Lead Risk Manager

Summary

Join FairMoney, a leading mobile banking institution in emerging markets, as a highly skilled and strategic leader overseeing the collections lifecycle. You will develop analytics and strategies to optimize recovery rates, manage a team, and leverage deep analytical capabilities with a strong understanding of ECL modeling and collections operations. This role demands a balance of strategic thinking and hands-on data analysis, requiring experience in managing people and optimizing recovery processes. You will collaborate across departments, ensuring effective communication and a systems engineering approach to problem-solving. The ideal candidate will drive continuous improvement through testing, iteration, and cross-functional collaboration, aligning the collection strategy with broader business goals. FairMoney offers a comprehensive benefits package including private health insurance, a pension plan, training and development opportunities, remote work options, and paid time off.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in collections analytics, credit risk, or a similar data-driven strategy role, with a strong track record of performance optimization in unsecured lending
• At least 2 years in a leadership or team management role, with experience in leading and developing cross-functional teams
• Experience with managing large-scale, multi-faceted collections strategies, including call centers, customer engagement, and ECL modeling
• Proficiency in SQL, Python, or similar data extraction and manipulation tools for handling large datasets
• Strong experience with statistical modeling and analytics tools to develop and improve ECL models and optimize recovery strategies
• Expertise in cohort analysis, book analysis, and segmentation strategies, understanding the nuances between these approaches and their impact on recovery performance
• Ability to apply predictive analytics and build actionable strategies to improve key KPIs, including recovery rates, aging of debt, and delinquency rates
• A deep understanding of the relationship between underwriting decisions and collections performance, and how those impact the recovery process
• Ability to isolate and quantify the effects of underwriting vs. collections strategies on performance, using data to drive improvements in both areas
• Experience optimizing recovery strategies across different segments of a consumer loan portfolio
• Ability to think strategically about collections while being hands-on in analyzing the data and understanding the granular details (SQL queries, statistical models)
• Demonstrated success in test-learn-iterate approaches, where strategies are continuously optimized based on rigorous data testing and insights
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to collaborate across departments, manage teams, and present findings to senior leadership
• Ability to lead teams in the design and execution of recovery strategies that balance both operational excellence and customer satisfaction
• The ability to approach challenges with a systems engineering mindset, understanding how different parts of the collection process (underwriting, customer service, call centers, strategy) interact and affect overall performance
• Data-driven, objective decision-making that can identify areas for performance isolation and improvements in the collections lifecycle

Responsibilities

• Lead the analytics and strategy for optimizing collections processes across the unsecured lending portfolio
• Develop, maintain, and refine ECL models (Expected Credit Loss) to predict and optimize recovery rates
• Use cohort analysis and book analysis to assess performance, measure recovery effectiveness, and adjust strategy based on trends
• Drive A/B testing, test-learn-iterate approaches to improve collections strategies, optimizing both short-term recovery and long-term customer relationships
• Understand how different data dimensions affect each other and synthesize findings to create actionable insights
• Perform data extraction and analysis (SQL, Python, or other analytics tools) to monitor collections performance, ensuring accuracy and completeness in reporting
• Build sophisticated models to isolate recovery rates impacted by underwriting decisions vs. collections efforts
• Conduct in-depth analyses to understand portfolio behavior and segment customers based on recovery likelihood and repayment capacity
• Evaluate the relationship between credit underwriting decisions and recovery performance, identifying areas for improvement in both functions
• Manage a cross-functional team of analysts and collections specialists, ensuring they have the tools, training, and support to optimize performance
• Continuously refine and enhance the recovery rates across different segments, ensuring alignment between underwriting, collections, and customer service
• Work closely with the call center teams, providing guidance on the tonality of calls, communication approaches, and overall strategy for handling collections
• Develop and track key performance metrics for the team, providing regular feedback and leading initiatives to improve operational efficiency
• Ensure the collection strategy aligns with broader business goals, focusing on profitability, risk management, and customer experience
• Manage and optimize the entire collections lifecycle, from initial outreach through final resolution, while balancing risk and customer satisfaction
• Implement innovative strategies to improve recovery rates, considering customer segmentation, call center strategies, and collection tools
• Collaborate closely with key internal stakeholders, such as the underwriting team, data science teams, marketing, and senior leadership, to refine the collections strategy and align on business objectives
• Effectively communicate insights and recommendations to senior leadership, including reports on performance, improvements, and optimizations
• Advocate for a test-learn-iterate mindset across departments to drive data-informed decisions that continuously improve collections outcomes

Preferred Qualifications

• Proactive: Anticipates challenges and continuously seeks new ways to improve processes
• Adaptable: Comfortable in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and capable of adjusting strategy in real-time
• Results-Oriented: Driven to achieve measurable results, with a strong focus on improving key performance metrics like recovery rates, delinquency rates, and cost to recover

Benefits

• Private Health Insurance
• Pension Plan
• Training & Development
• Remote work
• Paid Time Off