Head of Credit & Underwriting (m/w/d)

Head of Credit & Underwriting (m/w/d)

Department: Credit Operations (Europe)

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Berlin

Compensation: €100,000 - €150,000 / year

Description

YouLend is hiring a Head of Underwriting, EU to build and lead our European underwriting function across nine markets, with Germany our fastest-growing market.

You will scale our Berlin underwriting team to 25+ people, develop Team Leaders, and own underwriting performance across Credit Eligibility, Credit Decisions and KYC/KYB.

This is a senior leadership role combining credit risk, people leadership, operational excellence and commercial decision-making. You will balance approval and conversion rates with credit losses and risk-adjusted returns, while helping shape YouLend's underwriting strategy and capabilities across Europe.

Key Responsibilities

• Build, lead and scale the EU underwriting function in Berlin, including hiring and developing Team Leaders and underwriters.
• Own underwriting performance across decision quality, approval rates, turnaround times, credit losses and risk-adjusted returns.
• Play an active role in Credit Committee and act as a senior escalation point for complex credit decisions.
• Partner with Credit Risk to implement and improve credit policies, risk models and underwriting strategies.
• Use portfolio and operational data to identify risks, bottlenecks and opportunities to improve performance.
• Establish strong quality controls, training and underwriting standards across the team.
• Partner with Compliance, Capital Markets, Commercial and Tech to improve underwriting tools and processes.
• Support the launch of new products, partners and European markets.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Significant experience in underwriting, credit risk or lending, ideally within fintech, banking or financial services.
• Strong understanding of credit risk in Germany and/or continental Europe.
• Proven people leadership experience, ideally including leading managers or Team Leaders.
• Strong commercial judgement and understanding of risk-adjusted returns.
• Data-driven approach with the ability to make decisions using imperfect information.
• Experience driving operational and organisational change.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• German (B2+) and professional English are required for regular communication with German-speaking and international stakeholders.

Nice to Have

• SME or business lending experience.
• Embedded finance or Merchant Cash Advance experience.
• Experience with SQL, Python, R or similar analytical tools.
• Experience scaling underwriting across multiple European markets.

Benefits

• 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

YouLend is committed to equal opportunity and an inclusive recruitment process. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and make hiring decisions based on the skills, experience and requirements relevant to the role.

If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know. We also encourage you to apply if you meet most, but not every, preferred qualification.