Sr. Catastrophe Scientist

Overview

The Senior Catastrophe Scientist contributes to advanced catastrophe risk analyses, leveraging both industry-standard platforms—such as Verisk (AIR), RMS (Moody’s), and others—and the development of proprietary modeling approaches. The successful candidate will independently define and manage individual projects in partnership with teammates in Climate and Catastrophe Science. This role requires experience in hazard modules and event sets, including large catalogs of simulated natural hazard footprints that define magnitude, location, path, and probability of occurrence. This individual will independently develop actionable insights that inform pricing, underwriting, and reinsurance strategies. The role demands a highly analytical and technically skilled professional who can independently contribute to projects and meet Mercury’s standard of excellence in catastrophe modeling analytics. Collaboration is key, as the Scienist will collaborate with Actuaries, Research and Development, State Product Management, Underwriting, and other stakeholders to translate catastrophe risk assessments into effective business decisions. 

Geo-Salary Information

State specific pay scales for this role are as follows:

$105,245 to $199,452 (CA, NJ, NY, WA, HI, AK, MD, CT, RI, MA)

$95,677 to $181,320 (NV, OR, AZ, CO, WY, TX, ND, MN, MO, IL, WI, FL, GA, MI, OH, VA, PA, DE, VT, NH, ME)

$86,110 to $163,188 (UT, ID, MT, NM, SD, NE, KS, OK, IA, AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, KY, IN, SC, NC, WV)

The expected base salary for this position will vary depending on a number of factors, including relevant experience, skills and location.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to analytics that leverage state-of-the-art catastrophe models and to the development of proprietary methods that analyze perils such as wildfires, urban conflagrations, fire-following earthquakes, severe convective storms, and hurricanes.
• Deliver real-time risk analytics and detailed loss estimates, including footprint analyses to assess event impact. Contribute to the refinement of model assumptions by adjusting event frequency, vulnerability curves, and loss scaling to incorporate proprietary insights and market expertise.
• Partner with internal teams—including Actuaries, Research & Development, State Product Management, and Underwriting—to integrate catastrophe model output into pricing, underwriting, and reinsurance workflows.
• Enhance catastrophe modeling frameworks and improve overall risk quantification for application in pricing, underwriting, and reinsurance workflows.
• Develop reports, presentations, and data visualizations to effectively communicate findings to technical and non-technical teammates.
• Evaluate and compare third-party models, refining event catalogs and developing custom solutions to ensure up-to-date and comprehensive risk assessment.
• Remain at the forefront of industry advancements, including improvements in event simulation, hazard footprint resolution, and catastrophe modeling methodologies. 
• *Essential job functions are the fundamental duties of the position. A duty is generally considered an essential function if (1) the reason the position exists is to perform the function; (2) there are a limited number of employees available among whom the performance of the function can be distributed; and/or (3) the function is highly specialized and the employee in the position is hired for his or her expertise or ability to perform the particular function.
• This job description is intended to provide a general description of the nature and level of work performed by team members assigned to this job. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required. The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those normally associated with this position. The Company will provide reasonable accommodation to qualified team members with a disability unless doing so would result in undue hardship. Applicants or team members must notify the Vice President of Human Capital of any need for reasonable accommodation

 

Qualifications

Minimum:

Ph.D. or equivalent combination of education and experience is required with an emphasis in analytical concentration such as applied environmental sciences, math, statistics, economics, finance, quantitative research, etc.

 

Preferred: Ph.D. with an emphasis in analytical concentration such as applied environmental sciences, math, statistics, economics, finance, quantitative research, etc.

 

Minimum: 5-Years + Ph.D. or equivalent combination of education and experience

 

Preferred: 10-Years + Ph.D.

 

Skills & Abilities Minimum:

• Significant experience with catastrophe modeling software such as Verisk-AIR, RMS-Moody