Storm Surge Scientist

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 storm surge 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 storm surge risk assessment and should have strong research and development experience with catastrophe models. In addition, you will conduct in-depth evaluation of vendor models, research and develop internal views of 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 storm surge 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 storm surge loss analytics considered during account underwriting will be required.

Additional key responsibilities include:

• Development of internal surge analytics based on the SLOSH, ADCIRC and other coastal ocean models, as well as leveraging existing surge outputs available from NOAA, FEMA and other sources
• Perform in-depth evaluation of the storm surge hazard components of vendor models
• Use geospatial analytics to evaluate surge risk metrics and integrate results into the underwriting workflow
• Communicate surge risk evaluation and development results to both internal and external stakeholders
• Review accounts at risk for storm surge 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 natural hazard topics to develop risk management strategies

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• M.S./Ph.D. degree in oceanography, atmospheric science, civil engineering, or related field
• 2 years of work experience is preferred
• Proficiency in using SLOSH, ADCIRC, SCHISM, DELFT3d, Telemac or another similar coastal ocean model
• Experience developing hydrodynamic model grids
• A thorough knowledge of assessing and utilizing topographic and bathymetric datasets
• Working knowledge of ArcGIS (or equivalent GIS software such as QGIS)
• Practical experience in insurance, applied engineering, or CAT modeling is required
• A proven ability to critically evaluate model output, with understanding of catastrophe models preferred
• Advanced knowledge of probability and statistics
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Proficient programming skills (Python, R, MATLAB, SQL preferred)
• 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.