Head of Credit Risk

Monese; Greater London; Remote; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Private medical insurance (Healthcare)

Hybrid working

L&D budget and learning days

Annual eyecare allowance

Birthday and wedding leave

Job summary

Monese is building a new, regulated UK consumer credit capability from the ground up. We are seeking a senior credit risk leader to own strategy, policy and the end-to-end credit lifecycle, from product concept to regulator-ready launch.

You will partner with Product, Legal & Compliance and Tech to shape a responsible, commercially sound lending proposition and build the team as the book scales. You will drive CONC compliance, IFRS 9 provisioning and risk analytics, while standing up the loan

Qualifications

• Senior credit risk leadership experience in UK consumer lending (bank, lender, or fintech).
• Experience taking a new UK consumer credit product from zero to launch.
• Deep knowledge of UK consumer credit regulation (CONC, Consumer Duty, Consumer Credit Act).
• Experience procuring and implementing a loan management system or decisioning platform.
• Collections experience, including outsourcing.
• Strong credit risk modelling foundation: affordability assessment, scorecards and decisioning, and fluency with credit bureau and Open Banking data.
• IFRS 9 provisioning and loss forecasting.

Responsibilities

• Shape the product from concept to launch with cross-functional teams.
• Own credit strategy and policy including risk appetite.
• Build affordability/creditworthiness models and decisioning logic.
• Lead procurement of loan management/decisioning platform.
• Design and stand up collections strategy and partners.
• Meet FCA obligations and regulatory engagements.
• Own portfolio performance analytics and reporting.
• Build and lead the credit risk function as the book scales.

Skills

Credit risk leadership

UK credit product launch

Regulatory knowledge

Loan management system procurement

Collections strategy

Credit risk modelling

IFRS 9 provisioning

Scale-up leadership

Tools

Loan management system

Credit bureau data integration

Open Banking data integration

Job description

Pockit and Monese are all-in-one money apps that make it easier for people to access and manage the financial tools they need to take control of their money.

We provide vital financial services, from accounts and cards to income advance solutions. In October 2024, Pockit acquired Monese, bringing together two complementary businesses and creating a leading fintech company focused on serving people who are underserved by traditional banks.

Together, we serve more than three million customers across the UK and Europe.

We're a diverse, international and energetic team, with colleagues based across London, Newcastle, Tallinn and remote teams across Central Europe. We value curiosity, ambition, accountability and resilience, and we want everyone to feel at home, have a voice and know that their contribution matters. We give people the trust and space to take ownership, share ideas, influence decisions, and make a real impact on our customers and our business.

The role

We hold a UK consumer credit licence and are now building a regulated lending business in our own right. This is a rare, genuinely greenfield mandate: you will stand up the credit risk function from the ground up and play a central role in shaping the lending products themselves: not inherit someone else's book and policy.

You'll be the senior owner of credit risk, accountable to the executive team and central to our engagement with the FCA. Equally, you'll sit shoulder-to-shoulder with Product to turn early product concepts into responsible, commercially sound, regulator-ready propositions. We're looking for someone who has done the hard 0-to-1 work of launching a new UK credit product before, and wants to do it again, but better.

Because we serve financially underserved customers, good customer outcomes and responsible lending aren't a compliance afterthought here; they're the point. You'll set the standard.

What you'll do

• Shape the product: Partner with Product, Finance, Legal & Compliance to take our lending propositions from concept to launch: defining what we lend, to whom, on what terms, and how we price for fair value. Your credit thinking will directly inform product design, not just sign off on it after the fact.
• Own credit strategy and policy: Set our risk appetite and credit policy for a new regulated consumer credit product: lending criteria, affordability and creditworthiness assessment, and the decisioning approach: built on credit bureau data, Open Banking, and our own rich account-behaviour data.
• Build the decisioning and affordability models: Design and stand up the affordability/creditworthiness assessment and decisioning logic, CONC-compliant from day one, with vulnerable-customer identification built in.
• Lead procurement of the loan management system: Own the selection and procurement of our loan management / decisioning platform end-to-end — requirements definition, RFI/RFP, vendor evaluation, commercial negotiation and implementation oversight, working with Tech and Product on bureau, Open Banking and payments integration.
• Design and stand up collections: Build our arrears and collections strategy in line with CONC 7 (forbearance, vulnerable customers, fair treatment), spanning early, mid and late-stage. Select and manage outsourced/third-party collections partners, and own the commercial and oversight relationship with them.
• Meet our FCA obligations: Ensure the product and all credit processes satisfy FCA requirements: CONC, the Consumer Duty (target market, fair value, outcomes monitoring) and the Consumer Credit Act. Support our regulatory engagement, including the Principle 11 notification and any Variation of Permission, and be ready to hold the relevant Senior Managers & Certification Regime function.
• Own portfolio performance: Establish credit risk MI and reporting; own loss forecasting, IFRS 9 provisioning, vintage and portfolio analysis, and the feedback loop back into policy.
• Build the team: Start hands-on, then hire and lead the credit risk function as the book scales.

What you'll bring

• Senior credit risk leadership experience in UK consumer lending - at a bank, lender, or fintech.
• Demonstrable experience taking a new UK consumer credit product from zero to launch: you have done the greenfield build, not just managed a mature portfolio.
• Deep, current knowledge of UK consumer credit regulation: CONC, the Consumer Duty, the Consumer Credit Act, and affordability/creditworthiness requirements.
• Hands‑on experience procuring and implementing a loan management system or decisioning platform: from requirements through vendor selection to go‑live.
• Collections experience, ideally including outsourcing: designing arrears strategy and selecting/managing third‑party collections partners.
• Strong credit risk modelling foundation: affordability assessment, scorecards and decisioning, and fluency with credit bureau and Open Banking data.
• IFRS 9 provisioning and loss forecasting.
• Comfortable operating in a fast‑moving scale‑up: strategic, but happy to be hands‑on while the function is small.

Considered as an advantage:

• Experience with running‑account credit or overdrafts, and/or point‑of‑sale, BNPL or "borrow‑against‑a‑purchase" style lending.
• Experience standing up a lending capability under a firm's own FCA permissions (rather than via a partner's licence).
• Prior SM&CR senior manager experience and FCA approval.
• Experience lending responsibly to financially underserved, thin‑file or near‑prime customers.
• Awareness of lending capital and funding structures (balance‑sheet lending, warehouse facilities, forward‑flow).

Regulatory & conduct

Depending on our final governance structure, it is expected to be a Senior Management Function or Certification Function under the FCA's Senior Managers & Certification Regime, subject to regulatory approval and ongoing fitness-and-propriety requirements.

Why Join Us?

• Make a real difference: Work at the intersection of technology and financial inclusion, helping people take greater control of their money.
• Have a voice: Your ideas and perspective matter. You'll have the opportunity to influence decisions, take ownership and shape how we work.
• Make an impact: Work on initiatives that reach millions of customers across the UK and Europe.
• Work with great people: Join a diverse, international and ambitious team where collaboration and curiosity are encouraged.
• Grow with us: Be part of a fast-moving fintech where you'll have plenty of opportunities to learn, develop and make your mark.

What benefits we offer

We want you to feel supported, valued and able to do your best work - both in and outside the office.

• 25 days annual leave + public holidays, with an extra day for every year worked
• Healthcare: Private medical with Confido, sports compensation with Stebby or discount from a gym.
• 10 paid sick days per year
• Hybrid working + up to 30 days working abroad each year
• L&D budget + 10 paid learning days per year
• Annual eyecare allowance
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave
• Extra paid days off for your birthday and wedding
• Regular social events and team activities
• Monthly recognition awards and Team of the Quarter
• Share options, depending on role and level
• Employee referral bonus
• Free office parking

The use of AI tools or applications during interviews is not permitted.

We value a fair, transparent, and authentic recruitment process. Candidates are expected to participate in all stages of the interview process personally and to represent themselves accurately.

The use of AI interview proxies, real‑time AI co‑pilots or answer‑generation tools, deepfakes, impersonation, synthetic identities, or any other technology intended to misrepresent a candidate’s identity, skills, experience, or responses during the interview process is strictly prohibited.

Any candidate found to be using such methods will be automatically disqualified from the recruitment process.

We kindly ask all candidates to respect the time and effort invested by both sides and to approach the interview process with honesty, professionalism, and integrity. If you are genuinely interested in the opportunity, we look forward to meeting you and learning about your own experience, skills, and perspective.