Senior Data Scientist - Credit

We believe that the way people interact with their finances will drastically improve in the next few years. We're dedicated to empowering this transformation by building the tools and experiences that thousands of developers use to create their own products. Plaid powers the tools millions of people rely on to live a healthier financial life. We work with thousands of companies like Venmo, SoFi, several of the Fortune 500, and many of the largest banks to make it easy for people to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they want to use. Plaid's network covers 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, UK and Europe. Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York, Washington D.C., London and Amsterdam.
Description of the team

We build credit models, retros, and decisioning insights that help lenders make better underwriting decisions using Plaid's unique data. We partner closely across data science, engineering, product, and go-to-market teams to turn cash flow and account-level signals into clear, actionable recommendations for customers. We care deeply about combining technical rigor, business impact, and customer empathy to improve how credit decisions are made.

Description of the role

You'll be an experienced data scientist focused on credit analytics and underwriting insights at Plaid. You will work across modeling, retros, customer analysis, and product feedback loops to help lenders better understand and adopt Plaid's credit insights. This role is a strong fit for someone who enjoys applying quantitative analysis to real lending decisions, partnering cross-functionally, and translating complex data into recommendations that drive customer and business impact.

Responsibilities

• Own hands-on recommendations for incorporating cash flow insights into lending decisions, including best practices for account-level decisioning.
• Improve customer adoption of Plaid insights data through custom analysis tailored to specific customer needs.
• Act as a subject matter expert for credit insights and credit policy implementation across data science, engineering, and go-to-market partners.
• Deep dive into model and retro performance to identify opportunities for improvement and emerging credit risk vectors.
• Build and work with credit retros to evaluate outcomes and inform customer recommendations.
• Develop features, analyses, metrics, and monitoring approaches that improve risk models and insight delivery.
• Partner with engineering to improve workflows, automate processes where helpful, and raise the quality of data pipelines and outputs.
• Inform and influence product and engineering roadmaps through clear analysis, presentations, and stakeholder communication.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in a data science, credit risk, or analytical role within financial services or fintech.
• Deep familiarity with SQL and Python.
• Strong understanding of credit risk and underwriting model development.
• Hands-on experience building or maintaining credit policies for lenders.
• Knowledge of the lending lifecycle and how to optimize across acquisition, underwriting, customer management, and collections or recoveries.
• Demonstrated ability to make data-driven decisions and communicate recommendations clearly to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience working directly with lenders or credit products and translating analysis into customer-facing recommendations.

Nice to have :

• Familiarity with model monitoring, automation, modern data tooling, or working with large-scale financial datasets.

Our mission at Plaid is to unlock financial freedom for everyone. To support that mission, we seek to build a diverse team of driven individuals who care deeply about making the financial ecosystem more equitable. We recognize that strong qualifications can come from both prior work experiences and lived experiences. We encourage you to apply to a role even if your experience doesn't fully match the job description. We are always looking for team members that will bring something unique to Plaid!

Plaid is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion or religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, military or veteran status, disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Plaid is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance with your application or interviews due to a disability, please let us know at [email protected].

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Additional compensation in the form(s) of equity and/or commission are dependent on the position offered. Plaid provides a comprehensive benefit plan, including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k). Pay is based on factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience and skillset, and location. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.