Lead Actuary I, Actuarial Research

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As part of Root's interview process, we kindly ask that all candidates be on camera for virtual interviews. This helps us create a more personal and engaging experience for both you and our interviewers. Being on camera is a standard requirement for our process and part of how we assess fit and communication style, so we do require it to move forward with any applicant's candidacy. If you have any concerns, feel free to let us know once you are contacted. We’re happy to talk it through.

The Opportunity

We believe that a disruptive insurance company must have a principled quantitative framework at its foundation. At Root, we are committed to the rigorous development and effective deployment of modern statistical machine learning methods to problems in the insurance industry.

A Lead Actuary I at Root sets actuarial and statistical standards that drive excellence across the Quantitative Sciences organization. In this role, you will lead the development of tools and frameworks to monitor Root’s pricing adequacy, customer segmentation, and market competitiveness. You’ll work cross-functionally with State Product Management and Engineering, and regularly engage with Root’s executive team to align technical insights with strategic priorities.

The Actuarial Research team partners closely with Actuarial, Lifetime Value (LTV), and Forecasting to standardize key assumptions that inform Root’s profitability goals and to recommend business actions that support those targets. To advance this work, we are looking for a Lead Actuary I to lead the operationalization of actuarial assumptions and indications. This role will focus on developing a scalable, reproducible process—built in Python—for generating actuarial assumptions and producing indications across any subset of data, enabling faster iteration, improved transparency, and broader applicability across the organization.

Root is a “work where it works best” company, meaning we will support you working in whatever location that works best for you across the US. We will continue to have our headquarters in Columbus to give more flexibility and more choice about how we live and work.

Salary Range: $105,680 - $132,100 (Bonus and LTI Eligible)

How You Will Make an Impact

• Take ownership of Root’s actuarial indication process by proactively identifying opportunities for improvement, developing a clear roadmap, prioritizing actions, and delivering effective solutions.

• Improve operational efficiency in the actuarial indication workflow by converting existing calculations into scalable, production-grade Python code.

• Collaborate with teams across Actuarial, Underwriting, and Marketing to align on core assumptions and ensure consistency in profitability assessments throughout the organization.

• Communicate insights from complex analyses in clear, actionable terms to cross-functional stakeholders, ensuring alignment and effective decision-making.

• Take ownership of problem domains and continuously refine quantitative solutions to ensure they are robust, scalable, and impactful over time.

What You Will Need to Succeed

• 5+ years of experience in the insurance industry with 3+ years of experience in pricing/ratemaking

• Strong programming skills with experience in SQL and Python

• Successful completion of 5 actuarial exams

• Demonstrates ownership mentality, taking initiative to find, prioritize, and be accountable for the highest impact work

• Strong communication and data storytelling skills, with the ability to visualize insights and clearly explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Ability to frame functional problem statements for the next 2-4 months, consistently making good decisions about the right path to follow in a well-defined problem space

• Preferred but not required:

  • Experience using version control (Git) and cloud computing (AWS)

  • Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS) 

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Root, Inc., we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway!

At Root, we judge people based on the merit of their work, not who they are. If you are passionate about what this role entails and solving real problems, we encourage you to apply. We want to learn about you and what you can add to our team.

We’re harnessing the power of technology to revolutionize insurance. Using machine learning and mobile telematic platforms, we’ve built one of the most innovative FinTech companies in the world. And we’re just getting started.

Our success is in large part due to our unwavering standards in hiring. We recognize that our products are only as good as the people building and promoting them. We want individuals who find solutions by going through the cycle of ideation to implementation with curiosity, rigor, and an analytical lens. Ask anyone who works here and you’ll hear similar reasons for why they joined:

Autonomy—for assertive self-starters, the opportunities to contribute are limitless.

Impact—by challenging the way it’s always been done, we solve problems that have a big impact on our business.

Collaboration—we encourage rich discussion and civil debate at every turn.

People—we are inspired by the collection of crazy-smart people around us.