Headquartered in Boston, Forward Financing has been recognized as a Best Place to Work by the Boston Business Journal and Built In Boston and is certified as a Great Place to Work.® At Forward, we believe every business deserves financial opportunity. That’s why we provide fast, flexible capital to small businesses that have often been underserved by traditional financing options. Our mission is to build a world-class fintech company so our customers and people can reach their full potential. We’re investing in our employees, technology, and customer experience – with long-term success in mind every step of the way.

One of our top priorities as a company is to become an industry leader in risk assessment through the use of advanced analytics. As a Senior Data Scientist, you will have an integral role in this, contributing to the research and development of production machine learning models that are part of our underwriting process (default risk, fraud, etc). You will evaluate new features from diverse data sources, use workflow orchestration tools to train models, and develop model interpretability frameworks. The ideal candidate loves diving into complex data science challenges and is passionate about contributing to the development of innovative models. Reporting to the Senior Manager of Data Science, you will work at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and business strategy, translating model outputs into actionable insights that drive business value. If you are someone who enjoys the intersection of advanced analytics, business strategy, and collaborative problem-solving, we want to hear from you!

Why you should apply:

• Meaningful work. You will make a lasting impact on the long term success of Forward Financing, and on helping us achieve our mission of helping small businesses
• You love working with data and machine learning! In this role, you will collaborate closely with our Analytics Engineering, Portfolio Strategy, Data Science and Data Engineering teams to tackle exciting data and machine learning challenges
• Flexibility is a top priority. Our teams are empowered to do what works for them. This opportunity has 100% fully remote flexibility

In this role you will:

• Design and build production machine learning models that are vital to our underwriting process (auto-approve/decline, fraud, etc), using advanced statistical and predictive modeling techniques
• Evaluate credit model performance using strategies like A/B testing and retrospective analysis of tradelines, in addition to typical techniques such as statistical and business metrics
• Identify and evaluate new features from diverse data sources to enhance model performance and robustness
• Work with cross-functional stakeholders, and demonstrate ability to understand and effectively communicate technical concepts and business objectives
• Develop and execute model building workflows using Metaflow
• Assist with monitoring production models

Requirements:

(Even if you don’t check every box, but see yourself contributing, please apply.)

• Degree in a quantitative field such as Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or related field
• 3+ years of experience in credit risk modeling in the financial services industry, preferably SMB or consumer lending
• 4+ years of experience developing production machine learning and/or statistical models (spanning ideation, R&D, analysis, training/testing, deployment, and monitoring)
• Experience evaluating credit model performance using strategies like A/B testing and retrospective analysis of tradelines
• Proficient in python and common ML libraries (SKLearn, XGBoost, Tensorflow/Pytorch)
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience pairing credit models with pricing strategies
• Familiarity with SQL
• Familiarity with AWS cloud stack (Sagemaker, S3, EC2s, etc)
• Hands-on experience with DAG-based workflows, preferably using Metaflow

Forward Financing Core Values:

• Drive the Mission - We believe in financial opportunity for underserved small businesses. We say “yes” when others say “no.”
• Keep It Real - We value direct communication, candid feedback, and authenticity. We are an open book.
• Act With Kindness - We create an environment where caring is cool and helping is the norm. We do the right thing.
• Shoot for Extraordinary - We are inspired by innovative thinking and continuous improvement. We never settle for yesterday’s best.

About Us:

Forward Financing is a fintech company headquartered in Boston that provides fast, flexible, and reliable capital to small businesses nationwide. Since 2012, Forward has provided over $2.3 billion in financing to more than 52,000 small businesses. Forward has been consistently named by the Boston Business Journal and Built In Boston (and more!) as one of the best places to work in Massachusetts.

Forward actively promotes a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in all we do. We encourage a workplace where trust and respect are paramount and all employees feel valued, heard, and accepted. By accepting diversity of thought, background, and identity, we will continue to become a stronger team and a better organization.

Our diverse and driven group of 440 people, with more than 200 based in the U.S., and 240 internationally, is a 100% employee-owned company. Our employees come to work (or log on virtually!) knowing they are helping thousands of small businesses while advancing their own careers. If this sounds exciting to you, learn more about our leadership team and our open opportunities.

Perks & Benefits:

At Forward, our team members are at the heart of our company, and we are committed to taking care of them as people, not just employees. We offer a comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to: medical, dental, vision, and commuter benefits, a flexible time-off policy, 401k match, wellness reimbursement, paid volunteering days, annual professional development budget, and charitable donation match.

At Forward, employee choice means each individual gets to decide where they work. Almost all team members have the choice of where to live and where to work. As a business, we are focused on impact; we are more concerned with your contributions to the success of the company than where you get your work done. If face-to-face time is desired, people managers are empowered to find a cadence that works for their team.

When we aren’t collaborating to drive business and support our customers, we’re finding virtual and in-person ways to get to know our colleagues, celebrate team wins, and have fun together!

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