Head of Credit Policy

Cleo; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 125,000 - GBP 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fintech company in the United Kingdom is seeking experienced senior leaders to own the credit strategy behind their core lending products. This role offers significant impact on their business model and growth trajectory, working directly with data and leading a team. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in credit decisioning and a deep understanding of risk management, with the opportunity to shape credit policies and product expansion. A competitive compensation package is offered, along with flexible work arrangements.

Benefits

Competitive compensation package

Generous leave and parental benefits

Private Medical Insurance

Qualifications

• Experience in BNPL, installment lending, credit cards or similar.
• Background in partnerships with modelling/DS teams.
• Track record of building credit policies with measurable results.

Responsibilities

• Own and refine the credit strategy for EWA or BNPL.
• Drive decisions influencing P&L outcomes and customer experience.
• Partner with senior leadership on high-stakes decisions.

Skills

Experience owning credit decisioning for a US consumer lending product

Deep intuition for managing growth vs risk and customer segmentation

Ability to operate in fast-paced, ambiguous environments

Tools

SQL

Job description

About Cleo

At Cleo, we're not just building another fintech app. We're embarking on a mission to fundamentally change humanity's relationship with money. Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of background or income, has access to a hyper-intelligent financial advisor in their pocket. That's the future we're creating.

About The Company

At Cleo, we're not just building another fintech app. We're embarking on a mission to fundamentally change humanity's relationship with money. Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of background or income, has access to a hyper-intelligent financial advisor in their pocket. That's the future we're creating.

Cleo is a rare success story: a profitable, fast-growing unicorn with over $200 million in ARR and growing over 2x year-over-year. This isn't just a job; it's a chance to join a team of brilliant, driven individuals who are passionate about making a real difference. We have an exceptionally high bar for talent, seeking individuals who are not only at the top of their field but also embody our culture of collaboration and positive impact.

If you’re driven by complex challenges that push your expertise, the chance to shape something truly transformative, and the potential to share in Cleo’s success as we scale, while growing alongside a company that’s scaling fast, this might be your perfect fit.

Follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date with new product features and insights from the team.

About The Role

We’re hiring two senior leaders to own the credit strategy behind Cleo’s core lending products.

These are high-impact roles that sit at the heart of Cleo’s business model. You’ll own the end-to-end credit policy that determines who gets a loan, how much, at what risk level, and why. The decisions you make will directly shape Cleo’s P&L, customer experience, and growth trajectory.

We are expanding our credit offerings, with BNPL, Installment Loans and more. EWA is a scaled flagship product that's still growing 2x every year. And we are growing across multiple geographies. In both cases, you will lead the strategy, improve the decisioning engine, and build the future of lending at Cleo.

These are hands-on, player-coach roles. You’ll work deeply with data, write SQL, run experiments, and guide a talented team of analysts - while partnering directly with senior leadership, including our CEO.

Why this role matters

• You’ll own one of the most important levers in Cleo’s business — credit decisioning for a scaled US lending product or a brand-new BNPL launch
• EWA continues to expand across the US and UK; BNPL goes live in January with high visibility
• The policies you design have immediate impact on growth, risk and customer outcomes.
• You get the combination of ownership, technical depth and executive exposure
• Ideal for someone who wants to shape how a lending product scales and enjoys ambiguity, pace and solving complex problems
• Strong alignment if you care about responsible credit and want to lead while staying hands-on

What You'll Be Doing

• Own and continuously refine the credit strategy for either EWA or BNPL, including segmentation, approval criteria and limits
• Drive decisions that shape P&L outcomes, risk appetite and customer experience
• Guide how Cleo expands into new segments, product variants and geographies
• Partner directly with senior leadership, including the CEO, on high-stakes decisions
• Build, mentor and develop analysts in your product area
• Lead initiatives that improve decisioning, unlock new segments and strengthen unit economics
• Stay close to the data – writing SQL, analysing performance, and interpreting experiments

What We're Looking For

• Experience owning credit decisioning for a US consumer lending product
• Background in EWA,PL, installment lending, credit cards or similar
• Track record of building and iterating credit policies with measurable results
• Deep intuition for managing growth vs risk and customer segmentation
• Experience partnering with modelling/DS teams to drive better decisioning
• Ability to operate in fast-paced, ambiguous environments

Nice to have

• Strong SQL and comfort working hands-on with complex datasets
• BNPL domain expertise (for the BNPL role)
• Experience scaling a lending product from early-stage to mature
• Exposure to warehouse lending and credit monitoring frameworks
• Experience in high-growth fintech
• Experience building or leading a credit strategy function

What do you get for all your hard work

• A competitive compensation package (base + equity) with bi-annual reviews, aligned to our quarterly OKR planning cycles. You can view our public progression framework and salary bandings here: https://cleo-ai.progressionapp.com/
• Work at one of the fastest-growing tech startups, backed by top VC firms, Balderton & EQT Ventures
• A clear progression plan. We want you to keep growing. That means trying new things, leading others, challenging the status quo and owning your impact. Always with our complete support.
• Flexibility. We can’t fight for the world’s financial health if we’re not healthy ourselves. We work with everyone to make sure they have the balance they need to do their best work
• Work where you work best. We’re a globally distributed team. If you live in London we have a hybrid approach, we’d love you to spend one day a week or more in our beautiful office. If you’re outside of London, we’ll encourage you to spend a couple of days with us a few times per year. And we’ll cover your travel costs, naturally.

Other Benefits

• Company-wide performance reviews every 6 months
• Generous pay increases for high-performing team members
• Equity top-ups for team members getting promoted
• 25 days annual leave a year + public holidays (+ an additional day for every year you spend at Cleo, up to 30 days)
• 6% employer-matched pension in the UK
• Private Medical Insurance via Vitality, dental cover, and life assurance
• Enhanced parental leave
• 1 month paid sabbatical after 4 years at Cleo
• Regular socials and activities, online and in-person
• We’ll pay for your OpenAI subscription
• Online mental health support via Spill
• Workplace Nursery Scheme
• And many more!

Welcoming Everyone

We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. If there’s anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know.

Test Flight

App access for people in the UK & Europe: If you are an iOS user, please use this link to sign up to our TestFlight version of the app, so you can have a play around with the functionality and features: https://testflight.apple.com/join/fDG9hWng

By submitting this application, I confirm that all the information given by me in this application for employment and any additional documents attached hereto are true to the best of my knowledge and that I have not wilfully suppressed any material fact. I confirm I have disclosed if applicable any previous employment with Cleo AI. I accept that if any of the information given by me in this application is in any way false or incorrect, my application may be rejected, any offer of employment may be withdrawn or my employment with Cleo AI may be terminated summarily or I may be dismissed. By submitting this application, I agree that my personal data will be processed in accordance with Cleo AI's Candidate Privacy Notice