Geospatial Risk Specialist for Natural Catastrophe Risk Assessment

Geospatial Risk Specialist

Are you ready to be part of a team of geospatial domain experts dedicated to developing innovative products and data pipelines for natural‑risk assessment? If so, join us at Swiss Re and play a pivotal role in enabling confident decision‑making in Natural Catastrophe (NatCat) insurance.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced professional to join our dynamic Geo team in Bangalore. In this role, you will execute geospatial data processing projects, advance digital products for natural hazard assessment, conduct user and business acceptance testing for geospatial and web‑mapping applications to ensure products meet functional, usability and business expectations before release. Your contributions will enable Swiss Re to make confident underwriting decisions and maintain best‑in‑class Natural Catastrophe models.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Processing and analyzing geospatial data to contribute to Swiss Re`s map-based products and solutions.
• Developing and maintaining scripts and pipelines to automate data processing and standardize workflows.
• Collaborating with diverse teams across Swiss Re, providing geo‑domain expertise, technical guidance and support.
• Driving small projects independently: coordinating with stakeholders, providing regular updates and maintaining comprehensive project documentation.
• Scouting new ideas and developments that contribute to positive outcomes.
• Conduct business and user acceptance testing for an internal web mapping application, validating results against agreed acceptance criteria before release.
• Document test outcomes and deviations, facilitating informed go / no-go decisions.

About the Team

This role is embedded in the Catastrophe & Geo Modelling team with members in Zurich and Bangalore. The team advances Swiss Re’s proprietary catastrophe modelling framework and ensures that geospatial information is accurately integrated into those models. It also develops user applications for risk assessment and insurance costing.

The broader Catastrophe Perils department is responsible for global natural catastrophe risk assessment. It consists of dedicated engineers and scientists across multiple disciplines, working to advance probabilistic and proprietary modelling technology for earthquake, windstorm and flood hazards—one of the most refined model frameworks in the re/insurance industry.
The team collaborates closely with underwriters and clients to strengthen Swiss Re’s competitive edge.

About You

You are passionate about applying geospatial expertise to natural catastrophes and risk assessment. You bring intermediate‑level industry experience, stay current with geo‑technology trends and communicate effectively with technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

Requirements:

• Master's degree or equivalent in Geography, Geoinformatics, GIS, Remote Sensing, or Natural Sciences.
• Work experience in the geospatial industry, with proven experience in geo‑data processing and analytics; (re)insurance or NatCat modelling is a plus.
• Proficiency in geospatial tools (QGIS, ESRI ArcMap, ArcGIS Online) and Python (including GDAL, GeoPandas, Rasterio).
• Working knowledge of databases such as Postgres.
• Strong skills in raster and vector data processing with the ability to extract and communicate meaningful insights.
• Experience conducting quality assurance, user and business acceptance testing for web mapping applications.
• Experience in independently managing and executing small projects including setting project milestones and deadlines, leading meetings, facilitating decision making and managing daily operations.
• Strong documentation and effective communication skills across project and technical work.
• Effective stakeholder management—status reporting, discussion alignment, action tracking, risk and issue management.
• Structured, self-organized and independent personality with a hands on and “Break-the-system” testing mindset.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with Spark (including Apache Sedona).
• Familiarity with PostGIS.
• Experience with Palantir Foundry.
• Experience in NatCat modelling.

Our company has a hybrid work model where the expectation is that you will be in the office at least three days per week.