Head of Data Science

Role Overview

An innovative financial services company based in Dubai is seeking a strategic Head of Data Science to lead and expand its in-house credit technology capabilities supporting digital lending and wallet ecosystems. This position requires a strong analytical leader with extensive expertise in credit risk modeling, machine learning, and automated credit decision systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from quantitative fields such as Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science, Economics, Engineering, or Quantitative Finance.
• Master's degree is preferred.
• 7 to 10 years of experience in credit risk, decision science, data science, machine learning, consumer lending, or financial services analytics.
• Proven track record in development and deployment of credit scoring, behavioral risk, consumer lending models, and automated credit decisions.
• Deep understanding of Probability of Default (PD), credit risk grading, eligibility frameworks, affordability assessments, credit policies, and credit limit management.
• Experienced with large-scale transactional, wallet, customer, or alternative data sets.
• Advanced skills in Python and SQL.
• Strong expertise in machine learning approaches such as Logistic Regression, Scorecards, Gradient Boosting, XGBoost, and LightGBM.
• Experience managing the full model lifecycle including development, validation, deployment, and monitoring.
• Prior experience with West African markets is required.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end creation and improvement of the Credit Scoring & Decision Engine.
• Design and implement credit scoring models, risk grading frameworks, PD models, eligibility engines, affordability analyses, and credit limit methodologies.
• Develop both application and behavioral credit risk models.
• Establish governance frameworks for model validation, monitoring, explainability, and audit compliance.
• Continuously optimize models leveraging portfolio performance data.
• Oversee credit limit strategies including initial assignments, max exposures, increases/decreases, and customer retention initiatives.
• Define the integration architecture between Credit Scoring Engine and Loan Management Systems (LMS).

Additional Information

Manpower Middle East ensures a secure and transparent recruitment process and does not request payments or sensitive personal data during hiring. For any suspicious contact, reach out to their official communication channels.