s salary is determined by their relevant skills and experience. We value our teammates – both their capabilities and character – as demonstrated by our amazing culture.