Head of Credit Strategy & Policy L6 Head / Director

Mal.AI; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Mal.AI in Abu Dhabi seeks a senior lending strategist to design product suites, set credit policies, and optimise risk-adjusted profitability. The role requires deep analytics, regulatory awareness, and experience translating AI outputs into actionable decisioning rules.

You will lead portfolio analytics, risk segmentation, and KPI governance while collaborating with Finance and Credit Intelligence to advance compliant, profitable lending across GCC markets.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in lending strategy, credit policy, or risk management.
• Deep understanding of lending economics: NIM, cost of risk, LTV, approval rate optimization.
• Hands-on experience designing credit policies for at least one product: personal loans, auto finance, BNPL, or student lending.
• Strong portfolio analytics skills - cohort analysis, vintage curves, loss forecasting.
• Ability to work with AI/ML model outputs without necessarily building the models yourself.
• Experience operating in a regulated financial environment.
• Background at a lender with strong credit strategy pedigree (Capital One, Aff... etc)
• Experience building a credit policy function from scratch
• Exposure to Islamic finance or GCC lending markets

Responsibilities

• Design Mal's lending product suite and pricing structures across all products.
• Define credit approval policies, loan limits, and pricing structures across products.
• Design borrower risk tier segmentation (prime, near-prime, subprime) and set APR bands.
• Translate AI model outputs into actionable lending rules and decisioning logic.
• Own portfolio analytics: cohort analysis, vintage analysis, loss forecasting.
• Continuously optimize the approval rate vs default rate tradeoff.
• Build and maintain credit policy documentation for regulatory review.
• Partner with the Head of Credit Intelligence to align model development with policy needs.
• Work with Finance to ensure lending economics support unit profitability targets.
• Conduct a comprehensive review of existing credit policies and identify improvements.
• Develop a strategic roadmap for the advancement of credit products in alignment with Mal s ethical standards.
• Initiate a training program for the credit team on regulatory changes and best practices.
• Establish KPIs for credit risk management and reporting.
• Build relationships with stakeholders and industry experts to enhance Mal s credit strategy

Skills

Lending strategy

Credit policy

Risk management

Portfolio analytics

AI/ML alignment

Regulatory compliance

Stakeholder management

Job description

Responsibilities

• Design Mal s lending product suite car financing student loans personal loans SME to follow
• Define credit approval policies loan limits and pricing structures across all products
• Design borrower risk tier segmentation prime near-prime subprime and set APR bands
• Translate AI model outputs into actionable lending rules and decisioning logic
• Own portfolio analytics cohort analysis vintage analysis loss forecasting
• Continuously optimize the approval rate vs default rate tradeoff
• Build and maintain credit policy documentation for regulatory review
• Partner with the Head of Credit Intelligence to align model development with policy needs
• Work with Finance to ensure lending economics support unit profitability targets
• Conduct a comprehensive review of existing credit policies and identify areas for improvement
• Develop a strategic roadmap for the advancement of credit products in alignment with Mal s ethical standards
• Initiate a training program for the credit team on the latest regulatory changes and best practices
• Establish key performance indicators KPIs for credit risk management and reporting
• Build relationships with key stakeholders and industry experts to enhance Mal s credit strategy

Requirements

• 10+ years in lending strategy, credit policy, or risk management
• Deep understanding of lending economics: NIM, cost of risk, LTV, approval rate optimization
• Hands-on experience designing credit policies for at least one product: personal loans, auto finance, BNPL, or student lending
• Strong portfolio analytics skills - cohort analysis, vintage curves, loss forecasting
• Ability to work with AI/ML model outputs without necessarily building the models yourself
• Experience operating in a regulated financial environment
• Background at a lender with strong credit strategy pedigree (Capital One, Aff... etc)
• Experience building a credit policy function from scratch
• Exposure to Islamic finance or GCC lending markets