Data Scientist (Data Analyst) - League of Lending Team

We’re here because we believe in small businesses. We believe they deserve better than waiting weeks for a loan. And we believe it’s our job to help them grow.

We started in 2012 with these principles, and we hold true to them today – now that we’re one of the fastest-growing fintechs in Europe. In the time between, we’ve built the best tech platform in lending, won several awards and opened up £3.5 billion in loans to over 90,000 businesses.

So what’s next? Our mission now is to help one million businesses who need us. To do this, we’ll need new products and partnerships. But most of all, we’ll need smart, hands-on people to join us on the journey and get us to our goal.

The role

We are looking for a Data Scientist who loves to code and get their hands dirty with raw data. It doesn't really matter whether people call you an Engineer, Physicist or Mathematician, what matters to us is that you are a curious and continuous learner with a hunger to achieve the very best in what you do.

Our Data Scientists develop cutting edge algorithms using statistical modelling and machine learning techniques. Using Python (Pandas, NumPy, and Scikit-learn) they work in a fast-paced, collaborative and dynamic environment to produce data driven solutions, which will have significant business impact.

The League of Lending (LoL) team is responsible for managing credit risk. Working as a Data Scientist within LoL your primary focus would be on improving the performance of our risk models which underpin all of iwoca's lending. Improvements can come from more efficient use of existing data, constructing data connections or, longer term, on building processes including RCTs to learn more effectively about credit risk. You will own infrastructure improvement projects, model development and MLOps.

As you progress in your role, you will have the opportunity to focus on other areas maximising value i.e.; defining and managing credit risk appetite, developing statistical models to estimate risks, offer amounts, and optimising discriminative credit scoring.

Requirements

• Strong numerate background, e.g. Degree in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent.
• Must have a background in Probability & Statistics.
• Programming experience: Python, Java, C/C++ or similar.
• Self-starter with ability to work autonomously in an unstructured environment.
• Demonstrable experience using machine learning techniques.
• Knowledge of computer-science fundamentals.
• Experience with Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, R, Matlab, and/or SQL.

Don’t take this list as prescriptive: it’s just to give you a sense of who might do well on the job. We’d still love to hear from you if you don’t hit every point on the list, or if you have other experience.

We want to pay all of our employees fairly, so that’s why we regularly benchmark salaries based on market rates and to recognise your increasing value to our business.

We are ideally looking to pay from £45,000 to £60,000 for this role, this isn’t fixed so let us know in your application what you are looking for. We know there may be some candidates who may not fit within this salary range, if this is the case we would still love to hear from you.

We work hard to make iwoca a place where everyone feels welcome - we want everyone to confidently be themselves. For us, diversity isn't an optional add-on. It's the thing that makes us great.

Benefits

We put a lot of effort into making iwoca a brilliant place to work:

• Offices in London, Leeds, and Frankfurt
• Events and clubs, like bingo, comedy nights, yoga classes, football…
• Two company retreats a year, we’ve been to France, Italy, Spain and further afield
• Plenty of drinks and snacks in our offices.

We offer a wide range of benefits:

• Medical insurance from Vitality, including discounted gym membership
• 25 days’ holiday and an extra day off for your birthday
• Instant access to emotional and mental health support with our partner, Spill
• Generous maternity leave and shared parental leave
• A nursery tax benefit scheme to help you save money
• Paid volunteering time to support your chosen charity
• Extra leave if you want to travel or study
• One-month fully paid sabbatical after 4 years
• Cycle-to-work scheme and electric car scheme

And to make sure we all keep learning, we offer:

• An L&D budget for everyone, including a book budget
• Company-wide talks with internal and external speakers
• Access to learning platforms like Treehouse.