Associate Data Scientist - Risk Analytics (Contract, São Paulo)

First Help Financial (FHF) is a fast-growing and culturally diverse company in the U.S. We provide auto loans to the underserved and care for our customers and partners with exceptional service. Through flexible financing options and tri-lingual support, we offer consumers an easier way to finance their first car. We lend to and support our portfolio which has consistently grown 30%+ each year over the last nine years.

Here you will find hard-working colleagues who come from over 20 countries. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism but also enjoy our work. Our culture and benefits are geared towards making you successful in life and comfortable at work.

Your Title: Associate, Risk Data Science.

Your Location: Hybrid/Brazil HQ address - Nações Unidas 12901 - São Paulo - SP (this role requires ONE day per week in the office on a rotating schedule, plus an additional day in the office each month.)

You Report To: Associate Director, Risk Data Science.

Must be able to speak English AND Portuguese fluently.

Learn more about our awesome Analytics Team.

About the Opportunity:

First Help Financial, recently voted as a "Great Place to Work" for the fifth year in a row is seeking a Machine Learning Engineer to join our highly skilled and innovative team. First Help Financial is embarking on a new growth phase involving multiple game-changing projects.

What you will do:

• Contribute to the development, validation, and maintenance of scorecards across the credit lifecycle, including Originations, Pricing, Loss Forecasting, Servicing, and Collections.
• Analyze large and complex datasets to support feature engineering, model inputs, and performance evaluation.
• Assist in evaluating new programs and data sources, helping assess their potential impact on profitability, risk, and long‑term growth.
• Perform ad‑hoc analyses and what‑if scenarios to support business process improvements and strategic initiatives.
• Support ongoing model performance monitoring, helping identify trends, inconsistencies, or opportunities for improvement.
• Apply and continuously refine modeling methodologies and best practices, with awareness of regulatory expectations for modeling in the auto finance industry.
• Collaborate with Risk, Analytics, and business stakeholders to better understand business context and translate questions into analytical deliverables.

What you bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a related quantitative field is preferred.
• 2+ years of experience (professional, academic, or project‑based) working with real‑world datasets in analytics, data science, or related roles.
• A solid foundation in statistics and probability, with exposure to predictive or statistical modeling techniques such as logistic or linear regression and related methods.
• Hands‑on experience using Python and SQL for data analysis and data preparation.
• Familiarity with data manipulation libraries such as pandas and NumPy.
• Exposure to additional techniques (e.g., tree‑based models, time series, clustering, survival analysis, or machine learning) is a plus.
• Strong analytical thinking, attention to detail, and the ability to learn quickly in a fast‑paced, data‑driven environment.
• Clear communication skills and comfort collaborating with technical and non‑technical partners.

FHF Benefits:

• Great Perks – We offer generous salaries, social activities, monthly lunches, and a robust employee recognition and talent development program to enhance your career with us.
• Culture - We are believers in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. While we work hard and care deeply about our customers and partners, we want you to have room for your family, friends, and yourself.
• Growth - Company growth provides unprecedented career growth. FHF’s extraordinary year over year growth in revenue and new markets provides opportunity for you to establish and develop your career growth. We engage each employee to build a career plan that benefits everyone, and we have a proven record of investing in you.

Diversity and Inclusion

FHF is committed to building a culture that respects and embraces all walks of life, inclusive of all genders, race, culture, age, sexual orientation, and other identities. We will make accommodations when interviewing anyone with special needs.