Credit Risk Analyst

Job Objective

The company is seeking a quantitative Credit Risk Analyst to establish and grow its credit risk modelling, provisioning, and pricing capability. This role will be key in building, validating, and monitoring the foundational models across the credit lifecycle. This includes the credit risk & affordability assessment models, IFRS 9 provisioning framework, and risk-based pricing models. The role ensures all models are robust, predictive, and compliant with standards from the Prudential Authority (PA) and external auditors. As a Greenfield initiative, it requires someone who thrives in building complex models, working with rich data from the wider organisation, and driving risk-led decision-making in a fast-paced and ambiguous environment.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor's degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Actuarial Science, Economics, Engineering, or a related quantitative field.
• A postgraduate degree is advantageous
• 5+ years' experience in a Credit Risk, Quantitative Analyst, or Data Science role, preferably within the financial services or banking sector, in a Team leader capacity.
• Strong programming skills in SAS, SQL, Python or R for statistical analysis and modelling (SAS experience is preferred).
• Strong SQL knowledge for data manipulation and querying.
• Demonstrable experience in building and validating predictive models in one or more of the following areas:
• Credit decisioning models: (e.g., Application scorecards, affordability models, behavioural scorecards).
• IFRS 9 model development (PD, LGD, EAD)
• Risk-based pricing models
• Experience with data visualisation tools like Power BI, Looker, or Tableau.
• Behavioural competencies: Proactive and adaptable, with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, strong communication abilities to present complex data simply, and a high sense of ownership, initiative, and innovation in fast-paced, start-up environments.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

This role works across the full spectrum of credit risk quantification.

Responsibilities include:

Credit decisioning & affordability models

• Develop, validate, and monitor credit-granting and account management models and strategies (including but not limited to application scorecards, behavioural scorecards, and cut-off strategies).
• Develop and implement quantitative models to support affordability assessments, ensuring compliance with the National Credit Act (NCA).

IFRS 9 provisioning models

• Develop, validate, and maintain core IFRS 9 models for Expected Credit Loss (ECL) calculation, including Probability of Default (PD), Loss Given Default (LGD), and Exposure at Default (EAD).
• Establish and monitor Significant Increase in Credit Risk (SICR) criteria for the staging of assets (Stage 1, 2, and 3).
• Integrate forward-looking information (FLI) and macroeconomic scenarios into the ECL provisioning framework.

Credit pricing & profitability

• Develop, implement, and monitor risk-based pricing models for new credit products to ensure risk-adjusted profitability.
• Conduct credit profitability analysis on the portfolio to identify trends, risks, and opportunities.

Forecasting, reporting & analytics

• Support the budgeting and forecasting process for credit-related items, including bad debt provisions and risk-based revenue.
• Produce analytics and monitoring packs for senior management and regulatory stakeholders.

Model governance

• Contribute to best practices for model governance, documentation, and validation that meet the standards of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and external auditors.

Please take note: if you have not been contacted within 14 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.