Senior Data Scientist - Credit Eligibility

M-KOPA; Newcastle upon Tyne; Remote; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Professional development programmes

Family-friendly policies

Flexible working arrangements

Well-being support

Job summary

M-KOPA is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to join our Credit & Underwriting team. This fully remote role involves building machine learning models that shape loan eligibility and pricing strategies across five African markets. You'll work in a small team with end-to-end project ownership, driving digital and financial inclusion for millions of customers. The ideal candidate has strong machine learning skills, experience in predictive modeling, and is proficient in Python and SQL. We offer a flexible, supportive work environment that values diversity and innovation.

Qualifications

• Experience building predictive models, particularly credit scoring or risk models.
• Strong ML background with hands-on experience in model development.
• Proficiency in Python, SQL, and relevant ML libraries.
• Experience translating model outputs into business strategies.

Responsibilities

• Build and refine machine learning and credit risk models for lending strategy.
• Develop and test ML models for loan eligibility and pricing.
• Analyze repayment data to improve eligibility criteria.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to scale models into production.

Skills

Machine learning

Predictive modeling

Data communication skills

Feature engineering

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Python

SQL

scikit-learn

pandas

numpy

Job description

Join our Credit & Underwriting team! We're looking for a Senior Data Scientist who loves building machine learning models and solving ambiguous data problems. This is a fully remote data science role within a growing mission-driven fintech. You'll own the models that shape loan eligibility and pricing across 5 African markets. This is a small team with big responsibility, where your work directly shapes lending strategy for millions of customers.

Your models will directly shape how millions of underserved customers access credit for the first time. We've already helped over 7 million customers access over $2 billion in credit, and we process over 1.5 million payments daily. It's your chance to be part of something that's literally transforming lives across an entire continent.

The Opportunity

• Mission-driven data science: Build credit scoring and pricing models that expand financial access for customers traditionally excluded from formal lending
• Global recognition: Join a company named by TIME 100 as one of the world's most influential and by the Financial Times as Africa's fastest-growing for 4 consecutive years (2022–2025)
• Scale challenges: Work with rich repayment datasets across 5 African markets, developing ML models that balance growth with credit risk at scale
• Environmental impact: We're carbon-negative, having displaced over 2.1 million tonnes of emissions

What You'll Do

At M-KOPA, you'll build and refine the machine learning and credit risk models that power our lending strategy. You'll sit within a small, high-performing team with end-to-end ownership of credit scoring, loan eligibility, and pricing optimisation — working cross-functionally with engineers, analysts, growth managers, and commercial stakeholders across multiple countries. Join us in combining cutting‑edge data science with purpose-driven work that makes digital and financial inclusion possible across Africa.

Day to day, you'll be:

• Building and refining credit scoring and risk modelling solutions that assess customer creditworthiness, default risk, and loan pricing across multiple markets
• Developing and testing ML models for loan eligibility and pricing optimisation through A/B testing and statistical analysis
• Continuously improving eligibility criteria by analysing repayment data, engineering new features, and monitoring credit performance for risk shifts and margin impact
• Collaborating cross-functionally with engineers, data scientists, and commercial stakeholders to scale models into production

Technical Environment

• Languages & Libraries: Python, SQL, scikit-learn, pandas, numpy, and relevant ML libraries
• Techniques: Predictive modelling, classification/regression, feature engineering, model selection, hyperparameter tuning, A/B testing
• Domain: Credit scoring, underwriting, loan pricing, risk analytics

Our Team Approach

• Low-ego environment where diversity, innovation, and collaboration drive both commercial growth and social impact
• High degree of ownership over your domain — you're empowered to make data-driven decisions and prioritise solutions
• Cross-functional collaboration with engineering, product, and commercial teams across multiple countries
• Analytical rigour combined with deep market understanding to serve customers excluded from formal financial services

What You Need

Credit accessibility and affordability are at the core of this role. You'll join a small, high-performing team where every day brings new modelling challenges and analyses that shape our lending strategy. If building models that can transform financial access for millions of African customers excites you, we'd love to hear from you.

Required Experience

• Experience building predictive models, particularly credit scoring, risk models, or similar classification/regression problems
• Strong ML background with hands‑on experience in model development, validation, deployment, and performance monitoring
• Proficiency in Python, SQL, and relevant ML libraries (scikit-learn, pandas, numpy, etc.) with experience in feature engineering, model selection, and hyperparameter tuning
• Experience translating complex model outputs into actionable business strategies and stakeholder communications
• Ability to work cross‑functionally with product, engineering, and commercial teams
• Strong data communication skills — written, oral, and visual

Highly Desirable

• Experience in credit, underwriting, lending analytics, or fintech modelling

Location & Benefits

• Fully remote Data Scientist role within UTC -1 to UTC +3 time zones
• Work with diverse teams across UK, Europe, and Africa
• Professional development programmes and coaching partnerships
• Family-friendly policies and flexible working arrangements
• Well‑being support and career growth opportunities

M-KOPA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained staff. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

M-KOPA explicitly prohibits the use of Forced or Child Labour and respects the rights of its employees to agree to terms and conditions of employment voluntarily, without coercion, and freely terminate their employment on appropriate notice. M-KOPA shall ensure that its Employees are of legal working age and shall comply with local laws for youth employment or student work, such as internships or apprenticeships.

M-KOPA does not collect/charge any money as a pre-employment or post-employment requirement. This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’, or any other kind of money in exchange for offer letters or interviews at any time during the hiring process.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Shortlisting and interviews will take place at any stage during the recruitment process. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a suitable candidate is selected before the advertised closing date.

Other standard applicant eligibility, background checks: If your application is successful M-KOPA undertakes pre-employment background checks as part of its recruitment process, these include: criminal records, identification verification, academic qualifications, employment dates and employer references.