Senior Credit Risk & Underwriting Manager | Location: South Africa (Remote / Hybrid) Salary: R55,000 – R70,000 per month CTC (Negotiable for exceptional candidates)

This is a remote position.

Join a Fast-Growing Fintech Lender

Our client is an ambitious and rapidly growing fintech lender focused on expanding access to credit through responsible and innovative lending solutions.

As the business continues to scale its loan book and customer base, they are seeking an experienced Senior Credit Risk & Underwriting Manager to lead underwriting and risk assessment activities while helping build the foundations for future automated credit decisioning.

At this stage of the company’s growth, lending decisions are driven primarily through expert credit judgement and manual assessment processes. The successful candidate will play a critical role in developing and managing a robust manual credit scoring framework until sufficient historical lending data is available to support automated credit models.

The Opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity for a highly experienced underwriter or credit risk professional to influence the future direction of a growing fintech lender.

You will be responsible for evaluating loan applications, making informed credit decisions, developing underwriting policies, and implementing a practical credit scoring methodology that balances growth with responsible risk management.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in entrepreneurial environments and enjoys building scalable credit processes from the ground up.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess and approve loan applications in line with established credit policies and risk appetite.
  
• Conduct detailed affordability, cash flow, financial, and creditworthiness assessments.
  
• Analyse bank statements, financial records, credit bureau reports, and supporting documentation.
  
• Design, implement, and continuously improve a manual credit scoring framework.
  
• Develop underwriting guidelines, risk policies, and credit decision-making processes.
  
• Monitor portfolio performance and identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
  
• Collaborate with leadership to refine lending criteria and optimise portfolio quality.
  
• Ensure all lending decisions comply with applicable South African regulatory requirements.
  
• Document underwriting methodologies and decision frameworks to support future automation initiatives.
  

Requirements

Essential Experience

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in credit risk, loan underwriting, credit approval, or lending operations.
  
• Proven experience making lending decisions within a fintech lender, bank, alternative lender, SME finance provider, or credit-focused financial institution.
  
• Strong understanding of credit risk assessment, affordability analysis, and loan portfolio management.
  
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound credit judgement in environments where historical data is limited.
  
• Strong analytical, commercial, and decision-making skills.
  
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.
  

Preferred Industry Background

We are particularly interested in candidates currently working for, or who have recently worked for, organisations such as:

• Capitec
  
• Bayport
  
• Lula
  
• Capfin
  
• Wonga
  
• Lendplus
  
• Primeloans
  

Candidates with direct exposure to SME lending, unsecured lending, alternative credit assessment, or digital lending platforms will be highly regarded.

Key Performance Expectations

Candidates should be able to demonstrate a proven track record of:

• Growing a loan book from inception to at least R5 million within a 6-month period.
  
• Achieving and maintaining first-month collections of 90% or higher.
  
• Approving and managing a lending pipeline of at least 15 loans per day while maintaining sound credit quality.
  
• Balancing portfolio growth objectives with disciplined risk management and regulatory compliance.
  
• Implementing underwriting and collections strategies that support sustainable portfolio performance.
  

Qualifications

• Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, Risk Management, or a related discipline.
  
• Additional credit risk, banking, or lending-related certifications would be advantageous.
  
• Experience designing underwriting scorecards, risk frameworks, or credit policies is highly desirable.
  

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a hands-on credit professional currently involved in evaluating and approving loans within a fintech, digital lender, or commercial lending environment.

You combine strong commercial judgement with disciplined risk management and are comfortable operating in a growing business where you can directly influence lending strategy and portfolio performance.

You are capable of creating structure where processes are still evolving and possess the practical expertise needed to build a scalable credit function.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role will be measured by:

• Consistent and high-quality credit decisions.
  
• Development of an effective and scalable manual credit scoring framework.
  
• Improved underwriting consistency and turnaround times.
  
• Strong portfolio performance and risk outcomes.
  
• Meaningful contribution toward the future development of automated credit scoring capabilities.
  

Remuneration

The package on offer is between R55,000 and R70,000 per month CTC, with flexibility for exceptional candidates who bring significant fintech lending, underwriting, or credit risk management experience.

If you’re passionate about building scalable credit processes and shaping the future of lending within a high-growth fintech environment, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply for a confidential discussion.