About the Role
M-KOPA is seeking a Senior Data Scientist for their Credit team. This role is central to M-KOPA's mission of making high-quality energy affordable. Credit accessibility and affordability are at the core of this position, where you will join a small, high-performing team focused on modeling challenges that shape lending strategies for millions of customers across Africa. You will apply analytical rigor and deep market understanding to serve customers excluded from formal financial services.
Key Responsibilities
- Model Development: Build and refine credit scoring models that assess customer creditworthiness, default risk, and loan pricing across multiple markets.
- Optimization: Develop and test machine learning (ML) models for loan eligibility and pricing optimization through A/B testing and statistical analysis.
- Performance Monitoring: Continuously improve eligibility criteria by analyzing repayment data, engineering new features, and monitoring credit performance for risk shifts and margin impact.
- Collaboration: Work cross-functionally with engineers, data scientists, and commercial stakeholders to scale models into production.
- Strategic Decision Making: Exercise a high degree of ownership over your domain, making data-driven decisions to prioritize and implement solutions.
Technical Environment
- Languages & Libraries: Python, SQL, scikit-learn, pandas, numpy, and other relevant ML libraries.
- Techniques: Predictive modelling, classification/regression, feature engineering, model selection, hyperparameter tuning, and A/B testing.
- Domain Focus: Credit scoring, underwriting, loan pricing, and risk analytics.
Requirements and Qualifications
- Education: A university degree (BA/BSc/HND) in a relevant field.
- Experience: Proven experience building predictive models, particularly credit scoring, risk models, or similar classification/regression problems.
- ML Expertise: Strong machine learning background with hands-on experience in model development, validation, deployment, and performance monitoring.
- Technical Proficiency: Expertise in Python, SQL, and relevant ML libraries (scikit-learn, pandas, numpy, etc.) with deep knowledge of feature engineering, model selection, and hyperparameter tuning.
- Communication: Ability to translate complex model outputs into actionable business strategies and effectively communicate with stakeholders. Strong data communication skills—written, oral, and visual.
- Teamwork: Ability to work cross-functionally with product, engineering, and commercial teams across multiple countries.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should apply online through the M-KOPA Solar recruitment portal. You can access the application page via the following link: Apply for Senior Data Scientist - Credit
