The Organization

Small businesses uplift communities and anchor local economies, while creating opportunities for themselves, their families, their employees, and our neighborhoods. Yet entrepreneurs who are people of color, women, and immigrants often struggle to secure capital and resources, as they are systematically shut out from traditional financing. 

Accion Opportunity Fund is an unparalleled financial support system that provides these small business owners with access to capital, networks, and coaching. We work to build inclusive and accessible options for these determined business owners. For over 25 years we have served a client base that is nearly 90% women, people of color, or immigrants. 

In addition to providing resources and loans to small businesses, we also conduct original research, advocate for policy changes, and finance community construction projects in low-income neighborhoods through our New Markets Tax Credit program.

Together, we are building a diverse, vibrant community where opportunity, knowledge, and access to capital are within reach.

For more information about us, visit https://aofund.org/

The Role

Reporting to the Senior Director, Analytics and Business Intelligence, we are looking for a talented, enthusiastic, and results-driven Analytics Data Scientist to join our growing team of analytics experts who will be responsible for responding to analytics requests, managing data assets, developing predictive and forecasting analytics solutions in support of the organization’s lending decisioning across all aspects of Growth, Marketing, Sales, Product, Credit, Operations and Finance.

The ideal candidate should have strong academic background in data mining and predictive modelling. The candidate should have great sense of data, and ideally would have some relevant experiences in lending and financial services industry. The candidate is an avid and quick learner of new concepts, skills, and technologies, and has strong ability to conduct research and convert knowledge to solutions. 

Accion Opportunity Fund has an analytics environment that encourages openness of discussion, knowledge exchange, constant learning, and pursuit of intellectual curiosity. We encourage analytics development based on deep understanding of the intricacies of the evolving customer segments, loan product lines and their life cycle, and build advanced analytics solutions that drive business decisions, actions and results.

Key Responsibilities/ Accountabilities

  • Develop actionable analytics insights for continuous enhancement of lending business management in all aspects of credit risk, policy and strategy, marketing and sales, account behavior and collections.
  • Monitor portfolio performance and drive validation of analytics solutions and adjustments of credit and marketing/sales strategies to mitigate risk.
  • Respond to on-going analytics and data requests from all areas of the lending business.
  • Work with credit and operations engineering and database management teams to implement analytics solutions and to improve our underwriting processing and account management.
  • Develop forecasting models for losses and delinquencies.
  • Serve as an expert consultant to senior management on highly complex issues.
  • Work with the executive team to match communications strategies with organizational strategies and objectives.
  • Learn and understand the business in detail and educate the organization in the use and understanding of analytics and data.
  • Perform other business analyses duties as assigned.


The Person

Highly qualified candidates will share Opportunity Fund’s commitment to its mission and will embody the organization’s core values bringing a broad range of skills and experience including, but not limited to:

  • 2+ years of experience. Highly skilled in data processing and predictive model development with strong analytical, conceptual and quantitative problem-solving skills.
  • Bachelors, Master or Ph.D. Degree, preferably in a quantitative area such as statistics, mathematics, computer science, engineering and economics.
  • Knowledge of the lending business with knowledge of small business lending a plus.
  • Knowledge of external credit/alternative data for assessing credit outcomes a plus.
  • Sound project and time management skills.
  • Excellent communication and influencing skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple concurrent and competing priorities.
  • Ability to identify key issues, resolving and communicating the issues cross-functionally.
  • Proficiency with SQL. Highly skilled in at least one of the following: Python, SAS, or R.


Perks & Benefits

Our mission is what motivates us to come to work each day. We know that happy employees are productive employees, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

  • Competitive salary commensurate with experience.
  • An environment that values work-life balance.
  • 100% company-funded Medical, Dental, Vision, Life & Disability coverage for employees (Based upon your plan selection). 90% company-funded dependent coverage (Based upon your plan selection).
  • Voluntary benefits with payroll deduction for Supplemental Life & AD&D insurance and Legal plans.
  • Tax deferred & Roth 403(b) Retirement Plan with employer match. Employer match increases with tenure.
  • Paid vacation days (increased with tenure), 13 paid holidays, 1 floating holiday and 10 Sick days, and family leave days per year.
  • This is a fully remote (work from home) position.