Senior Data Scientist

www.koramoney.com

Company Description

Kora is a pioneering auto loan provider, focused on serving credit-invisible communities, including international students and high-net-worth expatriates. At Kora, you'll collaborate with talented fintech professionals to reshape the financial landscape for underserved populations. Using our proprietary Non-FICO underwriting system, we deliver accessible and convenient financing solutions to a niche market, helping to secure their financial futures.

We pride ourselves on a flat organizational structure with a strong emphasis on execution and results. As part of our rapidly growing company, you'll have the opportunity to engage in all aspects of the business, with the potential to make a meaningful impact in line with your capabilities. We are committed to becoming the go-to financing platform for the underbanked and invite passionate individuals who share our vision of disrupting traditional lending through innovation.

While Kora is headquartered in Chicago, this role is for our Toronto office.

Job Description

At Kora, the Senior Data Scientist role is a dynamic and entrepreneurial opportunity, offering the chance to shape and enhance our core data infrastructure. As a key contributor, you'll be involved in the design, development, and optimization of our core data engine, as well as underwriting projects for our B2B solutions. This role provides significant exposure to critical business areas such as growth strategy, risk management, finance, and R&D.

We are seeking a candidate who can independently lead projects, thrives in a fast-paced startup environment, and is driven to learn and apply new technologies. A proactive approach to identifying opportunities for increased efficiency and productivity is essential.

Job Responsibility

• Actively contribute to the development and optimization of credit risk models, including algorithm enhancements, integration of third-party data vendors, and ongoing model monitoring.
• Analyze application and loan performance data to generate insights that inform decision-making and improve business strategies.
• Maintain the data warehouse and ETL processes, ensuring regular data reporting for the finance department, and present findings in a clear, actionable manner.
• Collaborate on the development of a cross-departmental data analytics engine to drive business intelligence across various functions.

Job Qualifications

Minimum

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field from a top-tier university.
• 4+ years of experience with programming languages, demonstrating proficiency in data manipulation using Python and SQL.
• Proven ability to work independently with minimal supervision and a strong track record of independently leading data-driven projects.
• Solid understanding of computer science and software engineering fundamentals.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to dissect complex business problems and approach them with a structured, data-driven solution.
• Eligible to work in Canada.

Preferred:

• Expertise in machine learning techniques and data mining methodologies.
• Familiarity with data visualization tools and libraries in Python (e.g., Matplotlib, Plotly, Seaborn).
• Experience in Python application development, including frameworks such as Flask, and working with cloud environments like AWS and containerization tools such as Docker.
• Knowledge of building scalable and efficient data pipelines in PySpark or other big data techniques.
• Experience with version control tools such as Git for collaboration in software development.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Incentives

• $120k - $140k CAD annually
• Competitive salary packages and bonuses, potential stock options
• Flexible work from home policy
• Comprehensive health, vision and dental insurance
• Company provided MacBook
• Annual $500 learning credit