Hybrid opportunity at
ChimeLead Data Scientist, Credit Risk
Chime, a financial technology company that offers helpful, easy, and free banking services, is looking for a Lead Data Scientist, Credit Risk. In this role, you…
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About This Role
Chime, a financial technology company that offers helpful, easy, and free banking services, is looking for a Lead Data Scientist, Credit Risk. In this role, you will take ownership of credit strategies for new applicants across the member lifecycle, beginning with Instant Loans and expanding into future unsecured products such as credit cards. You will develop channel-specific credit policies, design acquisition and pricing strategies, and collaborate with cross-functional teams including…
Job Description
Chime, a financial technology company that offers helpful, easy, and free banking services, is looking for a Lead Data Scientist, Credit Risk. In this role, you will take ownership of credit strategies for new applicants across the member lifecycle, beginning with Instant Loans and expanding into future unsecured products such as credit cards. You will develop channel-specific credit policies, design acquisition and pricing strategies, and collaborate with cross-functional teams including product, data engineering, and machine learning to test and implement risk models in production.
This opportunity is ideal for an experienced analytical professional with a strong background in financial services or fintech, specifically in managing risk for unsecured credit products. You will guide test-and-learn initiatives, partner with finance to size channels and forecast metrics, and mentor other credit risk data scientists. Chime maintains a hybrid work structure allowing eligible employees to work from home on Fridays and four days per week in the office, depending on location.
Responsibilities
- Own credit strategy for new-to-Chime applicants across the member lifecycle, starting with Instant Loans and extending to unsecured credit products like credit cards
- Develop and evolve channel-specific credit policies across pre-approval, direct mail, open application, referrals, and affiliates
- Design and iterate acquisition, loan amount and line assignment, pricing, line management, repayment, and collections strategies
- Underwrite applicants with no prior Chime relationship using credit bureau, alternative, and internal data
- Lead champion/challenger tests and controlled ramps to quantify trade-offs among approvals, losses, conversion, and lifetime value
- Partner with Finance and Strategy to size new channels, forecast approval funnels, vintage losses, and unit economics
- Collaborate with data teams to build infrastructure and early-read monitoring dashboards for senior management
- Work with cross-functional teams to implement risk models and strategies in production, including adverse action reasons
- Coordinate with Compliance, Legal, Fair Lending, Model Risk Management, Fraud, and bank partners to govern credit policies
- Mentor and collaborate with other credit risk data scientists to raise the team's analytical bar
Requirements
- Master's degree in Statistics, Economics, Engineering, Math, Finance, Computer Science, or another quantitative discipline
- 7+ years of analytical or data science experience in Financial Services, preferably at a FinTech company
- 4+ years of experience building and managing risk for unsecured credit products such as installment loans, lines of credit, or credit cards
- Hands-on experience with credit bureau data and prescreen, pre-approval, or direct mail credit programs
- Experience with credit furnishing, bankruptcies, delinquency, and write-off policies
- Working knowledge of consumer lending regulation including FCRA, ECOA, Reg B, fair lending, and adverse action
- Excellent SQL and Python skills, advanced Microsoft Excel skills, and experience with Looker or similar business intelligence tools
- Strong grounding in statistics and machine learning for credit, including scorecards, gradient-boosted models, swap-set analysis, vintage analysis, and experiment design
Qualifications
- A PhD in a quantitative discipline
- Acquisition and underwriting experience for unsecured credit products
- Subprime or near-prime lending experience
- Affiliate or marketplace lending experience
- Credit card line management experience
- Cash-flow or alternative-data underwriting experience
Core Skills
Benefits
- Comprehensive health, financial, and wellbeing benefits
- Generous vacation policy and company-wide paid days off
- Backup child, elder, and pet care along with subsidized commuter benefits
- Up to 22 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents
- Access to family planning reimbursement
- Annual wellness stipend
- 1% of time off to support local community organizations
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
What is the salary for the Lead Data Scientist, Credit Risk position?
The base salary offered for this role is between USD 152,000 and 210,000 per year, with potential eligibility for bonuses, competitive equity, and benefits.
What are the remote or in-office requirements for this role?
The role follows a hybrid policy where employees work from home on Fridays and spend four days a week in the office if they are near one of Chime's offices.
What educational background is required?
A Master's degree in Statistics, Economics, Engineering, Math, Finance, Computer Science, or another quantitative discipline is required, while a PhD is considered a plus.
What is the employment type?
The posting specifies that this is a full-time position.
Sample Interview Questions
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