Junior SMB Credit Risk Analyst

At Alma, we're reinventing finance to serve those who matter most: merchants and consumers. Our instalment and deferred payment solutions help merchants boost sales by up to 20%, increase customer loyalty, and deliver a seamless shopping experience — all without encouraging debt. As the BNPL leader in France and active in 10 European countries, we've empowered over 21,000 merchants and 8 million consumers. With a team of 340+ and a €115M Series C funding round, Alma is rapidly scaling across Europe — and this is just the beginning...

The Corporate Credit Risk team consists of 1 Manager and 5 specialized team members, each focused on distinct market segments: SMB, Mid Market & New Verticals, Enterprise, PSP & International.

Our mission is to drive Alma's sustainable growth by proactively identifying, assessing, and mitigating any risk that could impact our business operations and financial performance.

In practice, that means:

• Due diligence and finanicial analysis: Evaluating opportunities and setting appropriate risk and financial terms (product offering, pricing, purchase amounts, payout delays, reserves, etc.) to maximise revenue while limiting consumer and merchant risk.
• Portfolio management: Continuously monitoring margin performance and merchant portfolio risk; proactively identifying pockets of growth and early warning signals; and implementing revenue‑generating or mitigation actions to maximise margins (both top and bottom line).
• Process excellence: Building and optimising processes and tools to sustain high‑performance risk management throughout the merchant lifecycle in the most cost‑efficient way.

As an SMB Credit Risk Analyst, you will serve as a strategic guardian of Alma's financial interests and reputation, specializing in the assessment and management of risks associated with small and medium-scale merchants (including promising start-ups & SMB merchants like Asphalte, GAYA, or KUJTEN).

This role directly supports Alma's growth ambitions. Alma's success is rooted in the SMB sector, where we maintain strong market share and significant growth potential. Your role will help us sustain this momentum while upholding our risk standards and profitability targets.

Reporting directly to the SMB Credit Risk - Team Lead, you will be responsible of:

1. Risk assessment & Decision-making
   • Rigorously assess SMB opportunities across multiple dimensions: business model, financial strength and creditworthiness, market reputation and product/service quality.
   • Decide whether to partner and establish optimal business terms including pricing and risk mitigation strategies.
2. High-risk merchant monitoring
   • Closely monitor the financial health of our high-risk merchants, identify weak signals early, and recommend risk mitigations (e.g., transaction limits, reserve implementation, revised terms, or exit).
   • Partner with Account Performance Managers to shape the strategy and narrative with the merchant; actively participate in negotiations, often with merchant leadership.
3. Portolio optimization
   • As a business partner to Revenue teams, proactively monitor the margin performance of SMB accounts.
   • Co‑define the winning plan to maximize revenue and merchant satisfaction while minimizing losses (e.g., upsell, cross‑sell, and calibrated risk parameter optimization).
4. Process improvement
   • Build tools and processes that enable accurate risk assessment of merchants at onboarding, while owning the operational infrastructure that allows Alma to scale merchant onboarding efficiently.
   • Develop and implement risk management policies and procedures to ensure compliance with industry regulations and internal standards.
5. Continuous Improvement
   • Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging risks, and best practices in merchant risk management to continuously enhance processes, policies, and tooling to strengthen risk mitigation and scalability.

• Sales SMB (Inbound & Outbound), Field Sales and Account Performance Management
• Operations
• Finance
• Fraud
• Risk Modelling
• Compliance
• Product & Engineering

Skills & Knowledge:

• Autonomy: You own your merchant portfolio and projects from start to finish, taking decisions while escalating appropriately when required.
• Business sense & Strategic thinking: You understand how risk choices affect revenue, margin, and long-term value.
• Communication: You can explain topics in simple terms and are comfortable sharing your findings with different stakeholders.
• Doer mindset: You take ownership and get hands-on when needed (e.g., managing peak seasonality periods).
• Team player: You actively support your colleagues, share knowledge, and contribute to a positive team environment where everyone can grow together.
• Interpersonal skills: You demonstrate availability and approachability, taking time to help colleagues learn and develop their understanding of risk assessment and processes.
• Financial sensitivity: You have a foundational understanding of finance concepts and demonstrate curiosity and eagerness to deepen your expertise.
• Operational excellence: You demonstrate strong organizational skills, manage your workload efficiently, and consistently deliver high-quality work while meeting deadlines and adapting to changing priorities.

Your experience:

• 1-3 years of proven experience in fintech/payments company, credit risk analysis, or consulting, with a strong delivery track record.
• University degree or diploma from a business or engineering school
• Educational background or initial experience in finance, with familiarity in areas such as credit assessment or corporate finance and eagerness to deepen your expertise.
• Proven ability to drive projects end‑to‑end.
• Native or near-native French proficiency
• Professional proficiency in English for international stakeholders and cross-functional collaboration.
• Comfortable using Excel, any familiarity with SQL and/or BI tools (e.g., Looker, Metabase) is a plus.
• Based in Lille and/or in Paris with 2 days of remote work per week, and occasional travel required.

You're not sure if you meet 100% of the criteria and that's making you hesitate to apply?

At Alma, we believe that diversity drives innovation and strengthens our community and are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels respected, valued, and empowered to contribute. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences. All employment decisions are made based on qualifications, experiences, merit, and business needs without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. 

So please take your chance, apply anyway  

• Visio call with a member of our Talent Acquisition team (30min)
• Visio call with Peter, SMB Credit Risk - Team Lead (45min)
• Written case study (Asynchronous)
• Case study debrief with Peter and Passy (Corporate Credit Risk & Risk Projects Manager) (1h)
• Team fit (30min)

#LI-Hybrid