Chief Risk Architect - Digital Lending Startup

Trionika; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 2,000,000 - 3,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Trionika is launching a new consumer lending business in South Africa and seeks a Chief Risk Officer to build and lead the Risk function from the ground up. This is a hands-on, C-level leadership role with direct impact on lending strategy and profitability.

You will design underwriting policies, scoring models, and portfolio monitoring, working with founders to scale risk controls in a high-volume unsecured credit environment.

Qualifications

• Senior leadership in CRO/Head of Credit Risk in fintech or microfinance.
• Experience building risk functions in new markets.
• Strong knowledge of underwriting policies and risk scoring.

Responsibilities

• Build theRisk function from scratch and set the risk strategy.
• Design underwriting policies, rules, limits, and decision frameworks.
• Develop credit scoring and automated decision-making with Data/Analytics.
• Define risk appetite, approval criteria, and portfolio thresholds.
• Establish portfolio monitoring and early-warning systems.
• Monitor key metrics: approval rate, defaults, delinquency, profitability.
• Balance growth with risk controls and unit economics.
• Lead fraud risk controls and align with regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with founders on strategic lending decisions.

Skills

Credit risk leadership

Credit scoring

Portfolio analytics

Data-driven mindset

Job description

Trionika is launching a new consumer lending business in South Africa and seeks a Chief Risk Officer to build and lead the Risk function from the ground up. This is a hands-on, C-level leadership role with direct impact on lending strategy and profitability.

You will design underwriting policies, scoring models, and portfolio monitoring, working with founders to scale risk controls in a high-volume unsecured credit environment.