Head of Risk and Underwriting

W Talent; Greater London; Remote; GBP 80,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

vESOP

Bonus potential

Co-working access

Travel to Berlin

Job summary

W Talent in London is seeking a founding UK leader to build the credit risk and underwriting function from the ground up, with autonomy and direct access to senior leadership. The role is initially remote with co-working space as the UK presence is established.

You will own UK credit risk policy, underwrite SME loan applications, and collaborate with Berlin-based Risk and Data teams, reporting to the CFO. Regular travel to Berlin is expected and fully supported.

Qualifications

• Experience in SME lending, fintech or embedded lending.
• Strong analytical and reporting capability with BI/visualisation skills.
• Excellent communication, able to work remotely in the UK.

Responsibilities

• Own and develop the UK credit risk policy and underwriting framework.
• Underwrite SME loan applications within lender credit boxes.
• Establish UK-specific policies, processes and procedures.
• Monitor portfolio and credit performance, identifying emerging risks.
• Produce and own relevant reporting with support from the wider team.
• Partner with German colleagues across Risk, Compliance and Data.
• Act as the key UK-based risk and underwriting contact.

Skills

SME lending

BI & reporting

Communication

Tools

BI visualization tools

Job description

Embedded SME Lending Fintech | London (remote initially, co-working provided) | £80,000–£95,000 + vESOP + potential bonus

The opportunity

Our client is a fast-growing European embedded-finance and lending platform that has just secured a significant UK platform partnership. The wider operation can largely be supported from its European headquarters, but risk and underwriting needs dedicated local ownership. That is where you come in.

This is a founding hire for the UK market and, for the time being, the only full-time employee based in the UK. You will build the UK credit risk and underwriting function from the ground up, with real autonomy, direct access to senior leadership and a genuine stake in the outcome.

You will report to the CFO, who currently oversees credit risk and underwriting, and work closely with the Risk, Compliance, Data and operational teams in Berlin.

The role (approximately 70% hands-on, 30% strategic)

• Own and develop the UK credit risk policy and underwriting framework
• Operate within lender credit boxes and underwrite SME loan applications
• Establish UK-specific policies, processes and procedures where they are not yet fully built
• Monitor portfolio and credit performance, identifying emerging areas of risk
• Produce and own relevant reporting, with support from the wider team
• Partner with German colleagues across Risk, Compliance and Data
• Act as the key UK-based risk and underwriting contact as the market develops

About you

We are looking for someone who has built or established something before, not simply operated within a mature, existing framework.

• Strong SME lending experience, ideally within fintech, embedded lending, neo-banking, revenue-based finance or a closely related environment
• Strong analytical and reporting capability, comfortable with BI and visualisation tools and able to own or shape your own reporting structure
• Excellent communication skills. You will be working remotely and independently in the UK, so building strong relationships with colleagues in Germany and communicating clearly across functions is critical

Highly desirable

• Experience from a direct competitor or closely adjacent business in the UK SME finance space
• Experience setting up policies, processes or credit frameworks in a start-up or scale-up environment

We place far more weight on relevant experience than on years served. Someone with 8+ years in the right niche could be an excellent fit, and more experienced candidates are equally welcome where the fit is strong.

What's on offer

• Base salary of £80,000–£95,000, with flexibility for an exceptional candidate
• Participation in the company's virtual employee stock option plan (vESOP)
• Potential performance-related bonus
• Co-working space access while the UK presence is established
• Regular travel to Berlin, fully supported by the company
• The chance to shape a function and a market from day one

Working model and timing

A fully remote role with a preference for access to London. The company already has a UK entity with payroll and employment infrastructure in place, so there is no setup delay. This is a priority hire with a start date as soon as possible. Both permanent candidates (notice periods understood) and strong contractor or interim profiles who can move quickly will be considered.