Sunday, September 11, 2011

Klarna is looking for a Manager of Risk Forecasting and Analytics


Trying to purchase something online is still far from a perfect experience. Not only are you taken through a tedious sign-up process, you’re also expected to trust the merchant and pay them before you even get to look at the merchandise. No wonder that only 9% of total commerce is done online: it’s just not easy enough. Klarna is looking to solve all that. 

Klarna was founded 6 years ago by three Swedish entrepreneurs and has been growing rapidly ever since, thanks to its offering. It lets customers pay only after getting their product, while guarding merchants from risk – making purchases simpler and safer for everyone while growing sales for merchants. This also drew one of the best VCs in the world – Sequoia – to invest in the company. 

We are Klarna’s Risk Management and Decision team; we deploy state of the art methodologies and tools (forensics, pattern recognition, network analysis, advanced statistics and even Theory of Constraints) to deliver the decisions that make Klarna’s business model possible. We’re looking for an experienced Risk Analytics and Forecasting Manager to join the team. 

This is where you come in.

The Manager of Analytics and Forecasting will oversee Risk’s activities in loss forecasting and provisioning, loss trend analysis and reporting, and risk controls and compliance. They will be required to maintain and further develop our risk reporting system including originations, portfolio quality, fraud etc. You should be well versed in and able to understand loss line development, its relation to the company’s P&L and how to best present and explain it to internal stakeholders as well as external partners, banks and regulators. 

The ideal candidate will be an impressive domain expert in the development and improvement of our provisioning and forecasting methodologies and tools as well as deep dives into trends and their drivers; all this while guiding and directing the teams that report to you in day to day tasks. While reporting and analyzing our performance and serving as a source of knowledge for loss reporting, they should also recognize that Klarna is a growing and accelerating company, and know how – even prefer – to successfully deal with the challenges of life in a company at the hyper-growth stage. 

Some formal requirements:
  • This is a full time position in Stockholm, Sweden. You should be local or ready to relocate.
  • Excellent communication skills in English (written and spoken); Swedish is a plus.
  • 5+ years of experience in a similar role, preferably in an eCommerce/Payments company, is a strong plus. Candidates with less than 5 years also encouraged to apply.
  • Good knowledge of the IFRS standard; knowledge of USGAAP is a plus.
  • 2+ years of experience managing more than 4 people.
  • Advanced degree in a relevant area (accounting, statistics) is a plus.
  • A combination of startup and corporate experience is a plus.
  • Previous experience working with regulators is a big plus.
For more information, email me directly: ohad.samet@klarna.com

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Why is the blog unattended?

It's because I'm head down with the team at Klarna, working to build a really awesome user experience and payments product. I have a few posts cooking, but this one's going to be a rather slow roast...