Data Science Manager

Job description

Title: Data Science Manager

Company Description:

Essential Lending is a fast growing, analytics driven, financial services company that has two primary businesses 1) short term personal loans (Wise Loan) and 2) Portfolio servicing - analytical models, loan origination, and customer service. (The Analytics Solutions).

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the company also has a satellite call center team in the Philippines and 40+ total team members including staff in Columbia, Brazil, Dominican Republic and India.

Company Culture:

At Essential Lending, our organizational culture is the cornerstone of our success. We embody our Core Values to the fullest:

• Be a Transparent Advocate: We advocate for what's best for each other and our customers. We listen with curiosity, speak with candor, and act with compassion. When you feel good about working here, you're doing it right.
• Make Gratitude an Attitude: We embrace gratitude by being humble, attentive, clear, and empathetic, and we focus our conversations on positive outcomes.
• Look Beyond; Follow Through: We're unwavering in our commitment, deeply passionate about our work, and constantly seek opportunities for growth and learning. We take ownership, stay self-motivated, and consistently follow through.

At Essential Lending, our mission is not just business; it's about making our customers' financial lives better.

Position Overview:

The Data Scientist will perform highly quantitative, data-driven analysis and make recommendations regarding how we should operate our business more effectively. While technical proficiency such as manipulating data with SQL and understanding predictive modeling techniques like logistic regression are necessary, the ideal candidate will have an aptitude for problem solving and business acumen.

Key Responsibilities:

You will engage in a variety of tasks aimed at optimizing our operations, below are a few examples:

• Credit Underwriting Model Development: Develop and refine credit underwriting models, assess their impact on our business, and apply them to existing loan portfolios. Evaluate payment performance by score and recommend score thresholds to maximize profitability.
• Pricing Optimization: Create linear programming optimization models to set pricing for potential loan applicants (leads). Develop an optimal pricing strategy that maximizes overall profit by considering applicant likelihood of loan approval, loan amounts, expected payment performance, and total loan volume.
• A/B Testing: Design and execute A/B tests to compare data vendors. Collaborate with our technology team to collect and analyze data, conduct a cost-benefit analysis, and recommending the most suitable data product for our needs.

Position Requirements:

We are looking for candidates with a diverse set of skills and experiences, from junior to mid-career levels, who demonstrate:

• Educational Qualification: A Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Statistics, or a related field is required.
• Professional Experience: A minimum of 10 years of hands-on experience as a data scientist is essential.
• Team Leadership: A minimum of 3 years of managing teams of data scientists is required.
• Consumer Lending Experience: A minimum of 5 years in the consumer lending business.
• Analytical Prowess: A natural talent for solving intricate business challenges through data analysis.
• Effective Communication: Exceptional communication skills, with a strong command of the English language, enabling clear and efficient collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Statistical Expertise: Profound knowledge of statistical methods and the ability to employ predictive modeling techniques, including linear and logistic regression.
• SQL Proficiency: Proficiency in T-SQL is a must. The candidate should be capable of swiftly developing SQL queries to extract and manipulate data from various sources.
• Excel Mastery: Familiarity with Microsoft Excel is expected, with a willingness to acquire expertise in advanced Excel features like pivot tables and calculated fields.
• Programming Skills: Proficiency in Python is a prerequisite for this role, as the candidate will be responsible for developing and implementing machine learning algorithms and models.
• Data Analysis: Competence in collecting, cleaning, and preprocessing data from diverse sources to construct datasets for analysis.
• Machine Learning: Experience in developing and implementing machine learning algorithms and models using Python and AWS API calls.
• Feature Engineering: Proficiency in identifying and engineering relevant features for machine learning models.
• Model Evaluation: Skill in evaluating model performance, making improvements, and iteratively refining model development.

Additional Knowledge (Plus Factors):

• Knowledge of direct mail marketing is very strongly desired.
• Familiarity with line of credit products is advantageous.
• Knowledge of SEO techniques is a beneficial addition to the skill set.
• Experience with lead generation is a welcomed advantage.

If you are a motivated individual with a passion for leveraging data to drive business success and possess some of the skills and attributes outlined above, we encourage you to apply. This position offers a unique opportunity for both junior and mid-career professionals to contribute to our mission of empowering consumers with financial security and stability. Join us in reshaping the future of short-term lending!