About UsYouLend is a rapidly growing FinTech that is the preferred embedded financing platform for many of the world’s leading e-commerce platforms, tech companies, and Payment Service Providers. Our software platform enables our partners to extend their value proposition by offering flexible financing products in their own branding, to their merchant base, without capital at risk. We are owned by the leading Private Equity company, EQT, and have grown +100% year-on-year since 2020. We are headquartered in London, UK, but are also present in several European countries as well as the United States where we service our partners, including eBay, Amazon, Just Eat, Shopify, and Stripe. Over the past year, the importance of the EU market – including Germany – has increased significantly alongside strong growth in financing volumes. By 2026, YouLend expects the total fundings in this region to more than double through new and existing partners. To support these growth ambitions, YouLend has decided to open a new office in Germany.The RoleYouLend is hiring a risk-first Head of Underwriting to lead our EU underwriting function across nine countries, including Germany — our fastest-growing market.In this senior leadership role, you will take full ownership of scaling and managing the underwriting team based in our Berlin office (25+ people expected within 12 months), while also developing and shaping the EU risk strategy to enhance our underwriting processes and capabilities.The underwriting team is a core part of the YouLend Production Line and is responsible for approving and declining financing applications, deciding appropriate exposure limits, and pricing deals. The department consists of three subteams:Credit Eligibility: Responsible for conducting eligibility checks and preparing the deal for underwriting.Credit Decisions: Responsible for evaluating credit risk and affordability, approving appropriate funding amounts and deal terms.KYC / KYB: Responsible for completing KYC and KYB checks in lines with local regulatory requirements.Your primary objective is to ensure that customers are served well (as measured through speed and quality of decisioning financing applications), whilst achieving high approval rates and low loss rates. You and your Team Leaders will be responsible for hiring, training and developing current and prospective team members to meet business objectives.While operational excellence is crucial to your success, your role is targeted at enhancing our underwriting process and capabilities to optimise YouLend’s returns in EU – often in cross-team collaboration with the global Credit Risk, Capital Markets and Product teams.You will establish yourself as a trusted leader, balancing growth with risk-adjusted returns (not just approvals). You will be expected to play an active role in Credit Committee, monitor performance of YouLend’s loan portfolio, and use data to proactively identify and propose improvements to our underwriting capabilities and tools.ResponsibilitiesBe at the forefront of building an independent underwriting function in EU, balancing growth with risk-adjusted returns (not just approvals) – bridging market standards with the best of YouLendThis includes recruiting and developing Team Leaders who can support you in the day-to- day management of the underwriting team (25+ people expected within 12 months)Play an active role in Credit Committee, acting as a trusted expert in your fieldOwn end-to-end performance: Manage the implementation of global Credit Risk guidance, analysing bottlenecks and delivering strategies to increase adoptionCollaborate with cross-functional teams (e.g. Credit Risk, Compliance, Capital Markets, Product and Commercial) to continuously optimise underwriting tools, processes, and policies. Use data to proactively identify, propose and execute solutions to bridge policy gaps and adjust Credit Risk models, aimed at improving efficiency or returnsEstablish quality control measures to maintain high standards of accuracy and consistency across teams, including regular audits to verify adherence to internal policies and processesHire and develop managers and individual underwriters alike, cemented in scalable training infrastructureHelp take new products, partners, and markets from zero to one with the appropriate conversion-risk trade-offAct as a change leader, implementing improvements quickly and effectively and embedding them sustainably within the teams — with minimal disruption to day-to-day operationsThe ideal candidate will have the following skillset3+ years’ direct experience with underwriting or risk. Ideally, working as a senior stakeholder in a growing FinTech company, in the financial services sector or at a bankA strong understanding of credit risk in continental EU, specifically Germany, coupled with a commercial mindsetA strong track-record of managing people (ideally 10+) and mentoring your direct reports. Ideally, you also have experience in managing managersHands-on mentality: You are proactive, act with urgency, drive projects forward, remove obstacles, and consistently implement solutionsYou take responsibility for outcomes, not tasks, and drive projects to completion without supervisionYou are data-driven, comfortable in numbers, and able to make decisions with imperfect informationSuccessful track-record of achieving ambitious goalsStrong change management skills and experience in managing change processesExcellent written and verbal communication skillsFluent in German and EnglishDesirable skillsStrong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience working with large datasets (e.g. SQL, Python, R)Exposure to SME financing in continental EU, ideally with Merchant Cash AdvancesWhy YouLend?We have built powerful solutions, secured major partnerships, and are growing at exceptional speedThe global growth opportunity is substantial — YouLend is still in build mode, and this is just the beginningYou will join the fastest-growing part of the business and play a key role in building and scaling our newest office in GermanySignificant Growth PotentialStrong growth (>100% YoY since 2020) → clear perspectives for salary, bonus, equity, and career developmentFinancially strong thanks to private equity backingPart of the Banking Circle Group with a fully licensed bank in Luxembourg – enabling expansion into complexly regulated marketsMotivating Work EnvironmentA top-level team that pushes each other and thrives on direct feedbackStrong, transparent culture – we stick togetherHigh degree of autonomy; results matterData-driven work style, minimal bureaucracy, fast paceStart date: As soon as possibleSalary: Competitive market salary plus bonusLocation: Berlin, Germany (office-based role) #J-18808-Ljbffr