Meet Chris, our Head of Risk

Tell us about your role at Fairlo.
As Head of Risk for Sweden and the UK, my role is to ensure we manage risk in a way that delivers strong customer outcomes while supporting sustainable, long-term growth. Beyond the technical and regulatory aspects, a key part of my responsibility is building and developing teams where people can take ownership, collaborate across disciplines, and make well-informed, data-driven decisions.

How would you describe your leadership style?
Trust first. I think people do their best work when they know what we’re trying to achieve and have the freedom to figure out how to get there. My job is to set clear direction, align priorities, and create enough transparency that people feel confident making calls on their own.

What do you focus on when building and developing teams?
I focus on creating teams that are both technically strong and commercially aware. That means bringing together people from different backgrounds - credit risk, data, and machine learning - and ensuring they work closely toward shared goals. I really want an environment where everyone feels safe speaking up. People should be comfortable questioning how we do things, making mistakes, and learning as we go.

Just as importantly, we need to actually like working together. We spend a lot of time at work and with our colleagues, and enjoying that time together makes a huge difference. When that happens, collaboration improves and the team becomes stronger.

How does the risk organisation work across countries and disciplines?
We operate as one integrated organisation across Sweden and the UK, with close collaboration between risk, data, machine learning, product and customer service. We put a lot of emphasis on shared context and communication, so geography doesn’t become a barrier. As we continue to grow, including now recruiting a Credit Risk Manager in the UK, it’s important that new team members feel empowered from day one and understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture.