Director, Predictive Modeling and Data Science

The Company

Founded in 2015 and based in Chicago, IL, privately held Braviant Holdings, Inc is a leading provider of tech-enabled credit products which combine breakthrough technology and cutting-edge machine learning to transform how people access credit online.  The Company’s next-generation approach to lending reduces credit barriers and creates a Path to Prime® helping millions of underbanked consumers build credit history, reduce their cost of borrowing, and take control of their personal finances. Braviant has been named multiple times to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies and has been recognized as a Best Place to Work. 

The Role

Braviant is looking for a Director level leader with a player/coach mentality and who is deeply familiar with and knowledgeable in the state-of-the-art statistical modeling, specifically for classification problems in credit risk (default) and marketing (response).  Experience as a leader of teams and people management skills are crucial to be successful in this role. The successful candidate will lead the development, implementation and optimization of the core statistical models that drive the Company’s business and will be responsible for the valuation (NPV) models. In addition to the traditional roles for data scientists/modelers, the Director, Predictive Modeling and Data Science will be responsible for the rollout of the models and ensure their correct execution by establishing short- and long-term model monitoring frameworks. The right person for this role has strong business acumen and technical skills with a solid background in tree-based classification algorithms (Boosting, Random Forest, and XG Boost, for example) and general data science techniques.  The successful candidate will be forward leaning, proactively seeking new solutions, with the drive and acumen to deliver results on their own and in collaboration with the people they directly manage.  

What You’ll Be Doing

• Manage a small team of motivated statisticians and data scientists; coach and guide them to improve their technical skills and competencies
• Lead the development, validation and monitoring of core measurement frameworks for statistical models.
• Use a diverse set of statistical modeling techniques to action on new business opportunities and optimize existing strategies.
• Proactively perform data exploration and analysis (on in-house and third-party data assets) to identify new opportunities for profitable growth.
• Develop in-depth subject matter expertise of underwriting practices or our diverse customer acquisition channels. 
• Drive positive business outcomes from new credit strategies that utilize the statistical models as well as define and monitor KPIs.
• Implement and deploy both real-time and batch models in our various model scoring and decisioning environments and monitor successful deployment and execution.
• Perform A/B (champion – challenger) tests with specific business outcomes in mind.
• Help develop a rigorous and bank-compliant model governance framework and ensure adherence to its tenets.  Engage in and ensure successful completion of third-party validations required for full compliance.

What You'll Bring

• 5+ years of experience in an analytical role with an emphasis on model building
• 3+ years of experience in online consumer lending industry; the more experience you have in unsecured consumer lending the more you will stand out.
• 2+ years of direct people management experience
• Advanced degree in data science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Engineering or other quantitative (STEM) field
• Acute business acumen to understand the business context and drive for profitability through data science and statistical modeling; experience in data engineering will make you a standout
• Expert in the tools used for data manipulation and statistical analysis e.g. Python/R/SQL
• Hands-on experience using various predictive model techniques including linear models, decision trees, boosting, and ensemble models
• Experience with optimization, experimental design, A/B testing and bootstrapping
• Exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills and comfort with making data driven decisions
• Comfortable with ambiguity and possess a ‘figure it out & get it done’ mentality
• Ability to organize and manage multiple priorities with a sense of urgency
• Great verbal and writing communication skills
• Highly self-motivated in a fully remote working environment 

Perks and Benefits

• Medical benefits paid by employer/employee split of 80/20. Provided by UnitedHealthcare
• Dental and Vision covered at zero cost to you
• Floating Holidays
• Wellness Days
• 401K Match vested each week
• Remote work environment  
• Generous PTO
• Internet stipend
• Sabbatical program
• Team and company events/get togethers

We're about achieving results while having fun along the way. We believe in solving problems together and building on each other's ideas.

Our teams are comprised of smart, curious individuals and we encourage everyone to think like an owner, take initiative and drive their careers.

Our broad roles provide tremendous opportunities for individuals to acquire new skills, gain exposure to all areas of the business, and quickly see their impact at Braviant.

Want to learn more? Check us out on Glassdoor, BuiltIn and our Newsroom