Senior Data Scientist

_able is transforming financial services in emerging markets with its best-in-class Digital Banking Platform. We help partners launch financial products by embedding them into digital channels their customers already use.

The foundation of the platform is grounded in data and informs everything we do: from credit scoring to marketing segmentation and everything in between. Building on this strong foundation, we’ve structured the platform around three key layers:

• API Integration Layer: Seamless connectivity for partners to integrate core systems.
• Module Layer: Flexible, customizable components tailored to partner needs.
• Services Layer: Expertise to manage financial products, including portfolio management, scoring, and communications.

This approach enables us to embed credit and savings products into any partner channel, making them easy to access and highly contextual. The benefit is that our platform can cater to a wide range of use cases:

• MNOs can deploy efficient loan and savings systems optimized for their channels.
• Fintechs can offer tailored financial services to their unique customer base.
• Banks can create new revenue streams and enhance customer loyalty without overhauling their core systems.

The result is a win-win-win for partners, customers, and _able. Having deployed across multiple markets in Africa, we’ve proven our platform meets a critical need and is driving us toward our core objectives:

1. Democratizing financial services by reaching over 500 million people.
2. Becoming the most trusted source of data in emerging markets.

The Role

We are looking for a Senior Data Scientist to join our Data Team as we continue to build out our Credit Scoring Capabilities and Data Analytics functions. Reporting to the Head of Data, you will be a highly analytical and detail-oriented professional passionate about developing and maintaining credit risk models. 

You will play a pivotal role in designing and maintaining scalable data pipelines and will contribute significantly to our data initiatives. Responsibilities will include leading the development and maintenance of credit risk models, overseeing predictive analytics projects, and conducting advanced data analysis to uncover insights that drive our business forward.

Position title: Senior Data Scientist

Reports to: Head of Data

Coverage: UAE (HQ), Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda + other new markets

Base: India, Kenya, UAE

Travel: Required
 

Key Responsibilities

• ​Collaborate with 3rd party partners on credit scoring, modeling, and evaluation of our lending product portfolio
• ​Develop credit risk models using advanced statistical and machine learning techniques
• ​Analyze credit data to identify patterns and trends that inform our credit decision-making processes
• ​Work closely with data engineering and software engineering teams to ensure efficient data collection, processing, and storage
• ​Develop predictive models for credit risk assessment, fraud detection, and other business use cases
• ​Monitor and analyze the performance of credit risk models and recommend improvements
• ​Create and maintain data dashboards and reports to communicate insights to stakeholders
• ​Stay current with new technologies and trends in data science and credit scoring
• ​Mentor junior data scientists within the team
• ​Support the Head of Data in driving the data strategy aligned with business goals

Person Specification

Required

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related field
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in data science or a related field (preferably in a product-based company)
• Past projects in GitHub or any open source contributions or prior research experience
• In-depth knowledge of credit risk models, regulations, and industry best practices
• Strong programming fundamentals in Python/R and SQL 
• Know-how on model deployment, model monitoring, Scalable systems design (Databases, CI/CD) 
• Expertise in statistical and machine learning techniques, including logistic regression, decision trees, random forests, gradient boosting machines, neural networks, etc.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to translate business objectives into data-driven solutions
• Excellent communication skills, capable of presenting complex data insights to non-technical stakeholders
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Proven ability to work effectively with third parties and cross-functional teams
• High level of initiative and a proactive approach to problem-solving
• Practical, hardworking, hands-on, results-oriented professional with the ability to align data science with business metrics to achieve high-quality results

Culture

At _able, we are a fast-paced, high-performing team driven by a shared passion for building the future of banking and democratising access to finance across emerging markets. Our team operates across offices in Dubai, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Maputo, and Porto, with frequent travel to strengthen connections with colleagues and partners.

We value the impact of working together in person, believing it often delivers results that remote work cannot fully achieve. While work-from-home (WFH) is available for specific requests or situations, our culture emphasises the advantages of being physically present and engaged as a team.

We are entering an exciting phase of hyper-growth, expanding into new markets, scaling operations, and evolving our structures to shape the future of _able in 2026. We are looking for energetic, curious individuals who are passionate about our vision and eager to create value while driving innovation and growth in the markets we operate in. 

We’re thrilled to have you join us as we reshape the financial landscape in emerging markets.

Benefits

• Health Insurance for you and your direct dependants
• Group Bonus Policy
• Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP)
• Mental Health and Wellbeing Platform
• Learning & Development Opportunities (Internal and External) 

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