About Us:
Wasoko is transforming communities across Africa by revolutionizing access to essential goods and services. By connecting small merchants to the digital economy, we fix inefficient supply chains and provide services previously unavailable to informal businesses. Wasoko aims to provide everything a retailer needs, no wholesalers or banks necessary.
Thousands of retailers across East and West Africa use Wasoko's mobile ordering and delivery platform to receive the goods they need as quickly and cheaply as possible while also accessing growth financing for the first time. We’re looking to grow our team with highly talented and motivated employees who are excited to work in a fast-paced and dynamic startup environment.
About the role and you
We are looking for a data-driven, experienced risk and underwriting professional who can look beyond structured data to help reduce and keep in check non-performing loans.
You are analytical and have extensive experience in risk and underwriting management at traditional banks, Financial Services providers or Fintechs, preferably across Africa. Local knowledge of markets Wasoko operates in would be a major plus. You are an excellent communicator, collaborator, coach and leader who can work with multiple stakeholders across the company to reduce the risk we take on within our Financial Services function.
Location
Initial onboarding will take place in Nairobi, though the role can eventually be based in any of our following current markets with travel expected at least 30% of the time: Kenya (Nairobi), Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), Rwanda (Kigali), Uganda (Kampala), Senegal (Dakar), Ivory Coast (Abidjan)
Reporting into: Global Head of Financial Services
Key Responsibilities
- Build and manage a risk and underwriting function within the Financial Services team to reduce and keep in check non-performing loans across all Wasoko branches
- Pilot, evaluate and iterate on new initiatives that drive down non-performing loans
- Develop credit models to help with a data-driven approach to selecting customers with a higher likelihood of repayment before any credit is extended
- Develop credit scores for existing customers to be able to differentiate between good and bad customers using repayment data
- Bucket customers into segments eligible for different benefits or treatments
- A / B test to select for more optimum treatments to drive particular behaviour like desired repayment outcomes
- Own end to end development, deployment, stabilisation and testing of a credit model / scorecard
- Develop and manage the Know Your Customer (KYC) process including verification, authentication and legal compliance
- Instil and maintain in the team a deep focus on risk that ensures we understand our customers and maintain a high performing portfolio of loans
Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree minimum, advanced risk / underwriting qualifications a plus
- 5+ years in risk / underwriting with experience in banking and / or retail a plus
- 2+ years of management level responsibility and team management experience