Underwriting Team Lead, Small Business Lending

Job Description

Title : Underwriting Team Lead, Small Business Lending

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Location : Midtown, NYC 4x a week

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Salary : $160,000 to $200,000 + bonus + equity

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Excellent bonus, culture, benefits, and growth!

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Position Overview

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The Underwriting Manager will lead a team responsible for evaluating and approving small to mid-sized business financing opportunities. This individual will oversee daily underwriting operations, support complex credit decisions, and ensure consistent execution across multiple funding programs.

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The ideal candidate combines strong credit judgment with proven leadership experience and a deep understanding of alternative lending, revenue-based financing, working capital products, or other non-bank commercial credit solutions. This role offers the opportunity to influence underwriting strategy, improve operational processes, and contribute directly to portfolio growth and performance.

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Key Responsibilities

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• Lead the day-to-day management of the underwriting function, including workflow prioritization, quality assurance, and service-level execution.
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• Review and approve complex credit decisions that exceed individual underwriter authority levels.
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• Ensure underwriting consistency across multiple funding programs, products, and originator relationships.
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• Develop, mentor, and coach a high-performing team of credit professionals through ongoing training, performance management, and career development.
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• Partner with Credit, Portfolio Management, Risk, and Capital Markets teams to refine underwriting standards and portfolio risk frameworks.
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• Evaluate trends in credit performance, approval rates, and portfolio quality to identify opportunities for process improvement.
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• Drive continuous enhancement of underwriting workflows, decision-making frameworks, and operational efficiency.
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• Maintain strong relationships with lending partners and serve as a key point of contact on credit and program-related matters.
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• Monitor market conditions, competitive dynamics, and emerging trends within specialty finance and small business lending.
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• Ensure all underwriting decisions are thoroughly documented and aligned with internal policies, audit requirements, and regulatory expectations.
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Qualifications

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• Bachelor's degree completed.
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• 6+ years of experience in small business loan underwriting, credit risk, portfolio management, or commercial finance. Asset Based Lending, working capital loans, Merchant Cash Advance experience is a plus.
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• 2+ years of direct people management experience leading underwriters, analysts, or credit professionals.
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• Strong experience evaluating small business credit, cash flow lending, revenue-based financing, merchant cash advance, working capital, or other specialty finance products.
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• Deep understanding of financial statement analysis, cash flow assessment, business performance metrics, and risk evaluation.
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• Demonstrated ability to make sound credit decisions within a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
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• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
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• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present recommendations to senior leadership and external stakeholders.
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• Advanced proficiency in Excel and familiarity with underwriting systems, credit platforms, and portfolio analytics tools.
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Why Join Us

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• Opportunity to help build and scale a rapidly growing specialty finance platform.
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• High visibility role with direct interaction across senior leadership, investment, and risk teams.
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• Collaborative, entrepreneurial culture focused on innovation and continuous improvement.
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• Exposure to a broad range of alternative credit products and investment strategies.
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• Significant opportunity for professional growth and advancement as the platform continues to expand.
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