Product Manager - Credit & Underwriting

About the job

Lean is building the foundational underwriting layer for the GCC, enabling lenders to use Open Banking data as a first-class underwriting input, not just a raw data feed.

We are hiring a Product Manager to lead our Credit & Underwriting squad, responsible for transforming bank data into structured, standardised, and explainable credit signals that lenders can plug directly into their underwriting stack. This is the layer that sits between raw transaction data and a lender s risk engine - the credit-ready fabric that makes cashflow underwriting operational, reliable, and repeatable.

Your mandate is to define how Open Banking data becomes fit for purpose for real lending decisions in regulated markets in the Middle East: normalised, interpretable, and underwriting-grade. This role is not about building a scoring model yet - it is about building the infrastructure that makes scoring and policy possible.

About Lean

Lean enables companies to seamlessly connect to their users bank accounts to initiate real-time payments and retrieve their account information. Our products have garnered the trust of leading companies and enabled them to deliver powerful experiences when connected with a user s bank account, allowing users to perform prudent financial planning, get better rates on loans, transfer money to friends, and more, without compromising on privacy or security.

Backed by top-tier global investors, including General Catalyst, Sequoia, and Shorooq, and having recently raised $67.5M in Series B funding, we re building the rails for Open Finance in MENA. We re trusted by 250+ clients across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including the likes of Binance, Etisalat Group, Careem, and many more, making it the region s most valuable Open Banking platform.

We are building the rails for Open Finance in MENA, processing billions of dollars in transactions and enabling seamless, secure, and compliant financial connectivity.

Why this role matters

Open Banking has made data accessible in the GCC. What s still missing is the credit context - the structured interpretation of that data in a way lenders can trust, deploy, and defend to regulators. This squad closes that gap by turning raw streams into underwrite-ready intelligence.

What you'll own

• The strategy and roadmap for Lean s underwriting-readiness layer

• The definition, standardisation, and governance of core financial attributes used in credit decisions

• Consistency and interoperability of our outputs across lenders, verticals, and jurisdictions

• Explainability, auditability, and traceability standards expected in SAMA-regulated underwriting

• Fit-for-use quality of data for credit (not just completeness/coverage)

• Cross-functional alignment between DS/Engineering and client risk teams

• Packaging and exposure of credit-relevant information via API in a way that is easy to consume

Example work you'll lead

• Defining canonical logic for income detection, affordability, liability mapping, and cashflow stability

• Creating underwriting-grade financial attributes and making them consumable programmatically

• Establishing governance for versioning, consistency, and auditability

• Aligning interpretation logic with lender expectations and regulatory criteria

• Working with embedded lenders/BNPLs to validate attribute correctness and sufficiency

• Enabling partners to move from data extraction > underwriting integration with minimal friction

What success looks like (6-12 months)

• Lenders can integrate Lean without building their own transformation layer

• Financial behaviours (income, obligations, volatility, spending patterns, recurring commitments, etc.) are available as standardised, documented attributes

• Risk officers recognise Lean as a credit input, not just a data pipe

• Underwriting teams can justify and defend decisions built on Lean s data

• Lean becomes a recognised upstream component of cashflow underwriting in SAMA-aligned frameworks

What we're looking for

• A Product Manager with experience in data products or lending infrastructure

• You understand how underwriting decisions are made, even if you are not a quant or a CRO

• You ve shipped platform or intelligence products used by external teams

• Skilled at working across engineering + data + risk stakeholders

• Comfortable making abstraction and standardisation choices that become industry defaults

• You think in systems, not single features

• You bias toward structure and explainability over black box output

Bonus Experience

• Built or worked on lending, BNPL, risk analytics, or alternative credit data products

• Worked in regulated / compliance-sensitive product environments (banking, fintech, data infra)

• Exposure to emerging markets underwriting or Open Banking regimes

NB. While we think the above experience could be important, we re keen to hear from people that believe they have valuable experience to bring to the role. If you identify with the team and mission, but not all of our requirements, then please still apply!!