Data Scientist - Ops

As a data scientist in our Operations Strategy team, you'll help us use data-driven insights to make strategic improvements to the service our Operations teams provide to our customers.

The company

Fast, flexible finance empowers small businesses to manage their cash flow better and seize opportunities - making their business and the economy stronger as a whole. At iwoca, we do just that. We help businesses get the funds they need, when they need it, often within minutes. We've already made several billion in funding available to more than 100,000 businesses since we launched in 2012, and positioned ourselves as a leading Fintech in Europe.

The role

As a Data Scientist in our Operations Strategy team, the data-driven insights that you produce will help to guide the development of effective processes and improve efficiency across different areas of our UK and Germany Operations teams (currently c.180 people, across London, Leeds, and Frankfurt). All while maintaining an exceptional level of customer service.

You will play a crucial role working to set up and analyse tests, and to build statistical models which will allow us to better understand the value of the work carried out by our Operations teams.

You'll build deep expertise in Operations processes across the full range of the customer journey, from signup through to collections. You'll work very closely with Operations staff and business stakeholders to ensure that your work aligns closely with business goals and achieves valuable commercial outcomes. You will also work with other Data Scientists across the business, and be part of a peer group with whom you can share and deepen your technical expertise.

The projects

Here are some examples of projects you might work on:

1. Setting up, monitoring and analysing split tests, to help understand the value of operations activities. This could include determining the ROI of different types of outbound calls that are made by our Account Managers, or understanding the effectiveness of third parties (relative to our in-house collections teams) at recovering overdue payments from delinquent customers.
2. Building predictive models based on customer satisfaction data, to determine whether changes that are made to operations' processes genuinely improve customer satisfaction.
3. Building statistical models to enhance the ability of operations teams to do accurate forecasting and capacity planning.

The function

iwoca's Data Scientists specialise in Supervised Machine Learning, Statistical Inference and Exploratory Statistics, focusing on tabular and time series data. Our work emphasises quantitative predictions through the analysis of conditional probabilities and expectations, using medium-sized datasets.

The requirements

Essential:

• Strong problem-solving skills in probability and statistics, likely from a numerate background, e.g. in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or similar.
• Proficiency with data manipulation and modelling tools, e.g. pandas, statsmodels, R.
• Experience with scientific computing and tooling, e.g. NumPy, SciPy, R, Matlab, Mathematica, BLAS.
• Self-starter with ability to work autonomously and efficiently manage projects end-to-end.

Bonus:

• Demonstrable experience using machine learning techniques.
• Excellent communication skills, you tailor your communication style and the technical detail according to your audience.
• Excellent knowledge of stochastic processes and related mathematical techniques.
• Experience with Bayesian analysis.
• Experience with Python. (Note: we mostly work in Python.)
• Knowledge of financial concepts (e.g. calculations with deterministic cash flows).

The salary

We expect to pay from £60,000 - £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, we prioritise a culture of learning, growth, and support, and invest in the professional development of our team members. We value thought and skill diversity, and encourage you to explore new areas of interest to help us innovate and improve our products and services.

The offices

We put a lot of effort into making iwoca a brilliant place to work:

• Offices in London, Leeds, and Frankfurt with plenty of drinks and snacks.
• Events and clubs, like bingo, comedy nights, yoga classes, football, etc.

The benefits

• Medical insurance from Vitality, including discounted gym membership, and a private GP service for you, your partner, and your dependents.
• 25 days' holiday, an extra day off for your birthday, the option to buy or sell an additional 5 days of annual leave, unlimited unpaid leave, and one-month fully paid sabbatical after 4 years.
• Instant access to emotional and mental health support with our partner, Spill.
• Pension and share options.
• Generous parental leave and a nursery tax benefit scheme to help you save money.
• Paid volunteering day to support your chosen charity.
• Cycle-to-work scheme and electric car 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.