Please note that as this is a remote based position, we are open to applications from candidates based throughout the UK and EMEA region.

Yoco is on a mission to help the businesses of tomorrow get started, and get paid – be a part of the team that changes financial services in Africa. Curious. Data-driven. Purposeful. Sound like you? It sounds a lot like us too. We are a fast-growing African technology company made up of over 350 team members globally. All with a bias for boldness, and a passion for simple, progressive solutions.

Founded in 2015, Yoco is now the payments provider for over 200 000 business owners and processes over $2bn annually.

The Risk team is the sword and shield in an ever-changing, quickly-advancing technological landscape. The team protects Yoco and its merchants from unscrupulous and fraudulent behaviour, with transaction volumes increasing rapidly. The Credit (Capital) team offers our merchants an innovative cash advance product with unique repayment terms to help them grow their businesses.

As Yoco grows, the risks in trading also evolve and we need to stay one step ahead. The Capital product adjusts to our merchants’ needs. Data plays a key part in this evolution, infusing processes with intelligence, identifying areas at risk of exploitation and proactively planning for growth, rather than simply reacting to it.

Your objective will be to apply your skills and experience, in collaboration with various teams within the area, in support of building smart, scalable, robust and data-driven fraud detection and prevention processes and credit risk modelling and analysis.

We are looking for a data-driven, structured, analytical thinking Data Scientist to help us unlock Yoco’s growth efforts and support in making Yoco a great place to work by unlocking and driving actionable insights and building out the data-driven decision making within the Risk space.

You will report directly to the Data Lead within Risk and Credit; and your role has the opportunity for collaboration across multiple teams across the company. This role is embedded within the Risk and Finance areas.

The Data Scientist we are looking for is a strong all rounder with practical experience in Statistics, Analytics and applied knowledge in Predictive Modelling, Forecasting and ideally Credit & Fraud modelling.

ROLE | WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING? 

Yoco is growing quickly! This means the needs of our customers are also quickly changing and expanding. We aim to continually improve the quality of our offerings to merchants and assist them in their journey to grow and thrive.

You would assist us by building methodologies and frameworks to detect and prevent fraudulent activity through Yoco’s platforms. You will also assist in providing a seamless and responsible experience for customers of our Capital offering, as we manage risk while optimising access to credit.

This role is responsible for and will assist with structuring source data systems for accurate fraud reporting and developing predictive modelling for fraudulent transactions. The role is also responsible for and will assist with partnering with Product teams to implement data driven recommendations to manage credit risk and building models to quantify credit default risk for the Yoco Capital portfolio of products.

Key responsibilities:

• An experienced Data Scientist with a history of working in a growth-focused or technology organisation, ideally working together or collaborating with the finance, risk, data teams and other business stakeholders.
• Comfortable with a variety of Data Analytics tools and platforms from cloud platform databases, SQL, Python, R and front-end tools e.g. Looker, Tableau and Mixpanel. We use Redshift and Looker extensively in this environment.
• Proven track record in creating and deployment of Data Science initiatives.
• Experience with a variety of Data Science frameworks such as, but not limited to: TensorFlow, Scikit-learn, Keras, Pandas, PyTorch, Numpy.
• A strong analytical thinker with a penchant for problem solving and track record of delivering results from deployed solutions, which create business relevant insights.

IDEAL CANDIDATE | WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR?  

Education:

• Degree in Comp Sci/ Applied Maths / Maths / Stats is encouraged (strong work experience can fill this gap)

Background:

• 5+ years in a Data Scientist role.
• Experience with building and deploying models in first or third party fraud, credit risk and optimisation, other business-focused predictive analytics.
• Proven track record in creating and deploying Data Science initiatives with experience deploying code suitable for production.
• Experience working with engineers, business and data teams to solve complex problems
• Strong analytical experience with ability to provide recommendations, answer questions and provide insights to maximise the value of data across the business.
• Experienced in Python, R and SQL.

The Yoco Formula:

The Yoco formula is a validated approach to work and a set of behaviours that create maximum value for our customers and help us grow.

Core Values - Our way of working to create value & grow

• Stay Connected
• Make Space to Explore
• Keep it Simple
• Master your Craft

Core Behaviours - How we show up, engage & treat each other

• Get to know each other personally
• Say what you think 
• Be courageous and focus forward
• Don’t let ego get in the way

To support this, we have built a role-based organisation where every individual is given the space to focus and develop their innate strengths. Everyone at Yoco has the opportunity to lead a project and become a specialist, enabling flexibility, collaboration and accountability at all levels. You will be working with a diverse, motivated and skilled team who will continuously stretch you as an individual. To learn more about our culture, subscribe toExposure Gallery

Join us on a meaningful journey at Yoco, and help enable our merchants to thrive through Open Commerce!