Staff Data Scientist – Credit Data & Technology Enablement · Cape Town (South Africa)

Yoco?; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 700 000 - 900 000; Full time

Job summary

A fintech company in Cape Town is seeking a Staff Data Scientist to focus on credit risk modeling. This hands-on role involves building and refining credit models and decision systems that impact funding offers for merchants. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in fintech and a proven track record of model deployment. Competitive compensation and a dynamic working environment await the right candidate.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of hands-on experience in credit risk modeling, ideally in fintech, digital lending, or banking environments.
• 10+ years of experience in Data Science and Analytics generally.
• Proven track record building and deploying PD, LGD, or EAD models in production environments.
• Strong technical skills: advanced SQL for data wrangling, Python for modeling.

Responsibilities

• Build and iterate PD, LGD, and EAD models for SME lending.
• Develop and maintain automated, scalable data pipelines.
• Monitor portfolio health and support collections modeling.
• Establish model governance standards.

Skills

Credit risk modeling

Data wrangling

Python

Advanced SQL

Machine learning frameworks

Job description

Who we are

Yoco was founded in, and we've been breaking down barriers, unlocking economic opportunities and opening commerce for people to thrive ever since.

We're the payments provider for over self-employed, and process over US$3 billion annually.

We have ± team members globally, all with a bias for boldness and a passion for simple, progressive solutions.

We believe in uniting different people to solve hard problems, together.

Our mission of making society more equal requires a variety of people, with different backgrounds and points of view, to keep building solutions that make life easier for emerging businesses.

We're growing fast.

With growth comes compelling challenges

With growth comes compelling challenges.

If you're an ambitious problem-solver, with big ideas, a passion for doing good, bright, grounded and courageous; you're likely to thrive at Yoco.

We don't stop pushing.

We break things to rebuild.

We challenge ourselves and each other.

We're constantly evolving — and we're doing it fast.

About the team

You'll be part of Yoco's Data team, reporting functionally within Data Science, but embedded day-to-day with the Credit Risk team.

This structure balances mastery of craft with business impact.

The Data at Yoco powers intelligent decision-making across our business, with a special focus on enabling responsible access to capital for SMEs.

Our work directly impacts thousands of merchants who rely on Yoco not just for payments, but for the financial tools they need to grow their businesses.

The Capital team is building and scaling automated SME lending capabilities, combining deep credit risk expertise with modern data science to help small businesses access the funding they need, when they need it.

About the role

We're looking for a Staff Data Scientist with deep credit risk modeling expertise to own the technical foundation of our merchant lending decisions.

This is a hands‑on, senior individual contributor role where you'll build, deploy, and continuously refine the credit models, scorecards, and decisioning systems that determine which merchants receive capital offers, and on what terms.

You'll be driving critical work that establishes Yoco's long-term credit risk capability, working at the intersection of credit analytics, machine learning, and production systems.

This isn't about building models once, it's about obsessing over performance, adapting to shifting merchant demographics, and continuously improving how we assess and manage credit risk at scale.

The ideal candidate brings substantial experience modeling credit risk in fintech or banking environments, particularly on non‑traditional lending products.

You're comfortable with the entire model lifecycle, from feature engineering through deployment and monitoring and you understand the nuances that make SME credit unique.

What you will be doing

• Build and iterate PD, LGD, and EAD models, credit scorecards, provisioning and pricing models for SME merchant lending, including sophisticated feature engineering from transactional and behavioral data
• Develop and maintain automated, scalable data pipelines that support tens of thousands of credit decisions with high uptime and low latency
• Monitor portfolio health, forecast losses, and support collections modeling to inform provisioning and capital allocation strategies
• Establish model governance standards including documentation, monitoring, explainability, and regulatory readiness
• Explore and integrate new data sources (alternative data, transactional patterns, merchant behavior, external credit bureau data) to continuously improve predictive power
• Work closely with Risk, Product, Engineering, Finance, and Portfolio teams to translate model outputs into business decisions that balance growth and responsible lending
• Own end‑to‑end model lifecycle management, from experimentation through production deployment (including validation), performance tracking, and continuous refinement
• Feed insights from portfolio performance back into model improvements, creating a continuous learning loop
• Build the technical foundation for credit decisioning that will scale with Yoco's growth over multiple years

About you

Essential experience :

• 6+ years of hands‑on experience in credit risk modeling, ideally in fintech, digital lending, or banking environments.
• 10+ years of experience in Data Science and Analytics generally.
• Proven track record building and deploying PD, LGD, or EAD models in production environments
• Deep understanding of credit risk concepts specific to modeling for lending products, particularly non‑traditional or SME lending (e.g., merchant cash advances, revenue‑based financing, or similar)
• Strong technical skills : advanced SQL for data wrangling, Python for modeling, experience with ML frameworks
• Experience with the full model lifecycle : from data exploration and feature engineering through deployment, monitoring, and iteration
• Track record of independent work with high ownership, you can take a problem, architect a solution, and deliver results with minimal guidance

How you work :

• You're a builder first, comfortable rolling up your sleeves and writing code, wrangling data – and debugging pipelines
• You think in systems, not just models – understanding how your work connects to business outcomes
• You're obsessive about model performance and continuously look for ways to improve
• You lead technically through mastery of your craft – setting standards, owning the technical roadmap for credit modeling, and designing platforms that others can build upon
• You grow others through coaching and technical mentorship, elevating the team's capabilities without formal people management
• You communicate technical concepts clearly to non‑technical stakeholders
• You thrive in ambiguity and can work independently while knowing when to collaborate

The people we're looking for

We're looking for brave people who want to grow.

And as Yoco grows we hope they stay with us, long term.

Growing can be a daunting task and it's not for everyone.

We never stop pushing, we break things to rebuild, we challenge ourselves, and inspire each other to push further.

So, who are you?

• You're a curious problem‑solver with a passion for doing good.
• You're bright and grounded, experimental and brave.
• You play open cards and get stuck in.
• You're not afraid of change.
• You close the loop.

Find out more about who we are.

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