People of Prospa: Meet Jin Foo

My role at Prospa is… Head of Data & Analytics I lead a team of data scientists, analysts and technical product managers who focus on creating advanced analytics and applied AI/ ML products which create awesome data-driven experiences for our customers whether internal or external.

My focus is on understanding customers, using a combination of supervised and unsupervised learning; combined with state-of-the-art graph networks to help stakeholders make the best decisions possible whether its providing them a loan or product. ?The aim is to provide the right product at the right time, for the right price!

I joined Prospa because… I saw an opportunity to make an impact as a data scientist within a visionary fintech leading the way in funding small businesses. The Leadership team has a clear forward looking vision of providing capital as a service and I could see myself building out the Data Science function to support this.

My role allows me to be operate at both a strategic and advisory level as well as allowing me to be completely hands on, building models and pipelines directly with stakeholders; both technical and non-technical

My typical Tuesday involves… Normally my Tuesday mornings are set to develop code and prepare prototypes. This includes pair programming with team members so we both learn new things.

I then run through 1:1’s with my team before spending the afternoon meeting with Product or Design in relation to new and existing products. My role is highly advisory, so I utilise various frameworks to understand the objective/outcomes required, and build relevant models with the right data for stakeholders to make sound decisions.

What I love about my role is that I am able to develop my technical ability with a very high-performing tech team, staying hands on whilst being involved in decision making from the start. Our function is well integrated into the business and its ways or working.

When working in the office, I sit next to… Brad Jenkinson (Lead Data Scientist) and Nico (Senior Data Analyst)

The thing I most love about working at Prospa is… The start-up mentality where we are encouraged to iterate, fail and learn quickly what works well.

The most challenging part of working at Prospa is… We have many streams of work happening at the same time at a quick pace so it can be challenging to keep up with everything and wear different hats on different projects but I thrive on this!

When I’m not working, you can find me… On the beach swimming or on patrol as a surf lifesaver. I love swimming, surfing and working with Nippers kids and getting them comfortable and confident in the water.

The one piece of technology I can’t live without is… Air Conditioning

Something people might be surprised to find out about me is… I did actuarial studies… and ballroom dancing at uni. I had the choice to pursue a professional dance career and for better or worse I chose the former.

The best piece of advice I have ever received is… Focus on issues that I can influence, and continue ‘sharpening the saw’ so I expand that circle of influence (from Stephen R Covey) instead of worrying about things I cannot change

If I could spend once day in another team in Prospa, it would definitely be... Design – I love designing and believe good design is the foundation of success.

My favourite local small business is… A café called 22 grams in Randwick that do their own pastries and sourdough. The food is amazing as is the service.

This financial year, I’m most excited by… All the new products we are rolling out at Prospa and how we are leveraging data to enhance and personalise customer experience to be a true partner to small business

If you're interested in working with leaders like Jin, we're hiring and always on the look out for great people to join Prospa.

Click through to view our live vacancies here, or to learn more about Prospa, you can view our Culture Code.