Head of Credit Strategy

Role Overview We are seeking a visionary and analytically driven Head of Credit Strategy & Analytics to lead credit policy, data-driven decisioning, and portfolio risk management for our business lending organization. This leader will be responsible for designing scalable credit strategies, building world-class analytical capabilities, and driving profitable growth while safeguarding portfolio quality across diverse business lending products.The ideal candidate brings a unique combination of deep credit expertise, strong technical and analytical skills, and strategic leadership experience within SMB or commercial lending environments.Key Responsibilities 1. Credit Strategy Leadership Define and continuously refine credit strategies across the full customer lifecycle—acquisition, underwriting, line assignment, pricing, renewals, and collections. Design risk appetite frameworks and ensure alignment with corporate goals, capital targets, and market conditions. Develop differentiated strategies for varying customer segments, industries, product types, and risk profiles. 2. Underwriting & Portfolio Management Lead development of underwriting standards, decisioning rules, credit policies, and documentation. Oversee portfolio performance, monitor emerging risks, and identify opportunities to optimize growth vs. risk trade-offs. Implement early-warning systems and triggers to proactively manage delinquencies and credit losses. 3. Credit Analytics & Decisioning Infrastructure Build and lead a high-performing analytics team responsible for data science, BI, modelling, and quantitative strategy. Own model development and performance for: Small business credit scorecards PD/LGD/EAD models Fraud and identity-risk models Pricing and profitability models Partner with engineering and product teams to enhance data pipelines, automated decision engines, and machine-learning decision workflows. 4. Cross-Functional Leadership Collaborate with product, sales, operations, finance, capital markets, and compliance to define credit strategy and execution plans. Support new product development with robust risk frameworks, modelling, testing, and market-entry strategies. Present portfolio insights, trends, and recommendations to executive leadership, board committees, and external partners. 5. Regulatory, Compliance, & Governance Ensure credit strategies and models comply with regulatory expectations and industry standards (e.g., OCC, FDIC, state lending laws, fair lending). Lead governance of credit policies, model documentation, and risk controls. Coordinate with internal audit and external regulators as needed. Qualifications Required Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, Statistics, Data Science, or related field. 8–15+ years of experience in credit risk, underwriting, analytics, or strategy within small business lending , commercial lending , factoring , equipment finance , or fintech . Proven track record of building and scaling credit strategy and analytics functions. Strong command of credit data, financial statements, cash-flow analysis, and small business underwriting. Proficiency with analytics tools (SQL, Python, R, SAS) and familiarity with machine-learning models. Excellent communication skills with ability to influence executives and cross-functional stakeholders. Preferred Prior executive leadership experience in a business lending or fintech environment. Experience with alternative data sources (bank transaction data, accounting system data, e-commerce data, etc.). Familiarity with automated decision engines and cloud-based architecture for credit decisioning. Experience managing external model vendors and credit bureaus. Strong understanding of capital markets, loan sales, and securitization requirements (if applicable).