About Allica Bank
Allica is the UK’s fastest growing company - and the fastest-growing financial technology (Fintech) firm ever. Our purpose is to help established SMEs, one of the last major underserved opportunities in Fintech.
Established SMEs are the backbone of local communities - representing over a third of our economy - yet have been largely neglected both by traditional high street banks and modern fintech providers.
Department Description
The Credit Strategy Team sits at the heart of Allica’s lending proposition, responsible for managing credit risk, defining lending participation choices and driving forward growth through credit strategies that optimise the balance of risk and reward in our portfolio. To do so the team balances excellence in problem-solving and analytical thinking, with robust technical and data knowledge.
Role Description
As a Senior Associate you will play a key role in defining and shaping our lending proposition, making strategic decisions to drive growth and manage the risk in a loan portfolio of £3bn+ and growing, and playing a pivotal role in driving Allica’s growing competitive advantage and success in the market.
You will utilise your thorough expertise on data analytics, as well as your knowledge of credit products, and SME financing to drive Allica’s journey in disrupting the SME lending industry, fuelling market-leading growth.
This fast-paced role provides a great opportunity for exposure to senior stakeholders and to make a meaningful impact shaping the way in which data is used and portfolio decisions are made at Allica.
Principal Accountabilities
Lead our credit strategy
Design frameworks and credit strategies that guide Allica’s lending participation choices and balance risk and reward in the portfolio in line with Allica’s broader strategy and risk appetite.
Conduct deep-dives into emerging areas of potential risk and opportunity, separating the signal from the noise, sharing the key insights with the Lending Leadership team.
Drive in-market actions, channelling Allica’s lending appetite, product development and growth to the areas with the optimal balance between risk and reward.
Regularly assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the credit strategies to ensure continued alignment with risk appetite and sustained success, staying abreast of evolving regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
Contribute to the optimisation of pricing strategies to enhance overall performance and profitability.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including data scientists, data analytics, data engineering, marketing, underwriting, and product teams to design and implement credit strategy changes.
Drive our credit risk monitoring
Improve the mechanisms for tracking and reporting lending performance, identifying and monitoring emerging risks, and integrating insights into credit strategies.
Identify key risks, opportunities and trends in a structured way, and assessing their evolution over time.
Develop insightful reporting for the core decision-making committees in the bank, including dashboards and presentations to provide insights into the performance of the credit portfolio.
Identify and work with internal and third-party data sources, and implement innovative solutions that create value and drive competitive differentiation across the lending journey.
Support credit risk forecasting and analysis
Contribute to the Bank’s forecasting of credit risk to include impairments under IFRS9, Probability of Default, Loss Given Default, Exposure at Default and Expected Loss.
Assist with the annual review and challenge of the IFRS9 model methodology and assumptions to ensure ECL calculations are in line with IFRS9 standards.
Personal Attributes & Experience
Experience in a data-driven role, either within credit risk / lending strategy or in a highly analytical environment (e.g. consulting, analytics, data science or quantitative roles), with a demonstrated ability to solve complex problems using data.
Exposure to credit risk, lending products, or financial services is desirable, but not essential for candidates with strong analytical backgrounds and a clear motivation to develop in credit strategy.
Familiarity with Commercial Lending, Mortgages, Asset Finance, or Working Capital products is advantageous but not required.
Strong understanding (or ability to quickly develop understanding) of test & learn methodologies, with the capability to critically assess strategies and outcomes using both data and sound judgement.
Knowledge of credit risk assessment methodologies, credit products and regulatory frameworks is beneficial; alternatively, the ability to rapidly build this knowledge through structured problem-solving and learning.
Experience with or interest in SME lending and credit products is desirable.
Comfortable working with data to analyse portfolio performance, identify trends, and generate insights; prior experience in credit portfolio monitoring is a plus but not mandatory.
Awareness of credit risk frameworks (e.g. risk appetite, policies) is beneficial, though candidates with strong analytical skillsets and an interest in risk management will also be considered.
Understanding of key credit risk concepts (e.g. PD, LGD, EAD, SICR, IFRS9) is advantageous; however, strong quantitative candidates with the ability and motivation to learn these concepts quickly are encouraged to apply.
#LI-AD1
Working at Allica Bank
At Allica Bank we want to ensure our employees have the right tools and environment in which to succeed in their role and in support of our customers.
Our employees are at the heart of everything we do, so our benefits are designed with you in mind:
Full onboarding support and continued development opportunities
Options for flexible working
Regular social activities
Pension contributions
Discretionary bonus scheme
Private health cover
Life assurance
Family friendly policies including enhanced Maternity & Paternity leave
Don’t tick every box?
Don’t worry if you don’t have all the skills or requirements listed on the job description. If you think you’ll be a good fit, we’d still love to hear from you!
Flexible working
We know the ‘9-to-5’ isn’t right for everyone. That’s why Allica Bank is fully committed to flexible and hybrid working. Please let us know what is best for you and, if we can, we will do our best to accommodate.
Diversity
We’re a diverse bunch here at Allica, with all kinds of experiences, backgrounds and lifestyles. Our openness and differences make us stronger, and we want everybody to feel comfortable bringing as much of themselves to work with them as they like.
Top Skills
What We Do
Recently named by The Times newspaper as one of the UK’s Top 20 fintech companies, Allica Bank is dedicated to serving and supporting small and medium businesses and empowering them to succeed. We combine modern, powerful technology with local relationships in the community to deliver expert banking for businesses in Britain. We have offices in Milton Keynes, Manchester and London, and a team of expert relationship managers out on the road across England and Wales, providing personal support to small and medium-sized businesses in their local communities. In everything we do, we live and breathe our four core values of collaboration, integrity, delivery and being straightforward.
