VP of Credit Risk

Who We Are

Scratch Financial (“Scratch”) is a late stage venture-backed financial technology business based in Pasadena, California. At Scratch, everything starts and ends with our mission: being the payment partner of choice for veterinary practices and helping pet parents access the care their animals need without financial barriers. Driven by our award‑winning technology, Scratch has become the fastest growing financing provider in veterinary care, with a partner network of 15,000+ practices across the U.S. and Canada.

Scratch Has 2 Main Products

• Scratch Pay: Point‑of‑sale client facing lending, including a BNPL offering and longer‑term payment plans
• Scratch Checkout: Payment processing that is integrated with veterinary practice management software

We are a company built on the foundation of transforming the way pet healthcare payments are done, and we are looking for innovators who share our commitment to shaping the future of veterinary care financing. If putting compassion first, helping tell the story of groundbreaking products and continuously learning & refining to achieve exceptional outcomes sounds like you, then we encourage you to apply.

Position Overview

As VP of Credit Risk, you'll own the credit strategy behind every lending decision at Scratch Pay. You'll lead our scoring models and the policy layer that sits alongside them, manage portfolio performance, and responsibly expand who we can say yes to, especially across near‑prime and subprime segments, using alternative data and modern underwriting techniques. You'll operate hands‑on in the models and data while building and leading the team that scales the function.

We're looking for this role to serve as the general manager of Scratch Pay’s profitability. This is a high‑ownership, cross‑functional role: you'll set and execute the strategy for underwriting, collections, and loan performance.

You'll report directly to the President and work closely with our SVP of Product to shape the borrower experience across our lending application and iOS/Android apps. If you're energized by owning a P&L, thrive at the intersection of data and strategy, and want to build something that matters — this role was designed for you.

Lending P&L & Credit Strategy

• Serve as the GM for lending profitability: own the credit loss rate, approval rate, checkout conversion, unit economics, and yield across our loan portfolio
• Design and optimize the hard‑cut / policy layer that sits alongside the score — knockout rules, eligibility criteria, and approval thresholds — using swap‑set and champion/challenger analysis to tune the approve/decline boundary against approval‑rate and loss targets
• Define and continuously improve our underwriting criteria — credit policy, model inputs, decisioning logic — to optimize risk‑adjusted returns
• Lead collections strategy, including segmentation, treatment paths, agency relationships, and recovery optimization
• Responsibly expand the approvable population into near‑prime (and potentially subprime) by integrating and operationalizing alternative data: cash‑flow / bank‑transaction data, alternative bureau attributes, income and employment verification, and other non‑traditional signals
• Own portfolio performance management: loss forecasting, vintage and roll‑rate analysis, early‑warning indicators, and inputs to loss reserves
• Monitor portfolio performance and drive rapid iteration when trends shift

Product Partnership

• Partner closely with the SVP of Product to define improvements to our lending application and borrower‑facing iOS and Android apps
• Bring a data‑driven and risk‑aware lens to product decisions: approval flows, offer presentation, repayment UX, and borrower communications
• Ensure compliance and regulatory considerations are built in from the start, not bolted on
• Build a rigorous test‑and‑learn engine (champion/challenger, controlled holdouts, A/B) so credit policy decisions are driven by evidence rather than intuition

Team Leadership

• Lead and develop a lean but high‑performing credit risk team, with expected growth as the business continues to scale
• Develop your team's craft and careers while maintaining high standards for output quality
• Champion a culture of rigor and intellectual honesty (getting it right vs. being right) in how the company uses data

AI & Operational Efficiency

• Identify and implement AI‑powered tools and workflows to make the Credit Risk & Analytics function more efficient and scalable
• Evaluate and deploy best‑in‑class tooling for credit modeling, collections automation, data processing, and analytics delivery
• Stay current on the evolving landscape of fintech AI applications and bring relevant innovations to the team

What We Are Looking For

Must‑Haves

• Experience as a P&L owner at a consumer lending company: directly managed credit loss, yield, and portfolio economics and can speak to the decisions you made and their outcomes
• Deep, hands‑on credit underwriting experience – real ownership of live underwriting decisions and the P&L outcomes they produce
• Proven track record building unsecured personal / consumer loan credit models end to end
• Experience managing analysts, with a track record of developing talent and building productive, high‑output teams
• Strong AI aptitude: already using AI tools in your workflow and having opinions on how they can make a credit/analytics function more efficient
• Deep fluency in credit risk concepts: underwriting policy, scoring models, vintage analysis, loss forecasting, collections strategy
• Comfort working across functions: partnered with Product, Engineering, or Operations teams and can translate between risk and business priorities
• Strong communicator who can present complex portfolio or analytics findings to non‑technical stakeholders, up to and including board level
• Knowledge of consumer lending regulation (TILA, FCRA, ECOA, UDAAP)
• Deep fluency with the major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) – their attributes, scores, and data quirks – plus working experience with additional and alternative data sources
• Pedigree from Capital One or a comparably innovative, test‑and‑learn consumer lender (e.g., Affiirm, Upstart, Oportun, Discover, Synchrony, SoFi, Enova); someone who has worked inside a best‑in‑class underwriting culture

Nice‑to‑Haves

• Experience at a fintech or marketplace lender (point‑of‑sale lending, BNPL, or installment lending)
• Demonstrated alternative underwriting experience used to extend credit access to near‑prime and subprime applicants
• Hands‑on experience building or managing credit models (logistic regression, ML‑based scorecards, etc.)
• Familiarity with collections vendor management and agency relationships
• Experience scaling an analytics team from small to multi‑functional

What Success Looks Like In Year One

• Credit loss and approval rates are moving in the right direction, with a clear underwriting roadmap in place
• Collections strategy is segmented, instrumented, and showing measurable improvement in recovery rates
• You've identified and implemented at least two meaningful AI/tooling improvements that save the team time or improve decision quality
• The SVP of Product considers you a true partner on lending product decisions

This Role Is Not for Everyone

This is a player‑coach role, and that's not going to change as the company grows. If your instinct is to delegate analysis and own the strategy from a distance, this won't be a fit. We're a lean team, and the VP we're looking for is someone who is as comfortable pulling data and building a model on a Tuesday afternoon as they are presenting portfolio strategy to the President on Wednesday morning.

Specifically, This Probably Isn't The Right Role If You

• Prefer to set direction and have analysts own all the hands‑on work
• Need a large, established team and infrastructure before you can be effective
• Are looking for a role where credit risk is siloed from the rest of the business
• Define success primarily through headcount growth rather than business outcomes

Why You'll Love Working Here

• Competitive base salary ranging from $250,000 - $275,000

Scratch is a remote‑first company, giving ultimate flexibility to today's nomadic work style. For those who prefer a hybrid model, we do have an office space in Pasadena available for use. We offer unlimited PTO, covered healthcare, 401k match, cell plan reimbursement, and monthly recognition opportunities. We also provide learning platforms and resources for all to keep growing. We have an equity retention policy to ensure you grow as the company grows financially, as well. And if your family is growing, we offer generous parental leave, too!

Our Commitment

We’re innovators who care deeply about the lives of pets, their owners, and veterinary professionals. We believe diversity strengthens our team and drives better solutions. Scratch is committed to diversity in its workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Scratch considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class.