Head of Credit Decisioning & Reporting in London

Moniepoint is an all-in-one financial services platform for emerging markets and the second-fastest-growing company in Africa. Since 2019, Moniepoint’s technology has powered over 3 million people, offering personal and business banking, payment, credit and business management tools to help them succeed. Moniepoint processed $182 billion in 2023 and currently processes the majority of the POS transactions in Nigeria.

We are looking for a highly experienced hands-on Credit Risk Leader to grow, drive and lead enhanced automated credit risk decisioning strategy and risk analytics across the Moniepoint SME Lending Portfolio. You will likely have extensive experience in either a 1st or 2nd line Credit Risk function and will have developed your skillset across an entire economic lifecycle; your experience will likely have shaped how you think about risk, having developed appropriate early warning indicators, tracked cohorts and portfolio performance and creating appropriate risk frameworks to ensure lending remains within risk appetite.

You will also be skilled in optimising credit risk policy rules, affordability optimisation and developing scorecards; uncovering areas of opportunity as well as pockets of risk and keenly cognisant of the need to balance growth with credit quality and able to ‘hold-the-line’ where necessary; whilst adept at undertaking technical analysis you will also be able to distill complex concepts into simple language and able to explain methodologies and analysis in senior stakeholders across the Bank.

Whilst experienced in leading credit risk teams and helping ensure junior colleagues understand risk from first principles and developing their foundational knowledge, you will also be hands-on and a natural problem solver, inquisitive, curious and obsessed with data-based decisions - you will already be thinking about how AI can drive efficiencies and enhanced risk decisioning - good, so are we!

You will also be innovative and have a passion for extracting value from large disparate datasets; Moniepoint has a vast transactional data ecosystem and you will be tasked with generating novel new ways of uncovering insights that move-the-needle across not only credit risk but more broadly across the department. You will have high standards and ensure your team precision, accuracy and work at pace; you will also be able to coach and mentor junior colleagues enabling them to grow and develop their skillset in their role.

You will also be the 1st Line Credit Risk Delegate for the Head of Credit Risk Analytics and be expected to present at relevant risk committees (e.g. Board Risk Committee, ALCO). You will also be responsible for ensuring lending remains within Risk Appetite and that performance is maintained within agreed target loan loss levels. In addition, you will work with the Head of Credit Risk Analytics and Chief Risk Officer to continually assess and define lending thresholds and parameters to ensure a balanced risk-based approach that also supports business growth objectives. You will also work closely with a range of business partners including Sales, Product and Data Engineering teams to support new strategic product initiatives to drive the growth objectives of the business.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading two teams focused on i) optimising automated credit strategy and risk decisioning across SME lending through continued enhancements to credit policy and scorecard design and ii) responsible for all credit risk analytics and reporting including risk committee and investor performance packs.
• Use sophisticated modelling and statistical approaches to identify areas of growth / credit tightening to support business targets in-line with Risk Appetite.
• Use novel innovative approaches to leverage the vast power of the Moniepoint transactional data ecosystem to generate actionable insights, drive growth and maintain the risk profile of lending portfolios.
• Work with a range of stakeholders across the group (e.g. product and tech) to productionalise proposed risk initiatives.
• Obsessed with innovation and leveraging new data sources to enhance credit risk understanding.

Requirements

• 7+ years within SME/Consumer Credit Risk unsecured lending functions in a hands-on credit risk analytical role.
• Proven risk leader able to upskill, grow and develop junior risk professionals.
• Significant expertise in credit strategy policy rule optimisation (e.g. policy rules, scorecard cut-offs).
• This is a hands-on role and you will be expected to bring significant coding expertise (e.g. SQL, Python) from your previous roles.
• Proven ability to create and enhance Credit Risk reporting to track acquisitions and monitor portfolio performance (including arrears and collections activity) to ensure lending portfolios remain within risk appetite.
• Ability to distill complex concepts into their essential components and able to create effective visualisations and present to C-Level stakeholders.
• Structured logical thinker and a brilliant problem-solver able to manage competing priorities and possess strong time management skills.
• Live our Values - you will strive for innovation, develop new ways of doing things and be relentless in your drive to learn, share and enhance the Credit Risk function within the group.
• Demonstrable experience of best practice and standards to support and enhance credit risk maturity across the business.
• Experienced in working collaboratively with tech and product teams to support the implementation of risk initiatives and an understanding of effective validation and user testing.

Relevant Skills

• Credit Risk Leader
• Data driven and logical thinker.
• Strong analytical skills
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written).
• An ability to work autonomously
• An ability to use an analytical approach to problem-solving
• Strong team player.
• Diligence and strong attention to detail.
• High ethical and professional standards.

What We Can Offer You

• Culture - We put our people first and prioritise the well-being of every team member. We’ve built a company where all opinions carry weight and where all voices are heard. We value and respect each other and always look out for one another. Above all, we are human.
• Learning - We have a learning and development-focused environment with an emphasis on knowledge sharing, training, and regular internal technical talks.
• Compensation - You’ll receive an attractive salary, plus other benefits.

Moniepoint is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and candidates.