Head of International Data Science

EMPOWER OVERVIEW

Empower is shaking up an outdated financial system by providing real opportunity for our customers: the opportunity to get the cash they need, to access fair credit, and to change their financial story. Today, we’re helping millions of people find financial security through machine learning models that evaluate creditworthiness using a more inclusive lens and mobile-first products: Cash Advance, Thrive line of credit, and Petal credit cards. Tomorrow? Creating even more financial paths for our customers (and their wallets) to succeed.

This year, Empower ranked #65 on Inc. 5000’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies list — our third year in a row cracking the top 100 — and was named by Forbes as one of the 25 Next Billion-Dollar Startups for 2024. Empower was also featured by Forbes on America’s Best Startup Employers list in 2023, and our Thrive line of credit product was named by Fast Company as one of 2022’s Next Big Things in Tech.

Empower is backed by Sequoia Capital, Blisce, and Icon Ventures. Ready to grow your impact and accelerate your career? Take a look at our open roles — we can’t wait to meet you.

THE EMPOWER WAY

Great Expectations: We come up with bold, audacious goals for ourselves and go all out for impact

Owner Mindset: We give every employee latitude to act independently, make smart choices, and move the business forward

Spirited Debate: We love skeptics and seek counter opinions to challenge our personal assumptions and expand our view

Customer Obsession: We listen to understand, empathize, and create a memorable, rewarding experience for our community

Inclusive Collaboration: We believe diverse teams make the best decisions, and we strive to give diverse voices a seat at the table

No Jerks Allowed: We value our relationships and take the time to build trust and connection and communicate respectfully

WHAT EMPOWER OFFERS

Competitive salary

Generous equity package

Full healthcare benefits

Technology expense reimbursement

Virtual first environment

JOB DESCRIPTION

Empower is looking for an experienced data scientist to join our fintech startup and lead the Data Science team for our emerging business in Latin America and APAC. This role presents an exciting opportunity to be an early team member as we build a winning strategy. As part of the Credit and Data Science team, you will develop and iterate on risk models and credit policies that drive underwriting as a competitive advantage for Empower and launch innovative products that solve customer problems. This role will report to Empower’s Head of International Credit.

The ideal candidate is driven by a passion for leveraging data and analytics to fuel business growth and improve customer financial well-being. This individual will lead teams and workstreams that seek to understand consumer needs and behaviors and develop solutions to allow Empower to resiliently offer the right products. This role involves the additional challenge of solving problems for a new geographies for Empower where frameworks will need to be adapted based on the available data and customer needs. The right candidate thrives on tackling complex challenges and is proficient in utilizing a wide range of technical tools to achieve impactful outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Build new underwriting models from scratch for Empower’s international businesses owning each part of the model deployment process

• Collaborate closely with Credit and Finance stakeholders to ensure the work drives meaningful business outcomes

• Build out frameworks, infrastructure, and controls to build, retrain, and deploy models with speed and high quality

• Work with Empower’s leadership team to build out strategy and growth plans while managing financial outcomes

• Partner with leaders in product, engineering, marketing, and finance to ensure that our data science solutions fit within the larger picture

• Lead current team and build out a larger team to staff new projects as the businesses grow

Candidate Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Finance, Computer Science, or Mathematics

• 8+ years of industry experience in machine learning, statistical analysis, and/or predictive modeling with deep understanding of statistics and machine learning techniques, including regression, classification, clustering and optimization

• Strong skills Python and SQL; demonstrable experience with ML packages: scikit-learn, LightGBM, XGBoost, SparkML, etc.

• 4+ years working in financial services

• 2+ years leading a team of data scientists

• Preferred: Experience solving credit problems in Latin American or APAC markets

• Eagerness to learn new tools and analytical methods, staying up to date with innovative trends and methodologies in the industry

• Exceptionally strong problem solving and communication with the ability to both get in the weeds and communicate to an executive audience

At Empower, we hire for people that push themselves to understand others and seek out ways to challenge their personal assumptions. Our hope is that by fostering such an environment, we strengthen our business and relationships by putting people first. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workspace where everyone (regardless of age, education, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or any personal characteristics) feels like they belong. Even if your experience doesn’t exactly match up to our job description, you should feel empowered to apply regardless!