Head of Credit Risk (Payments)
Our client is a leading UK based payment solution fintech brand looking to hire an experienced underwriting/credit risk manager.
This is a newly created role and will manage a team of 6 credit analysts based in Singapore and HK. It is a role covering APAC region.
The role
We are looking for a head of credit risk to join our Underwriting team in Singapore. You will be part of a team that is responsible for underwriting enterprise customer applications with a focus on analysis relevant to Business Model, Credit Exposure and enhanced Financial Analysis. The ideal candidate must have a passion for coaching and developing people as you will be managing a team of underwriters with a focus on delivering results for the business.
This role is hands-on and highly cross-functional, requiring close collaboration with our key internal players (Business Development, Sales, Account Managers, Risk, Legal teams and Senior Management), and our high value merchants and partners.
How you'll make an impact
- Oversee people and performance management for a team of underwriters
- Responsible for work assignments across your team within defined SLAs and productivity targets set at the department and company level
- Serve as the first escalation point for all applications and tasks handled by your team
- Serve as the first level approver for applications submitted by your team, providing expert level insight into the business model risk and credit risk of a merchant
- Leveraging experience, you will upscale junior team members through training initiatives on business model and credit analysis, in-line with internal policy guidelines
- Ensure policies and processes are understood and adopted by your team to drive quality and efficiency
- Conduct proficient analysis of P&L, balance sheet and cash flow statements of large, complex deals and prepare persuasive summaries to assess micro and macro risks, mitigants and make balanced recommendations to the Credit Risk Committee
- Identify operational issues and areas for improvement, and make detailed recommendations on how to improve the merchant onboarding experience
- Foster a culture of collaboration with key internal stakeholders, in particular Sales, and first and second line Risk and Compliance personnel and Legal
- Contribute to Underwriting initiatives and projects as required
Qualifications
What we're looking for
- Expert level understanding in financial analysis with proficiency in evaluating high risk lines of businesses including travel, subscriptions, ticketing and events, securities dealers, gambling, amongst others
- Passion for coaching and nurturing talent, helping team members develop their technical skills and professional skills to achieve their goals
- Apply qualitative and quantitative criteria to evaluate teammate performance against KPIs
- Demonstrated ability to make sound judgment, balancing risk and reward
- Possess excellent written and interpersonal communication skills
- Adopt a ‘customer first’ mindset to deliver creative solutions for our merchants
- Competent escalation management - act with urgency to ensure escalations are prioritized, owned, and resolved effectively
- Ability to continually monitor and manage competing priorities and adjust accordingly
- Possess enthusiasm to drive process improvement initiatives, and contribute to broader department initiatives and projects
- High performance mindset defined by rigorous discipline and execution intensity
- Contribute to cross team collaboration and building a One Team culture
- Leading by example, you will demonstrate our core Values and live out our Operating Principles in everything you do
Experience you will bring to the role
- Coaching and developing the knowledge and skill of others within your domain expertise, preferably demonstrated through previous people management positions
- Experience related to underwriting, credit insurance and/or commercial lending
- Domain expertise within the payments industry will be preferable
- Work in a team that uses qualitative and quantitative targets to measure performance
- Expert level financial statement analysis and credit exposure assessment ability
- Experience with concise written and oral presentations, and ability to deliver complex messages in a clear and focused manner
- A highly analytical team player who loves to evaluate financial and business risks