The Senior Data Scientist - Credit will own the development and refinement of predictive models for loan eligibility and pricing across five African markets at M-KOPA. This role is central to shaping credit strategy for millions of underserved customers, working in a small, high-performing team with end-to-end ownership of credit scoring and risk modeling.
What You'll Do
- Build and refine credit scoring models that assess customer creditworthiness, default risk, and loan pricing across multiple markets
- Develop and test ML models for loan eligibility and pricing optimisation through A/B testing and statistical analysis
- Continuously improve eligibility criteria by analysing repayment data, engineering new features, and monitoring credit performance for risk shifts and margin impact
- Collaborate cross-functionally with engineers, data scientists, and commercial stakeholders to scale models into production
What We're Looking For
- Experience building predictive models, particularly credit scoring, risk models, or similar classification/regression problems
- Strong ML background with hands-on experience in model development, validation, deployment, and performance monitoring
- Proficiency in Python, SQL, and relevant ML libraries (scikit-learn, pandas, numpy, etc.) with experience in feature engineering, model selection, and hyperparameter tuning
- Experience translating complex model outputs into actionable business strategies and stakeholder communications
- Ability to work cross-functionally with product, engineering, and commercial teams
- Strong data communication skills — written, oral, and visual
Nice to Have
- Experience in credit, underwriting, lending analytics, or fintech modelling
Technical Stack
- Python
- SQL
- scikit-learn
- pandas
- numpy
- ML libraries
- Predictive modelling
- Classification/regression
- Feature engineering
- Model selection
- Hyperparameter tuning
- A/B testing
Team & Environment
- Small, high-performing, low-ego team with end-to-end ownership of credit scoring, loan eligibility, and pricing optimisation
Benefits & Compensation
- Fully remote role within UTC -1 to UTC +3 time zones
- Work with diverse teams across UK, Europe, and Africa
- Professional development programmes and coaching partnerships
- Family-friendly policies and flexible working arrangements
- Well-being support and career growth opportunities
Work Mode
- Fully remote, flexible working arrangements
- Locations: UTC -1 to UTC +3 time zones
M-KOPA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained staff. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. M-KOPA explicitly prohibits the use of Forced or Child Labour and respects the rights of its employees to agree to terms and conditions of employment voluntarily, without coercion, and freely terminate their employment on appropriate notice. M-KOPA ensures employees are of legal working age and complies with local laws for youth employment or student work. Pre-employment background checks include criminal records, identification verification, academic qualifications, employment dates, and employer references.
