Senior Data Scientist

Job description

Location:

Nairobi, Kenya (Hybrid/Remote options available)

Reports to:

Data Science Manager

About Pezesha

Pezesha is a leading embedded finance company that provides affordable and data-driven credit solutions to MSMEs across Africa.

We combine technology, alternative data, and financial partnerships to close the $360B financing gap for small businesses while ensuring sustainable financial inclusion.

We are looking for a
Senior Data Scientist

to join our team and lead the development of advanced credit risk models, strategic insights, and business intelligence tools that drive high repayment rates, operational efficiency, and portfolio growth.

This role is critical in strengthening our risk management framework and scaling our impact across the continent.

Core Responsibilities

Credit Risk Model Development

• Develop, test, and iterate credit risk models on a quarterly basis.
  
  
• Ensure repayment rates consistently exceed
  95%

, with a default rate of less than
3%

across all portfolios.

Strategic Data Insights

• Provide data-driven insights and reports to portfolio leads, senior management, and external stakeholders.
  
  
• Translate findings into actionable strategies to enhance performance and mitigate risks.
  
  

Data Extraction, Cleaning & Mining

• Lead the end-to-end processes of data extraction, cleaning, transformation, and mining.
  
  
• Build datasets that power descriptive, predictive, and spatial models to support decision-making.
  
  

Cross-Functional Experimentation

• Design and lead experiments across business units to optimize products, processes, and risk strategies.
  
  
• Measure and communicate results to ensure learnings drive continuous improvements.
  
  

Business Intelligence Development

• Develop and enhance BI tools to maximize product efficiency, improve Lifetime Value (LTV), and gross margins.
  
  
• Deliver at least two major BI tool enhancements or new feature implementations per quarter.
  
  

Real-Time Dashboards & Reporting

• Build and maintain real-time dashboards with a 99% uptime and accuracy target.
  
  
• Deliver monthly finance reports on-time and with > 99% accuracy in reports.
  
  Continuously add to exception reports to enhance portfolio quality and leverage AI + automation to improve reporting processes.
  
  
• Ensure accurate and timely lender reporting, portfolio impact analysis, and internal business reporting.
  
  

Documentation & Transparency

• Maintain clear documentation of models, experiments, and workflows to ensure reproducibility and transparency.
  
  

Mentorship & Team Leadership

• Mentor junior data scientists and analysts, fostering a collaborative, learning-driven culture.
  
  
• Lead the data science team in setting priorities, managing workloads, and delivering high-quality outputs.
  
  

Task Delegation & Ad Hoc Priorities

• Execute tasks assigned by the
  CEO, COO, Data Science Manager or CDO

, prioritizing based on organizational goals and impact.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• LMS Accuracy:

Achieve and maintain ≥
98% accuracy

in Learning Management System data validation.
- Sprint Completion:

Deliver
90%+ completion rate

for planned sprints on time.
- SLA Adherence:

Maintain
95%+ adherence

to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) across data services.
- Knowledge Transfer:

Deliver and track
quarterly KT sessions

and training for the data team.
- Credit Risk Model Performance:

Maintain
95% repayment rate

and <
3% default rate

via model iterations.
- Business Intelligence:

Deliver at least
2 new BI enhancements/features per quarter

to improve reporting and decision-making.

Qualifications & Skills

• Master's or higher in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, or related field.
  
  
• 6+ years of proven experience in data science, machine learning, and credit risk modeling (preferably in fintech or financial services).
  
  
• Strong expertise in Python, R, SQL, and big data tools.
  
  
• Experience with machine learning frameworks (TensorFlow, Scikit-learn, XGBoost, etc.).
  
  
• Proficiency in data visualization tools (PowerBI, ggplot, or plotly).
  
  
• Strong understanding of credit risk management, repayment behavior, and portfolio analytics.
  
  
• Excellent leadership, mentoring, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
  
  
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights.
  
  

Why Join Pezesha?

• Be part of a mission-driven company enabling financial inclusion for MSMEs across Africa.
  
  
• Work with a high-impact, data-driven team solving real-world financial challenges.
  
  
• Opportunities for growth, leadership, and regional exposure in a fast-scaling fintech.
  
  
• Competitive compensation and benefits package.
  
  

To Apply:

Please send a single pdf file containing a brief and bullet-pointed Cover Letter and your CV on the subsequent page(s) with Ref: 2025-
Senior Data Scientist
as the subject of your email to Interviews will be done on a rolling basis.

In your application kindly add/attach the information below to

• At least one related project that you have worked on and accessible on Github
• Attach your up to date CV

Required Skill Profession

Other General