ABOUT DESCARTES UNDERWRITING 

Descartes was born out of the conviction that the ever-increasing complexity of risks faced by corporations, governments and vulnerable communities calls for a renewed approach in insurance. Our team brings together industry veterans from the most renowned institutions (AXA, SCOR, Swiss Re, Marsh, Aon, ...) and scientists on top of their field to bring underwriting excellence. After 5 years of existence, Descartes has secured a leading position in parametric insurance for weather and climate-related risks utilizing machine learning, real-time monitoring from satellite imagery & IoT. After a successful Series B raise of $120M USD, we launched Descartes Insurance, a 'full stack' insurer licensed to underwrite risk by the French regulator ACPR. With a growing corporate client base (400+ and counting), our diverse team is headquartered in Paris and operates out of our 17 global offices in North America, Europe, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Descartes is trusted by a panel of A-rated (re)insurers to carry out its activities. 

 

ABOUT YOUR ROLE

Due to our consistent growth, we are seeking to expand our Data, Software and DevOps team. At the core of our company, your missions will focus on:

• Build interactive web applications;
• Testing and refactoring code already used in existing project;
• Introducing object oriented patterns in functional code;
• Profile and optimizing JavaScript and python codes.
  

🔔 KEY MISSIONS 🔔

• Develop, optimize, update and deploy software for:

- Portfolio management;
- Solutions for analyzing and visualizing risk models;
- Interactive forms and data visualization;
- Export of outputs adapted to users;
- Monitoring of contracts and associated data;
- Testing and validation of existing solutions.

• Maintain the software solution with:

- Version management;
- Contribute to the technical roadmap through architecture meetings;
- Technical Documentation (architecture design, detailed design, validation tests);
- Compliance to internal standards and best practices.

• Support, test and correct the tools of: 

- Continuous integration and continuous development (CI/CD);
- Data storage;
- Modularization and containerization of IT solutions;
- Connection to external and internal API’s; 
- Secured access to applications.

• Take the lead on: 

- Choice of technical solutions;
- Technical discussions with IT partners;
- Improving the skills of technical staff;
- Analysis and evolution of new frameworks and technologies.

• To participate in:

- Assessment and definition of user needs;
- Conversion of technical specification into software development tasks;
- Bug tracking management;
- Software evolution management;
- Software risk management.

TECH STACK 🖥️

• OS: Windows
• Back: Python, Fast API 
• Front: React JS
• Code versioning tool: Git + Gitlab
• Cloud provider: GCP

ABOUT YOU

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS  💻🖥️

[Hard skills]

• Solid knowledge in Python, REST API (Fast API), document-oriented database (mongo DB), and React JS;
• Experience with Docker;
• Familiar with production development workflow (code reviews, fast forward git policy, pair coding);
• From 6 years of experience as a Fullstack or Software developer;
• Good knowledge in English and fluency in French.

[Soft skills]

• Desire to train junior developers and explain software design and good practices;
• Desire to keep learning from more experimented developers;
• Desire to suggest improvements in architecture or features;
• Ability to understand and break epic tasks into achievable issues.

[Nice-to-have]

• Experience working with GCP or equivalent cloud providers;
• Experience in a microservices architecture;
• Experience in Agile or TDD;
• Knowledge of Node JS;
• Contribution to an open source project.

MINDSET 💥

• Strong interest with climate issue (it’s not a hoax, many people suffer from it)
• Being comfortable to work alongside corporate insurers (some still wear suits 👔)
• You enjoy CI/CD automation (or at least appreciate the elegance of a well-crafted pipeline)
• Willingness to help junior developers (remember how you were when you started 💬)
• Strong team spirit and ability to work (you’ll have to review code and have your code reviewed)
• Rigorous, creative and meticulous mind (we handle large insurance, we take our time)
• Strong desire to learn (there’s no limitation to the tech used, we’re happy to test and learn new tools)
• Eagerness to work in a multi-cultural environment (policies and teams are from all around the world 🗺️)

WHY JOIN DESCARTES UNDERWRITING?

• Opportunity to work and learn with teams from the most prestigious schools and research labs in the world, allowing you to progress towards technical excellence;
• Commitment from Descartes to its staff of continued learning and development (think annual seminars, training etc.);
• Work in a collaborative & professional environment;
• Be part of a dynamic international team, passionate about diversity;
• Join a company with a true purpose – help us help our clients be more resilient towards climate risks;
• A competitive salary, bonus and benefits;
• You can benefit from a punctual home office days.
  

At Descartes Underwriting, we cherish value of diversity whatever it may be. We are committed to fighting against all forms of discrimination and for equal opportunities. We foster an inclusive work environment that respects all differences.

With equal skills, all our positions are open to people with disabilities.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

• Step 1: Call and HR Interview with our Talent Recruiter
• Step 2: Technical project submitted via GitHub
• Step 3: Technical interview
• Step 4: Manager interview
• Step 5: Final round interview with the team
  (Candidates can opt to have the manager interview before the technical project and interview)