Hybrid in London, United Kingdom
We're looking for a Data Scientist
You'll design experiments and build models that shape how iwoca grows through brokers and partners in Germany. You'll set the approach and see your work open up finance for thousands of small businesses.
The company
Small businesses move fast. Opportunities often don't wait, and cash flow pressures can appear overnight. To keep going, and growing, SMEs need finance that's as flexible and responsive as they are.
That's why we built iwoca. Our smart technology, data science and five-star customer service ensures business owners can act with the speed, confidence and control they need, exactly when it's needed.
We've already cleared the way for 100,000 businesses with more than £4 billion in funding. Our passionate team is driven to help even more SMEs succeed, through access to better finance and other services that make running a business easier. Our ultimate mission is to support one million SMEs in their defining moments, creating lasting impact for the communities and economies they drive.
The team
Third-Party Acquisition (3PA) Germany brings small businesses to iwoca through brokers and partners, and owns both journeys end to end – from an application arriving to a business taking up its offer.
The team works across two channels:
Brokers. Working with finance advisers who apply to iwoca on behalf of their clients.
Partners. Working with platforms, such as digital banks and accounting software, that offer iwoca lending to their own customers.
The team will be nine people across commercial strategy, analytics, product, and engineering.
The role
As the Data Scientist in 3PA Germany, you'll work out what the data says about both channels. Experiment design and statistical modelling on tabular data take up most of your time, with some machine learning. You'll turn what you find into recommendations, and work through them with the team's commercial and product colleagues.
You'll decide which questions are worth answering first, and how to answer them. You'll influence which businesses the team reaches, how they convert, and on what terms.
You'll join the analytics guild – iwoca's data science community – and share methods with data scientists in the UK broker and partner teams, who work on similar questions.
Live project examples:
Funnel experiments. Designing and analysing controlled experiments across the broker and partner funnels, including where clean randomisation is hard.
Pre-qualification. Developing the model that shows partner customers what they could borrow before they apply.
Take-up and lifetime value. Modelling what makes a business take up an offer, and what raises its lifetime value.
Competitive position. Working out why businesses that come through brokers and partners choose iwoca over other lenders, and testing changes to the journey that win more of them.
Offer terms. Exploring how our lending product terms affect conversion in the broker channel, and using the results to inform product and risk decisions
The requirements
Essential:
Statistical foundations. You have a background in probability and statistics from a quantitative field such as mathematics, physics, or statistics.
Causal inference and experimentation. You've designed and analysed experiments, and estimated causal effects from observational data. You know where A/B testing breaks down and what to reach for instead.
Commercial judgement. You understand the business behind each question, and turn data into recommendations people act on.
Analytical ownership. You take loosely defined problems from start to finish – framing the question, choosing the approach, and seeing it through to a decision.
Coding for analysis. You write code to explore and model data. The team works in Python, and R is fine to start with.
AI leverage. You've used AI to produce work you couldn't have delivered without it – an analysis pipeline, a prototype, or a tool others use. You judge where it helps and where it doesn't, and you check its output before anyone acts on it.
Communication. You write and speak clearly, directly, and concisely. You adapt technical detail for non-technical colleagues in commercial and product roles.
Bonus:
Bayesian methods. You understand Bayesian statistics, and you've applied hierarchical models or are keen to.
Machine learning. You've built or adapted ML models, and you're curious about the maths behind them.
Lending knowledge. You know how lenders price loans or assess credit risk.
The salary
We expect to pay from £70,000 to £90,000 for this role. But, we’re open-minded, so definitely include your salary goals with your application. We routinely benchmark salaries against market rates, and run quarterly performance and salary reviews.
The culture
At iwoca, the best idea wins. We model our culture on independent thinking, challenging untested logic, and evidence-based decisions. We prioritise learning and growth, and give people the autonomy to develop in the direction that makes them most effective.
We're a tech company and believe in the power of AI to help us work faster and better. We provide the infrastructure where every iwocan always has access to the best models and where those models have access to all of our data. We will help our people to learn how to use and grow with the new tools available to them.
The offices
We put a lot of effort into making iwoca a great place to work:
Offices in London, Leeds, Berlin, and Frankfurt with plenty of drinks and snacks.
Events and community-led groups, including running groups, padel, and monthly ping-pong and pool competitions.
The benefits
Flexible working hours.
Medical insurance from Vitality, including discounted gym membership.
A private GP service (separate from Vitality) for you, your partner, and your dependents.
25 days’ holiday per year, an extra day off for your birthday, the option to buy or sell an additional five days of annual leave, and unlimited unpaid leave.
A one-month, fully paid sabbatical after four years.
Instant access to external counselling and therapy sessions for team members that need emotional or mental health support.
3% Pension contributions on total earnings.
An employee equity incentive scheme.
Generous parental leave and a nursery tax benefit scheme to help you save money.
Electric car scheme and cycle to work scheme.
Two company retreats a year: we’ve been to France, Italy, Spain, and further afield.
And to make sure we all keep learning, we offer:
A learning and development budget for everyone.
Company-wide talks with internal and external speakers.
Access to learning platforms like Treehouse.
Useful links:
iwoca benefits & policies
Interview welcome pack
Skills Required
- Background in probability and statistics from a quantitative field such as mathematics, physics, or statistics
- Experience designing and analyzing experiments and estimating causal effects from observational data
- Commercial judgment and ability to turn data into actionable recommendations
- Ability to independently own loosely defined analytical problems from framing through decision-making
- Ability to code for data exploration and modeling; Python is used by the team and R is acceptable initially
- Experience using AI to produce analyses, pipelines, prototypes, or tools, with ability to evaluate and verify its output
- Clear, concise written and verbal communication, including adapting technical detail for non-technical colleagues
- Understanding of Bayesian statistics and experience or interest in hierarchical models
- Experience building or adapting machine-learning models and interest in their mathematical foundations
- Knowledge of lending, loan pricing, or credit-risk assessment
What We Do
iwoca was founded to expand possibilities for small businesses. At iwoca, we believe finance should feel like a superpower, not a headache. That’s why our founders, Chris and James, decided to create a solution custom-built for small businesses. One that strips out the hassle, gets to know what each business needs, and looks for opportunities rather than problems. One that provides access to finance where and when your business needs it. Our partner integrations and our Lending API mean we can provide access to finance where and when small businesses need it. Our award winning credit risk engine help us make faster, more accurate credit decisions built around the performance of the business. We are proud to be NACFB Lender of the year, Xero Financial Services App of the year and, most recently, winner of the £10m Banking Competition Remedies grant. Since 2012, we’ve made funding available to over 50,000 businesses, from cafés to car dealers, salons to solicitors. But we’ve only just started. Our mission is to fund one million small businesses.
