We’re searching for a product leader to spearhead our nascent lending team. We’re looking for someone who can work across design, data and engineering to build and launch new lending functionality that really helps people stay in control of their finances. Rather than simply rolling out the kind of standard overdraft you’d find at a high-street bank, we need to really understand our customers’ hopes, dreams and worries – we’ll then work with our customers to create the kind of lending functionality that genuinely puts people at the core of the experience.
Monzo is an exciting combination of bank and tech start-up, started from scratch in February 2015 to build a bank you’d be proud to call your own. We’re focused on solving problems, rather than selling financial products, making your financial life simpler, and giving you complete control from your smartphone.
We’re at the start of our journey to serve a billion people and we’ve made some good progress. We have 200 staff, half a million lovely customers and a UK banking licence. Over the last 2 years, our product team has built a banking app with engagement to rival Facebook or Instagram. We’re now thinking about monetisation and lending is a key part of that.
The lending team is currently 7 people, comprising a product manager, three backend engineers, iOS and Android app developers and a credit-underwriting expert. This will likely expand over the next few months to 10 or 12 people. You’ll also get significant support from our design and data-science teams.
First and foremost, you need to be able to set the team’s objectives and keep the team laser-focussed on making progress towards them. You’ll be a leader and a trusted manager.
Second, you’ll work with design and user-researchers to really understand customer needs and psychology. We’re not looking for someone to come in and simply put together a credit scorecard to build a standard current account overdraft portfolio. We want to understand our users, figure out the gaps in the banks’ current lending products, and build the first ever lending product with a net promoter score above 80.
You will then work with app developers and backend engineers to quickly build and launch prototype lending functionality, gather user feedback and then iterate. The vast majority of our lending systems are built in-house, so you need to be comfortable working with agile product teams following weekly release cycles. The product needs to be instant, intuitive and delightful.
You also need to be data-savvy and commercially-minded. Lending is the easy part – helping customers pay it back can sometimes be more tricky. You’ll need to ensure we price our lending correctly, and that any loans we make are affordable and fair to our customers. You’ll need to be very comfortable working with our credit specialist and expert data-scientists.
We also need to recognise that lending can lead to problem debt and financial difficulties. You’ll design the product to help customers avoid these negative outcomes wherever possible, and be positive and empathetic when it becomes unavoidable. First and foremost, you’ll understand the impact that financial difficulties can have on the lives of our customers and their families.
This role will report directly to Chief Product Officer.
You should apply if:
- You have worked closely alongside designers and developers on a world-class consumer web or mobile product
- You’ve got some experience with consumer lending products
- You’re super organised and a great communicator
- What we’re doing here at Monzo excites you!
We don’t require decades of experience at a large high-street bank, but this probably isn’t right role if you’ve never worked with lending before. Perhaps you’ve spend a few years at a newer lending-focussed fintech or a market-leading credit card or payments company.