Interim Head of Credit Risk (Retail and SME) - 6 month contract

Gresham Hunt have partnered with a large UK lender who are looking to appoint an Interim Head of Credit Risk covering their Retail and Commercial SME lending portfolios. The role is based in Central London with a high degree of flexible working.

The Role

This is a senior, hands-on leadership position with end-to-end accountability for credit strategy from acquisition and underwriting through to portfolio performance and decisioning architecture. You'll be central to delivering sustainable growth, strong risk-adjusted returns, and regulatory compliance across the lending book.

Responsibilities:

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• Defining and owning the first-line credit risk strategy across SME and Consumer lending, balancing risk appetite with growth, capital efficiency, and profitability
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• Leading the roadmap for credit decisioning transformation including next-generation decision engines, credit risk models, customer journeys, and data capabilities
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• Owning and optimising credit decisioning frameworks: policy, scorecards, affordability models, and manual underwriting approaches across acquisition and servicing
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• Acting as Senior Relationship Owner for key third-party credit data and decisioning providers, covering performance, commercials, and strategic alignment
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• Maintaining scalable, resilient, and future-proof credit architecture and platforms
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• Providing clear leadership across underwriting, portfolio management, modelling, and decisioning strategy
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• Holding accountability for credit performance across the full lifecycle: originations, account management, line management, collections, and recoveries
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Experience Required:

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• Senior leadership experience owning credit decisioning and lending portfolio strategy
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• A track record of accountability for credit performance at scale
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• Experience leading large-scale credit decisioning transformation projects
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• Proven ability leading multi-disciplinary teams within regulated financial services environments
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• Comfort delivering transformational change alongside day-to-day BAU performance
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• Degree or equivalent professional qualification; advanced credit/risk qualifications advantageous
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Contract Details:

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• 6-month interim engagement
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• Line management responsibility
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