Senior Commercial Credit Analyst

Job Description

Job Description

Overview

At Community Financial System, Inc. (CFSI), we are dedicated to providing our customers with friendly, personalized, high-quality financial services and products. Our retail division, Community Bank, N.A., operates more than 200 customer facilities across Upstate New York, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont and Western Massachusetts. Beyond retail banking, we also offer commercial banking, wealth management, investment management, insurance and risk management, and benefit plan administration.

 

Just as our employees are committed to helping our customers manage their finances, we’re committed to our employees. After all, they make it happen for our customers every day.

 

To ensure our people can enjoy long and successful careers here at CFSI, we offer competitive compensation, great benefits, and professional development and advancement opportunities. As an equal-opportunity workplace and affirmative-action employer, we celebrate and support a diverse workplace for the benefit of all: our employees, customers and communities.

Responsibilities

Advanced Credit Analysis & Risk Assessment 

• Independently analyze and underwrite the Bank’s most complex commercial credit relationships, including multi-entity borrowers, multiple guarantors, layered debt structures, and non-standard repayment sources. 
• Prepare high-quality, final or near-final credit memoranda for new credit requests, renewals, modifications, and annual reviews. 
• Perform advanced financial analysis, including global cash flow, stress analysis, sensitivity analysis, and forward-looking risk assessment. 
• Identify elevated risks, structural weaknesses, and emerging concerns, clearly articulating conclusions and recommended mitigants. 
• Evaluate appropriateness of credit structure, covenants, collateral, and guarantor support. 

Credit Leadership & Analytical Influence 

• Serve as a senior analytical resource to Credit Officers and relationship managers on complex or higher-risk transactions. 
• Provide effective and constructive challenge to assumptions, structures, and risk assessments presented in credit requests. 
• Influence credit decisions through depth of analysis, sound judgment, and professional credibility. 
• Participate in complex deal discussions, internal credit reviews, and portfolio-level risk conversations. 

Portfolio Oversight & Relationship Engagement 

• Monitor assigned portfolio segments for performance trends, concentrations, and emerging risk. 
• Assist with risk rating assignments and ongoing assessment of rating accuracy. 
• Identify early warning signals of deterioration and escalate concerns appropriately. 
• Support portfolio analytics, trend reviews, and targeted risk assessments. 
• Accompany relationship managers on customer calls, as appropriate, to support financial discussions, clarify credit considerations, assess borrower operations and management, and enhance overall credit understanding. 

Problem Credit & Elevated Risk Support 

• Provide senior-level analytical support for criticized and classified commercial credits. 
• Assist with analysis related to renewals, restructures, modifications, workouts, and exit strategies. 
• Support monitoring and action plans for higher-risk or deteriorating relationships. 

Professional Contribution & Project Work 

• Contribute to enhancements in credit processes, analytical tools, and underwriting consistency. 
• Support implementation or refinement of credit systems, reporting, or workflows. 
• Undertake special projects related to the job function, as determined by credit management. 
• Maintain current knowledge of commercial credit practices, borrower industries, and financial analysis techniques. 

Ancillary Duties: 

As an integral member of the Credit Department, this position is also responsible to provide assistance wherever necessary to help the Credit Department and the Bank in achieving their goals.

 

Qualifications

Education, Training and Requirements:

• BS or BA degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or a related field plus specialized education in credit analysis and commercial lending.
• All applicants must be 18 years of age or older.

Skills: 

• Proficient reading, writing, grammar and mathematics skills; proficient interpersonal relations and communications skills; a thorough knowledge of: financial statement analysis, loan structuring, current laws/regulations applicable to commercial lending, and loan policies and procedures of the Bank; demonstrated management, supervisory and training skills. Well-developed project management skills; accomplish stated goals and must be able to work productively with varying levels of management and staff. Requires a high degree of initiative and the ability to work independently with minimal supervision. Demonstrated experience evaluating complex, cash-flow-based commercial credit relationships. High proficiency with Microsoft Excel and Word.

Experience:

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in commercial credit analysis, underwriting, or credit risk roles.