Role overview
*We're looking for a Senior Data Scientist who loves building predictive models and solving ambiguous data problems. You'll own the models that shape loan eligibility and pricing across 5 African markets. This is a small team with big responsibility, where your work directly shapes lending strategy for millions of customers.
The Impact**
Your models will directly shape how millions of underserved customers access credit for the first time. We've already helped over 7 million customers access over $2 billion in credit - and we process over 1.5 million payments daily. It's your chance to be part of something that's literally transforming lives across an entire continent
What you'll work on
At M-KOPA, you'll build and refine the predictive models that power our lending strategy. You'll sit within a small, high-performing team with end-to-end ownership of credit scoring, loan eligibility, and pricing optimisation — working cross-functionally with engineers, analysts, growth managers, and commercial stakeholders across multiple countries. Join us in combining cutting-edge data science with purpose-driven work that makes digital and financial inclusion possible across Africa.
What we're looking for
- Experience building predictive models, particularly credit scoring, risk models, or similar classification/regression problems
- Strong ML background with hands-on experience in model development, validation, deployment, and performance monitoring
- Proficiency in Python, SQL, and relevant ML libraries (scikit-learn, pandas, numpy, etc.) with experience in feature engineering, model selection, and hyperparameter tuning
- Experience translating complex model outputs into actionable business strategies and stakeholder communications
- Ability to work cross-functionally with product, engineering, and commercial teams
- Strong data communication skills — written, oral, and visual