Credit Strategy Manager

About Allica Bank

Allica is the UK’s fastest growing company - and the fastest-growing financial technology (Fintech) firm ever. Our purpose is to help established SMEs, one of the last major underserved opportunities in Fintech. Established SMEs are the backbone of local communities - representing over a third of our economy - yet have been largely neglected both by traditional high street banks and modern fintech providers.

Department Description

The Credit Strategy Team sits at the heart of Allica’s lending proposition, responsible for managing credit risk, defining lending participation choices and driving forward growth through credit strategies that optimise the balance of risk and reward in our portfolio. To do so the team balances excellence in problem-solving and analytical thinking, with robust technical and data knowledge.

Role Description

As a Credit Strategy Manager you will play a key role in defining and shaping our lending proposition, making strategic decisions to drive growth and manage the risk in a loan portfolio of £3bn and growing, and playing a pivotal role in driving Allica’s growing competitive advantage and success in the market. You will utilise your thorough expertise on data analytics, as well as your in-depth knowledge of credit products, and SME financing to drive Allica’s journey in disrupting the SME lending industry, fuelling market-leading growth. This fast-paced role provides a great opportunity for exposure to senior stakeholders and to make a meaningful impact shaping the way in which data is used and portfolio decisions are made at Allica.

Principal Accountabilities

• Lead our credit strategy
• Design frameworks and credit strategies that guide Allica’s lending participation choices and balance risk and reward in the portfolio in line with Allica’s broader strategy and risk appetite.
• Conduct deep-dives into emerging areas of potential risk and opportunity, separating the signal from the noise, sharing the key insights with the Lending Leadership team.
• Drive in-market actions, channelling Allica’s lending appetite, product development and growth to the areas with the optimal balance between risk and reward.
• Regularly assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the credit strategies to ensure continued alignment with risk appetite and sustained success, staying abreast of evolving regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
• Contribute to the optimisation of pricing strategies to enhance overall performance and profitability.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including data scientists, data analytics, data engineering, marketing, underwriting, and product teams to design and implement credit strategy changes.
• Drive our credit risk monitoring
• Improve the mechanisms for tracking and reporting lending performance, identifying and monitoring emerging risks, and integrating insights into credit strategies.
• Identify key risks, opportunities and trends in a structured way, and assessing their evolution over time.
• Develop insightful reporting for the core decision-making committees in the bank, including dashboards and presentations to provide insights into the performance of the credit portfolio.
• Identify and work with internal and third-party data sources, and implement innovative solutions that create value and drive competitive differentiation across the lending journey.
• Support credit risk forecasting and analysis
• Contribute to the Bank’s forecasting of credit risk to include impairments under IFRS9, Probability of Default, Loss Given Default, Exposure at Default and Expected Loss.
• Assist with the annual review and challenge of the IFRS9 model methodology and assumptions to ensure ECL calculations are in line with IFRS9 standards.

Personal Attributes

• Able to smell test strategies (i.e. going beyond just the data) based on experience of credit performance as seen in portfolios in the past.
• Thorough knowledge of credit risk assessment methodologies, credit products and regulatory requirements.
• In depth knowledge and direct experience of SME credit requirements and products.
• Well versed in credit risk portfolio analysis and monitoring.
• Understanding of credit risk policies and related appetite statements.
• Understanding of PD, LGD, EAD and SICR models.

Data Fluency:

• Hands-on and proficiency in using SQL and Python for data extraction, manipulation, analysis and modelling.
• Experience working with GCP and Looker is a plus.
• Strong capability in use of Microsoft Office suite with particular focus on Excel and PowerPoint.

Analytical:

• Exceptional problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
• Experienced and able to produce well thought out analysis and summarise key messages in a succinct manner that are suitable for different audiences.
• Able to differentiate the signal from the noise in complex credit and data analysis.

A bachelor's or master’s degree in finance, economics, mathematics or other quantitative field.

Ownership:

• Highly motivated and passionate to make a real difference to Allica and the SME market, and to continuously learn and develop yourself.
• Ability to self-start, prioritise objectives and to work to tight timescales.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, able to foster effective collaboration with cross-functional teams to get things done.

Working at Allica Bank

At Allica Bank we want to ensure our employees have the right tools and environment in which to succeed in their role and in support of our customers. Our employees are at the heart of everything we do, so our benefits are designed with you in mind:

• Full onboarding support and continued development opportunities
• Options for flexible working
• Regular social activities
• Pension contributions
• Discretionary bonus scheme
• Private health cover
• Life assurance
• Family friendly policies including enhanced Maternity