Graduate Intern - Data Science at South African Reserve Bank

About the Job

South African Reserve Bank Data Science Graduate Development Programme

• The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is looking for talented postgraduates to join its one-year Graduate Development Programme in February 2024.

What the SARB does

• The SARB serves the economic well-being of South Africans through maintaining price and financial stability. It is responsible for the regulation of the South African financial sector, design and distribution of banknotes and coin, management of interest rates, setting the cash reserve requirement for banks and ensuring the stability of both the banking sector and the wider financial system.

Detailed Description

• Data science is an inter-disciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and insights from structured and unstructured data. The core outcome of this programme is to develop deep capabilities in advanced analytics in central banking.

Format of the programme

• Graduates will be placed in the Business Solutions and Technology Department (BSTD) at the SARB from February to December 2024. During the programme, graduates will attend various learning interventions, including technical training as they will be assigned to a business department where they will work on unique and complex business problems, while keeping the section about attending learning interventions at the SARB Academy. The programme offers opportunities for a Data Science track.

Job Requirements
To be considered as a SARB Graduate, candidates must have a postgraduate qualification or be in the process of completing a postgraduate qualification (ideally completed the course work) in one of the following fields:

• Data Science.
• Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence.
• Predictive Analytics Modelling.
• Statistics.
• Applied Mathematics.
• Economics with Econometrics. (would be advantageous)
• Information Technology
• Engineering.
• Business Mathematics and Informatics.
• Coding with R and Python.

Additional requirements
Prospective candidates must:

• be South African citizens;
• be curious, innovative and self-motivated individuals with strong analytical skills;
• have a proven track record of academic excellence, with an overall average mark of 65% and above;
• have excellent communication and interpersonal skills; and
• have evidence of participation in data science competitions (e.g. Kaggle) and/or contributions to projects on GitHub/Gitlab (would be an added advantage).