Head of Underwriting (m/w/d)

Department: Credit Operations (Europe)

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Berlin

Reporting To: Berna Sahin

Description

YouLend 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 line 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.

Key Responsibilities

Be 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 YouLend
This 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 field
Own end‑to‑end performance: Manage the implementation of global Credit Risk guidance, analysing bottlenecks and delivering strategies to increase adoption
Collaborate 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 returns
Establish quality control measures to maintain high standards of accuracy and consistency across teams, including regular audits to verify adherence to internal policies and processes
Hire and develop managers and individual underwriters alike, cemented in scalable training infrastructure
Help take new products, partners, and markets from zero to one with the appropriate conversion‑risk trade‑off
Act as a change leader, implementing improvements quickly and effectively and embedding them sustainably within the teams – with minimal disruption to day‑to‑day operations

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

Substantial professional experience with underwriting or risk, normally gained over 3+ years. Ideally, working as a senior stakeholder in a growing FinTech company, in the financial services sector or at a bank
A strong understanding of credit risk in continental EU, specifically Germany, coupled with a commercial mindset
A strong track‑record of managing people (ideally 10+) and mentoring your direct reports. Ideally, you also have experience in managing managers
Hands‑on mentality: You are proactive, act with urgency, drive projects forward, remove obstacles, and consistently implement solutions
Ability to take end‑to‑end ownership of initiatives and ensure delivery against agreed objectives
You are data‑driven, comfortable in numbers, and able to make decisions with imperfect information
Successful track‑record of achieving ambitious goals
Strong change management skills and experience in managing change processes
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
German (at least B2) and English language skills are required, as the role involves regular communication with German‑speaking regulators, customers, and internal stakeholders as well as international teams.

Desirable skills

Strong 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 Advances

Benefits

Why YouLend

We have built powerful solutions, secured major partnerships, and are growing at exceptional speed
The global growth opportunity is substantial – YouLend is still in build mode, and this is just the beginning
You will join the fastest‑growing part of the business and play a key role in building and scaling our newest office in Germany

Significant Growth Potential

Strong growth (>100% YoY since 2020) – clear perspectives for salary, bonus, equity, and career development
Financially strong thanks to private equity backing
Part of the Banking Circle Group with a fully licensed bank in Luxembourg – enabling expansion into complexly regulated markets

Motivating Work Environment

A top‑level team that pushes each other and thrives on direct feedback
Strong, transparent culture – we stick together
High degree of autonomy; results matter
Data‑driven work style, minimal bureaucracy, fast pace

Start date: As soon as possible.

Salary: Competitive market salary plus bonus.

Location: Berlin, Germany (office‑based role).

At YouLend, we champion diversity and embrace equal opportunity employment practices. Our hiring, transfer, and promotion decisions are exclusively based on qualifications, merit, and business requirements, free from any discrimination based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, nationality, or any other protected basis under applicable law.

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