Data Scientist (FNB Portfolio)

Overall Purpose of the Role

As a Data Scientist, you will play a key role in shaping the credit risk strategy for GoTyme Bank’s partnership with FNB, which provides Merchant Cash Advances (MCAs) to SME merchants.

Working in a focused, agile team within the broader Data Science function, you will take end-to-end ownership of credit risk across the FNB MCA portfolio—from strategy, monitoring and modelling to implementation, governance and decision support. Your insights will directly influence credit decisions, portfolio performance and our ability to support the growth of SMEs.

This is an exciting opportunity for a driven Data Scientist who enjoys autonomy, solving complex problems and collaborating with Risk, Data Science and business stakeholders to deliver measurable impact.

Requirements

Experience and Skills Required

• Degree in mathematics, statistics, data science, or a related quantitative field.
• 3–5 years of credit risk analysis or data science experience in banking, lending, fintech, or financial services, including independent delivery of credit risk work.
• Strong understanding of credit risk strategy, scorecards, models, and machine learning techniques for credit decisioning.
• Familiarity with IFRS 9 principles and their application to credit risk management, including expected credit loss (ECL) calculations.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex financial and trade data and make informed decisions.
• Proficiency in SQL and Python is essential; experience with Databricks is advantageous.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently, structure ambiguous problems, take ownership, and manage multiple priorities effectively.
• Strong testing discipline, including data quality checks, reconciliation, and implementation testing.
• Familiarity with SME lending, including industry-specific risk factors, is highly desirable.
• Proficiency in advanced analytics and the responsible use of AI tools is essential.

Benefits

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end credit risk management of the FNB MCA portfolio, independently driving the work plan while collaborating with the wider Data Science and Risk teams.
• Monitor portfolio performance, identify trends and emerging risks or opportunities, and recommend appropriate risk mitigation or growth actions.
• Set and manage the portfolio’s credit risk strategy, policy, and decisioning rules, balancing risk, growth, and commercial objectives within agreed risk appetite.
• Develop, maintain, implement, and monitor scorecards and other credit risk models and methodologies across the credit lifecycle.
• Ensure that all data science models are developed, reviewed, documented, and governed in line with the bank’s model risk management standards.
• Support independent model validation activities by providing clear development documentation, data definitions, assumptions, limitations, methodology rationale, and performance results.
• Work with data engineering and technology teams to support the deployment of models and decisioning logic into production environments, including implementation testing and reconciliation.
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders, including Finance, Operations, and Compliance, to align portfolio and risk management objectives.
• Prepare and present reports to senior management, highlighting key risk metrics, trends, and recommendations.
• Develop stress testing scenarios and sensitivity analyses to assess the resilience of the FNB MCA portfolio under various economic conditions.
• Monitor changes to regulatory frameworks, particularly IFRS 9 requirements, and ensure compliance in credit risk management practices and reporting.