Mercer Graduate Programme (Actuarial Analyst) 2023

Join Mercer as a Graduate Actuarial Analyst and discover how we support companies, pension trustee boards and individuals to make better, more informed, decisions about their retirement plans, long-term savings, investment strategies and managing risk. The nature of the industry is changing and at Mercer we are excited to be leading this change!

Our Graduate Programme

Mercer is on the lookout for the best talent to join our graduate development programme, the Mercer Academy. We have positions available in within our Actuarial, Investment, Defined Contribution, and Governance and Pensions Management teams.

The Mercer Academy is designed to fast track you to working with clients. It’s an intense programme, aimed at developing both your technical and consulting skills. Some of our available positions within the Academy require you to take part in a rotation programme, but whether you are in a role that requires rotation or not you will be working with a broad range of colleagues in key areas of our Wealth business to ensure you have the technical grounding to allow you to develop into a trusted advisor for your clients.

Mercer has a wide variety of clients in many different industries, operating a number of innovative solutions to manage their risks. It’s a great time to join, and our unique client base means that you will gain experience and skills, as well as working alongside the best and brightest in the industry. If you want to tackle new challenges, develop a breadth of skills, be a part of a growing business and have fun at the same time, read on.

What will I be doing?

You will work as part of a team supporting senior actuaries and consultants, primarily providing advice to defined benefit pension scheme trustees and corporate sponsors in areas such as scheme funding, individual benefits, risk management and more. You will help to develop and deliver customised advice and solutions to clients, working alongside our investment colleagues to assist with designing strategies that help our clients manage pensions risk. The world of retirement saving is changing and Mercer is developing innovative solutions for our clients and their employees, including supporting them on the journey to their end game. This is your opportunity to be part of their journey.

Successful applicants will be supported through the actuarial exams in order to become a qualified actuary, although this is not essential in order to have a great career at Mercer.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for motivated individuals who want to work hard, challenge the status quo and help deliver innovative solutions to our clients. In particular, we value:

• Intellectual curiosity; seeking opportunities to develop new skills.
• Analytical skills, both quantitative and qualitative.
• Excellent communication skills with strong attention to detail.
• Natural proactivity, organisational, presentational and project management skills.
• Ability to work in teams, be flexible and agile.
• Ability to work to tight deadlines and respond to changing client needs.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office — Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

What’s in it for me?

• The chance to operate within a large global organisation that is incredibly passionate about how it works and cares for its clients across the world.
• Excellent development, career mobility and advancement opportunities.
• Client exposure, across a variety of disciplines, at an early stage.
• Learning every day, throughout your career.
• Exposure to working with some of the best people in the industry.
• Making an impact – we work with major organisations and our work affects millions of people every day (it’s true, we’ve done the maths!).
• Focus on developing analytical and consulting skills. Our graduate roles in our Actuarial team include rotations in our analytical services team to give you a good technical grounding and base knowledge of the area you will be working in. There will also be a strong focus on ensuring softer skills are developed alongside.
• Substantial and flexible study support package allowing you to gain a professional exam qualification.
• Competitive reward package and a fantastic suite of employee benefits including a generous pension contribution, life/health assurance and private medical insurance.
• Generous flexible benefits including a great holiday allowance, volunteering opportunities and some less “traditional” benefits too.
• Flexible working available as standard.
• Open positive culture where diversity is valued and celebrated.

Preferred qualifications

• You will have achieved a minimum of a 2:1 degree or be on track to achieve this. If your degree discipline is not mathematics-based, you should have a minimum of a grade A mathematics at A level (or equivalent).
• We will also consider your application if you are a non-graduate with a minimum of 2 years’ equivalent industry experience
• Legal authorisation to work in the UK on a permanent and ongoing basis.

Join us

At Mercer, diversity and inclusion are vital components of our future and our goal is to leverage the unique skillsets that each person brings to the company. We provide all colleagues with a supportive, collaborative environment that leads to innovative ideas and the ability to make an impact. If you thrive on a challenge and enjoy connecting with people, we’re looking for you!