Head of Credit Risk

Halan Microfinance Bank; Karachi Division; On-site; PKR 8,000,000 - 12,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Halan Microfinance Bank seeks a seasoned Head of Credit Risk to safeguard capital and steer sound credit risk management across conventional and digital lending. You will lead microfinance credit risk, field underwriting, group lending, and branch operations while guiding regulatory-compliant growth.

Responsibilities include establishing risk appetite, policies, early-warning systems, and oversight of IFRS 9 ECL, PD, LGD, and EAD models.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Banking, Finance, Economics, Business Administration, or related quantitative field; master’s or professional certifications are advantageous.
• 10–15+ years in credit risk management within banking, with at least 5 years in senior executive/managerial roles.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine credit policies, underwriting guidelines, risk appetite, concentration limits and lending frameworks.
• Establish early-warning systems to identify and mitigate portfolio risks across regional and sectoral exposures.
• Serve as Secretary to the Bank Credit Risk Committee and provide analytics to the Executive Board.
• Review and sanction high-value credit applications beyond local authorities.
• Own IFRS 9 ECL framework including PD, LGD, EAD and macro scenarios.
• Lead audit and regulatory engagements related to credit impairment and portfolio quality.
• Oversee automated credit decisioning, digital scorecards and alternative data usage.
• Ensure compliance with microfinance regulations and responsible lending standards.
• Oversee field collections and recovery operations across channels.

Skills

Credit risk management

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Credit underwriting

Digital lending risk

Regulatory compliance

Portfolio analytics

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Banking/Finance/Economics/Business

Master’s degree or professional certifications (FRM/PRM/CFA)

Tools

IFRS 9/CECL

Job description

The Head of Credit Risk will be responsible for safeguarding the Bank’s capital and ensuring sound credit risk management across conventional and digital lending portfolios. The role leads microfinance credit risk, including field underwriting, group lending, branch operations and cash-flow-based assessment, while providing strategic oversight of digital lending and ensuring sustainable, regulatory-compliant portfolio growth.

Qualification & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Banking, Finance, Economics, Business Administration, or a related quantitative field. Master’s degree or professional certifications (e.g., FRM, PRM, CFA) will be considered a distinct advantage.
• Minimum 10–15+ years of progressive experience in credit risk management within commercial banking, retail/microfinance banking, with at least 5 years at Senior Executive/Managerial position.

Microfinance Expertise (Preferred):

• Strong expertise in micro-lending, cash-flow underwriting, group lending, and high-volume portfolios.
• Understanding of digital credit scoring, alternative data, and digital lending risk.
• Strong knowledge of central bank regulations, consumer lending laws, and IFRS 9/CECL.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder management, balancing independent risk oversight with sustainable growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and refine credit policies, underwriting guidelines, risk appetite, concentration limits, and lending frameworks for microfinance, informal businesses, group lending, and agricultural portfolios.
• Establish early-warning systems to identify and mitigate emerging portfolio risks, including regional, economic, climate, and agricultural repayment shocks.
• Serve as Secretary to the Bank Credit Risk Committee, providing portfolio analytics, vintage analysis, vulnerability assessments, and risk recommendations to the Executive Board.
• Review and sanction high-value credit applications exceeding branch and regional approval authorities.
• Own and continuously enhance the IFRS 9 ECL framework, including Probability of Default (PD), Loss Given Default (LGD), Exposure at Default (EAD), asset staging, SICR parameters, and forward-looking macroeconomic scenarios.
• Lead audit and regulatory engagements relating to credit impairment, risk models, portfolio quality and related disclosures.
• Provide strategic oversight of automated credit decisioning, digital scorecards, alternative data, lending limits and loan-sizing parameters.
• Ensure compliance with microfinance regulations, lending limits, consumer protection requirements and responsible lending standards.
• Oversee field collections and recovery operations, ensuring ethical, compliant and effective practices across manual and digital channels.
• Act as the key liaison with regulators, external auditors and credit rating agencies on credit risk and asset quality matters.
• Build a strong risk-aware culture across branches, credit teams and field operations, supported by continuous training in underwriting, cash-flow assessment and fraud prevention.