Kashcade R&D Credit Analyst
Sydney CBD | Full-time | Visa sponsorship available
About Kashcade
Kashcade is an Aussie non-bank lender that funds early-stage companies working on innovative technologies – biotech, medtech, space tech, robotics, drones, and artificial intelligence. We back the niches and the long-shots.
We do it by bringing forward the R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI) refund these companies receive from the ATO each year – giving them the working capital to keep building and giving us a high-confidence repayment source. It's a unique asset class without an established playbook, and we're building the leading position in it.
Kashcade was founded in 2022 by CEO Alex Simmons (ex-CBA business lending strategist and ex-management consultant) and CTO Patrick Nappa (ex-Apple software engineer). We’re a lean, tight-knit team of six that’s driven, pragmatic, and intellectually curious. We love solving complex problems and enjoy doing it.
Over the last few years, we've deployed over $150M across ~300 companies, have grown consistently at more than 100% year-on-year, and raised >$75M in wholesale funding from institutional capital like Wingate and Fancourt Capital. We’ll be raising another $200M later this year as we continue to double the book. We're now at the inflection point between startup and scale-up, so the decisions we make over the next few years will define the business’ future.
We have ambitious growth targets, and although we’ve consistently beat them to date, it’ll be hard work and a true challenge to keep it up. With the right team, we’re confident we’ll get there.
The role
This role is in the R&D Credit team, where you’ll be working closely with Josh (Head of Customer), Mat (R&D Credit Partner), the Credit Manager (joining soon), and Alex (co-founder & CEO), to understand whether customers and their businesses are a good fit for Kashcade and help customers understand the Kashcade funding model. You’ll also jump in and out of various other challenges to capitalise on opportunities that arise or to help put out fires.
In this role you’ll spend most of your time supporting applicants (start-up founders and C-suites) through the loan application process and assessing their companies to find those we should or shouldn’t fund. You’ll do this by:
- Meeting with customers (mostly online) to better understand their businesses and explain the Kashcade funding model;
- Using Kashcade’s platform to help qualify customer applications to the point of loan proposal (with the support of the credit team);
- Assessing applicants’ financial performance (via profit and loss, cashflow, and balance sheet statements);
- Building a relationship with customers over time; and
- Attending start-up events Australia-wide, building relationships in the community, and responding to inbound interest.
This role is comparable to a credit analyst at a non-bank lender or an investment analyst at a venture capital fund, but focused on evaluating whether to provide funding against companies’ future RDTI refunds.
The role comes with significant earnings potential, and there are continuous opportunities to grow with the company as we scale the business further.
Kashcade is growing quickly, with each quarter being different from the last. That means there’ll always be something else to get involved in that’s outside of your respective skillset. But that’s what it’s all about – getting things done as they arise and not being afraid to jump into something new. So, you’ll do best in this role if you love learning new things, being slightly outside of your comfort zone, and working as a team.
The Environment
Our borrowers are pre-profitability, often venture-backed high-growth businesses – spanning ASX-listed pharmaceutical companies through to early-stage tech startups. Assessing them requires genuine intellectual curiosity: balance sheets aren't pretty, there's no property security, and the repayment source is a government tax refund rather than operating cash flow. It's venture credit, not commercial banking for SMEs.
The business is seasonal and growing quickly. During peak periods, the team moves at pace, and everyone rolls up their sleeves to get things done. You might find yourself working on something unexpected and completely novel.
What We’re Looking For
Below are suggested qualifications. We’re open-minded about non-linear paths – in fact, we quite like them.
Basic requirements:
- 4+ years of professional experience, with solid credit assessment experience
- Strong financial literacy – you can read, build, and stress-test financial models and statements
- Commercial judgement and the ability to think beyond traditional credit frameworks, balancing caution with open-mindedness
Backgrounds we’d find interesting:
- Credit professionals with exposure to early-stage companies – non-bank lending, private credit, venture debt, or venture capital
- R&D tax advisory, whether in Australia or abroad
- Investment banking with strong financial modelling skills looking to move into a less traditional asset class and a role that moves the dial
- Advisory or actuarial professionals who have experience assessing company financial performance and risk
Preferred qualifications (not required):
- CFA, CA, or equivalent
- Exposure to venture debt, venture capital, or innovation-focused lending
The Ideal Candidate:
- Intellectually curious and comfortable with ambiguity – there is no established template for what we do
- Open-minded and adaptable – our underwriting approach doesn't map neatly to traditional finance
- A builder – comes with ideas on how to improve what we look at, how we assess it, and how we run the process
- Commercially sharp and customer-facing – we build genuine relationships with our borrowers and everyone in the team is part of that
- Outgoing and confident attitude with a willingness to actively meet new people
- Strong ability to understand then explain novel concepts quickly, and guide customers through a processes
- Genuine excitement about supporting the growth of Aussie start-ups
- Willingness to travel within Australia for a couple of days every 2nd or 3rd month
Why Kashcade?
You'll be joining a company with a proven model, as it scales. This is a rare opportunity to be a core part of the credit team at a non-bank lender in a novel asset class – with real influence over how the function is shaped over time.
You'll work directly with the founders day-to-day. Our backers include institutional wholesale funders with a network of successful CEOs and business owners on the cap table. Our borrowers are some of the most ambitious companies with the most accomplished founders in the country.
On top of a competitive base salary and super, you'll receive ESOP participation.
The team are the t-shirt and jeans wearing types that are pragmatic about getting the job done but don’t take themselves too seriously doing it.
We're based in Sydney CBD, work in-office most days, and we're open to visa sponsorship for the right person.
We will review applications on a rolling basis and move quickly.