AREA42 task description

Job title: Fraud & Product Expert
PO number: 4500025768

Location:

• Brussels
• Remote location possible (this over-rules the stipulation in the Framework contract that “The Freelancer undertakes to provide the Services at the premises of the Customer …”)

Role objective:

Tackling the challenges of fraud and credit risk while remaining finely attuned to growth and customer experience objectives.

Ensuring support to the Head of Operations so that working capital solutions within AREA42 are developed, delivered and promoted efficiently, from both internal and external point of view. This involves expertise in both the product itself and the processes surrounding its development, implementation and run.

Role responsibilities:

As a Fraud Expert, you will be responsible not only for fraud risk performance, but for identifying innovative risk and data solutions to the challenges facing B2B trading. In this role, you will use all tools available to build and manage strategies that strengthen our portfolio while simultaneously getting your forward-thinking fraud & risk management solutions onto the product roadmaps.

As a Product Expert, you will be the go-to expert for working capital solutions optimisation, including their developments, processes, offering and signing. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure that our products meet market demands and are delivered using best practices. Your expertise will drive continuous improvement initiatives and help the organisation adapt to changing market conditions.

Expertise:

• Development:
• Excellent fraud (& credit) scoring and data analytics skills

• Support management in developing an in-depth understanding of the company’s products and their features with a focus on fraud, risk and underwriting.

• Processes:

• Manage fraud and credit risk decision strategies.
• Set up pricing models.
• Manage and execute fraud and risk portfolio analyses.
• Design process improvements to enhance efficiency, profitability and reduce time-to-market, when requested by Head of Operations. Act as an internal subject matter expert for product-related inquiries and issues.

• Develop and maintain process documentation, ensuring it is up-to-date and accessible.

• Communication & marketing:
  Content support to the Marketing & Communication teams with product related expertise. Present our products in webinars or events.

• Approving:
  Support internal approval process to optimise success rate of approved files.

• Continuous Improvement:
  Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) related to product quality and process efficiency. Conduct regular reviews and audits of processes to identify opportunities for improvement.

Profile of the possible candidates:

Atypical profiles often work better for atypical jobs, and it is hard to predict the multiple winning skill combinations of the best candidates for the job. Moreover, we prefer team culture over individual performance. This being said, here are a few qualities we may be looking for:

• 15+ years of experience with a balanced mix of fraud and product development skills.
• Understanding of B2B trade is a must, and of trade credit insurance is a plus.
• A passion for innovation and start-ups with a good understanding of the corporate world.
• At ease with multitasking. Adaptable. Good sense of priorities (and humour).
• A solid strategic vision, a strong operational capacity and embraces challenges.
• Excellent human relations, networker and team-player.
• Experience with Python and tools such as TIBCO Statistica, Matlab, SAS are a plus.
• Expert knowledge about algorithmic decision making.
• Experience with working with credit bureaus and alternative data providers.
• Can handle success and failure, positive feedback as well as critiques.
• Gets the job done.

Remuneration range:

• 250-900€/day

Work hours, travel requirements, etc.:

• Work up to 184 days/year in 2026. As a freelancer, the product manager is free to choose when s/he wishes to work with AREA42 or to take holidays.
• Limited travels to support the development of the product (up to 15% of the time)
• All travel assignments are arranged by the Freelancer and costs carried are fully expensed by AREA42 through the timesheet.

Company description: AREA42

AREA42 vision:

We work in a smooth B2B trade environment empowered by new technologies.

At AREA42, we create, innovate, and manage solutions for a fluid, risk-savvy trade environment. We support companies who want to recode trade for the digital era.

Together with disruptors, technologists and visionaries, we build a more fertile trade environment. We co-design ambitious visions. We experiment and launch new solutions. We turn innovations into new growth engines.

We are backed by Credendo, the Export Credit Agency from Belgium and the most trusted leader in trade credit insurance and surety bonds.

Focus:

Our current investment thesis revolves around big untapped opportunities related to:

• Platforms and marketplaces
• SMEs
• Innovative credit data and machine learning
• Blockchain and other new trade paradigms

For us, success can be measured in the upgrades we offer to trade ecosystems. We do not see technology as an objective in itself, but we believe it is key to unlock radical improvements for trade and accompanying risk. We take inspiration from diverse universes. We try to hack things, fail sometimes, always learn, and thrive when we co-innovate with partners who share our passion.

Structure:

AREA42 is an ecosystem with 2 highly complementary zones: AREA42 innovation lab and AREA42 accelerator. Each zone contributes to a successful AREA42 innovation ecosystem.

Our innovation lab aims at growing a high-quality network of trusted partners, open to co-innovation and passionate about upgrading trade; it takes a lean start-up approach to experiment with new ideas and incubate them to become validated product concepts with a market fit. The learnings, successes and failures contribute to the feedback-loop and are shared with our innovation community.

Our accelerator works like a growth factory. We take validated product concepts and turn them into new lines of business. Our accelerator team works with the same powerful means as the best high-growth start-ups in order to scale the most ambitious ventures in trade.

Our first basecamp is Brussels, but our playground is Europe and the world.

Culture:

We are a diverse team based on 3 important values: respect, curiosity, and boldness. We believe in mutual trust, entrepreneurship, collective creativity, technological excellence and solid execution. For us, these values are essential to creating high-impact innovations, which we need to deliver successful long-term growth, which will help spread an innovation culture in trade.

Often, we do not know exactly what we are building. However, we always start with an exciting vision and we iterate as fast as possible to confront it with reality. We have faith in the science of experimentation and in the lean start-up approach. We invite and welcome innovators of all kinds to contribute and to have an impact. We share together the benefits of our successes.