Head of Credit & Fraud

ABOUT HAPPY MONEY Happy Money is a consumer finance company that empowers people to achieve their goals through simple, transparent loans funded by trusted financial institutions. Through its proprietary lending platform, Hive, Happy Money delivers a fully digital experience that simplifies borrowing for consumers and helps credit unions, banks and asset managers diversify balance sheets and scale with confidence. Happy Money’s end-to-end loan origination and participation programs provide partners with turnkey access to high-performing assets, underpinned by disciplined credit expertise and robust risk management. Together with its lending partners, Happy Money has originated more than $7 billion in loans to help nearly 350,000 people take greater control of their financial futures. Learn more at happymoney.com. View our Employee Privacy Policy here. Happy Money is a 100% fully distributed company. Remote work doesn’t mean less work, we work full-time jobs and show up to them fully every day. To learn more about our values and the way we work, review our Happy Money Way Overview! ABOUT THE ROLE Happy Money is looking for a Head of Credit & Fraud to own credit and fraud risk strategy for our lending business. Reporting to the Chief Risk & Analytics Officer, you will set credit and fraud policy, lead the team and be the senior credit voice with our Executive Leadership Team and capital partners. You will balance growth and losses to maximize risk-adjusted returns through the credit cycle and build business cases that show a clear, achievable path to profitable implementation. You are highly data driven and committed to testing and learning. You bring the executive presence to explain credit decisions clearly to leaders, partners and investors, and you are happy to dig into the data yourself when the work calls for it. RESPONSIBILITIES Credit & Fraud Strategy • Own credit and fraud strategy and policy across the customer lifecycle, from acquisition and underwriting through account management, to maximize risk-adjusted returns and manage losses through the credit cycle • Set credit risk appetite with the Chief Risk Officer and translate it into clear credit policy, approval criteria and loss targets • Balance loss rates, approval rates and conversion to grow profitably, and lead the rollout of growth initiatives, measured against credit and profitability targets • Run a disciplined test-and-learn agenda across credit and fraud strategies, with clear success metrics and regular readouts • Own credit performance monitoring, vintage analysis and early-warning indicators, and partner with Data Science and Finance on loss forecasting and model governance • Spot credit and fraud risks early, including shifts in consumer credit health and new fraud patterns, and respond with timely policy and control changes • With Legal & Compliance, make sure credit and fraud policies meet regulatory, fair lending and partner requirements Leadership • Recruit, develop and lead a high-performing team of credit, fraud and strategy professionals; set clear goals, coach for growth and hold the team to a high standard • Build the right mix of in-house talent, third-party partners and automation tools (including AI), and know when to use each • Set the operating rhythm for the function, including credit committee materials, portfolio performance reviews, a central knowledge base and regular leadership updates • Build a culture of accountability, curiosity and sound judgment, and grow future leaders on the team Executive & Cross-Functional Partnership • Partner with the Executive Leadership Team on company strategy, annual planning, growth targets and risk appetite, and bring a clear credit point of view to growth and investment decisions •