Underwriter
Have you ever wanted to work with start-up businesses? Ever fancied a career in finance? Have a logical brain and a strong eye for detail? Then this could be the perfect role for you. A Start up Loan is a government-backed personal loan available to individuals looking to start or grow a business in the UK.
We’re looking for an Underwriter to join our Growth Company Business Finance Team (GCBF). You’d spend the day talking to entrepreneurs, helping them to take their first steps into self-employment. Reviewing Business Plans and Financial documents, you are there to help the new business owner fine-tune their business planning tools in order to gain funding from the Start up Loans scheme.
You will work with the Underwriting Team Leader to meet loan delivery KPI’s (currently up to a value of £3.8m per annum) while ensuring the necessary credit parameters are maintained within the loan portfolio.
As an Underwriter you will be responsible for developing relationships with new and existing loan applicants, in order that the structure of any loan facility meets the demands of the entrepreneur and their start-up business.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Build and manage a caseload of loan applicants, ensuring fast advancement to payaway, whilst maintaining high quality and integrity
2. Carry out holistic reviews of business planning documents to identify any discrepancies or potential barriers to market entry for the new business
3. Understanding key SME start-up challenges
4. Meeting/communicating with customers to assess loan applications
5. Where loan applicants need further support to develop the business plan, signpost clients to internal/external partners where appropriate
6. Provide a judgemental balanced loan recommendation to support/decline an application
7. Record referrals on an internal system and develop reciprocity with partners
8. Ensure that all responsibilities under Treating Customers Fairly are adhered to and exceeded
9. Predominantly assess and make judgemental lending recommendations to support/decline loan applications (currently up to a maximum value of £100,000) under the Start-Up Loans contract for new and eligible existing businesses
10. Undertake training to achieve delegated lending authority of £25k by the British Business Bank: ensuring that status is maintained throughout the contract
11. Communicate with Bank Managers, Accountants, and other Finance Professionals
12. Deliver on annual targets and maximise the profile of GCBF
About You:
13. Strong verbal and written communication skills
14. Have a keen eye for detail and ability to demonstrate common sense approach
15. Strong written report writing
16. Ability to work with a wide range of partners at various levels
17. Able to work with a high volume of clients
Requirements:
18. Background in lending is desirable but not essential as training opportunities are available
19. Judgemental lending background in a financial institution (desired)
20. Proven track record of business assessment to support loan funding (desired)
21. Financially astute, with a lending background (desired)
22. Experience of IT and CRM systems an advantage
We are committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce, we provide a guaranteed interview to applicants who meet the essential requirements for a role. This commitment applies to candidates who have a disability or are from a diverse ethnic community.
As part of our application process, you can ask to be considered under this scheme if you are from an ethnic community or have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. Providing that you meet the essential criteria for the role, you will then be invited for an interview. Your guaranteed interview application will only be shared with the Hiring Manager and our Internal Recruitment Team.
We are a member of the national campaign Ban the Box; this campaign aims to open opportunities for people with convictions to compete for jobs. We’re supporting the campaign by removing conviction questions at the applications stage.
GC aims to promote a culture of flexibility and agile working. Going forward we will be transitioning to a culture where full agile working will be a feature of many of our roles. We also recognise that there may be a need for more permanent flexibility in your working arrangements and in such cases, we encourage you to have these discussions at the interview stage, to enable your flexible working request to be considered as early as possible.