Head of Credit and Underwriting (m/f/d)

A high-growth financial services platform is looking to appoint an experienced leader to oversee its underwriting and credit decisioning activities across several European markets.

This position combines strategic ownership with hands‑on execution, focusing on building a scalable underwriting function, improving credit outcomes, and enabling responsible growth. Based in a central European office, you will lead a growing team and play a critical role in shaping how credit decisions are made across the region.

The role requires a balance of commercial awareness, operational leadership, and risk discipline, with a strong emphasis on using data to guide decision‑making and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Establish and grow a structured underwriting team, including hiring, coaching, and developing team leads and individual contributors
• Define and implement regional underwriting and credit strategies aligned with business growth targets and risk appetite
• Oversee the full credit lifecycle, from initial triage and validation checks to final decisioning, terms, and limits
• Ensure high‑quality, timely decisions while maintaining a strong focus on portfolio health and loss control
• Collaborate cross‑functionally to improve credit policies, risk tools, and operational workflows
• Analyse performance data to identify improvement areas, inefficiencies, or emerging risks, and implement solutions
• Introduce and maintain quality control frameworks to ensure consistency and adherence to internal standards and regulatory requirements
• Participate in credit governance processes, offering expertise on approvals, portfolio trends, and risk considerations
• Track and optimise key performance indicators across underwriting operations and overall credit performance
• Support market expansion and new product initiatives by developing appropriate underwriting approaches and risk frameworks
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives, ensuring changes are implemented effectively without disrupting core operations

Profile

• Solid experience in underwriting or credit risk within financial services, with exposure to leadership responsibilities
• Strong knowledge of lending practices and risk considerations across European markets, particularly Germany
• Proven ability to manage and develop teams, including supporting the growth of future leaders
• Commercially minded, with the ability to balance growth ambitions against prudent risk management
• Hands‑on and delivery‑focused, with a track record of implementing improvements in dynamic environments
• Analytical and comfortable working with data to support decision‑making
• Experience owning and delivering complex initiatives end‑to‑end
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage stakeholders across functions
• Demonstrated ability to lead and embed change within organisations
• Professional fluency in both German and English