Commercial Real Estate Underwriting Lead - Housing Capital

Commercial Real Estate Senior Underwriter

U.S. Bank's Housing Capital group is seeking an experienced Commercial Real Estate Senior Underwriter to support a specialized portfolio of large private and regional homebuilders. Housing Capital is a division of Commercial Real Estate that is a leading provider of capital for homebuilders across the United States.

This role requires an experienced CRE underwriting professional (homebuilder underwriting experience is strongly preferred) who can work autonomously, apply sound credit judgment, and serve as a trusted underwriting resource to business partners. The Senior Underwriter partners closely with Relationship Managers and internal stakeholders while maintaining disciplined risk management practices.

The role also functions as a senior underwriting lead within the team, providing informal leadership, mentorship, and underwriting oversight to junior analysts while supporting the overall performance and development of the underwriting function. This role offers the opportunity to serve as a key contributor to the underwriting leadership bench while remaining deeply engaged in complex credit transactions.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform comprehensive financial and credit analysis for commercial real estate transactions supporting residential development and homebuilder clients
• Underwrite new credit requests, modifications, renewals, and extensions
• Prepare and update detailed credit memoranda supporting underwriting recommendations
• Evaluate borrower financial statements, global cash flow, liquidity, leverage, and repayment capacity
• Assess and assign accurate risk ratings in accordance with bank policy

Portfolio Management & Ongoing Monitoring

• Conduct quarterly portfolio reviews, including covenant testing and financial analysis
• Review monthly and quarterly borrower reporting such as project sales, development progress, and budget-to-actual performance
• Monitor construction and development activity to ensure projects are progressing on time and within budget
• Perform covenant validation and participate in required portfolio and compliance testing

Underwriting Leadership & Team Support

• Serve as a senior underwriting leader and informal extension of management within the Housing Capital team
• Provide guidance, mentorship, and day-to-day support to junior credit analysts, contributing to their technical development and performance
• Assist with training, onboarding, and ongoing development of junior underwriting staff
• Conduct peer reviews of underwriting work to ensure quality, consistency, and adherence to credit standards
• Act as a subject matter resource for complex underwriting scenarios and escalated credit questions
• Support a collaborative team environment by sharing best practices and reinforcing underwriting discipline

Internal Partnership & Collaboration

• Work closely with Relationship Managers, peer Underwriters, and Loan Administration teams
• Provide underwriting support and guidance throughout the deal lifecycle
• Serve as an experienced underwriting resource within the Housing Capital team
• Collaborate across teams to support consistent credit execution and portfolio performance

Client & External Interaction

• Participate in limited direct interaction with borrowers at the senior underwriter level
• Attend occasional client meetings, bank group meetings, and site inspections in support of Relationship Managers
• Support external-facing activities as appropriate while maintaining primary focus on underwriting responsibilities

Tools, Technology & Process

• Utilize internal credit, underwriting, and reporting systems to support underwriting activities
• Leverage technology solutions, including Copilot and other automation or AI-enabled tools, to enhance efficiency and analysis
• Adhere to established credit policy, underwriting standards, and documentation requirements

Basic Qualifications

• Master's degree, or equivalent work experience
• Ten or more years of commercial lending experience

Preferred Skills/Experience

• Demonstrated experience in commercial real estate underwriting
• Advanced knowledge of commercial lending policy, government agency compliance (Reg B, H, O, etc.), all applicable laws and regulations, credit quality standards, and company/business line procedures
• Advanced knowledge of credit products
• Ability to independently underwrite and manage complex CRE transactions
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated ability to mentor, coach, and provide technical guidance to junior team members
• Experience performing peer review or quality oversight of underwriting work
• Ability to influence and lead in a collaborative, non-managerial capacity
• Well-developed written communication and verbal presentation skills
• Direct experience underwriting homebuilder or residential development lending
• Prior experience supporting acquisition & development loans, construction financing, or borrowing base facilities
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools, including Teams and advanced Excel capabilities such as VLOOKUPs, pivot tables/charts, PowerPivot or DAX, and Power Query
• Experience with nCino platform
• Familiarity with AI-enabled tools

Location expectations

This role requires working from a U.S. Bank location three (3) or more days per week. Office location: Charlotte, NC.

If there's anything we can do to accommodate a disability during any portion of the application or hiring process, please refer to our disability accommodations for applicants.

Benefits:

• Healthcare (medical, dental, vision)
• Basic term and optional term life insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Pregnancy disability and parental leave
• 401(k) and employer-funded retirement plan
• Paid vacation (from two to five weeks depending on salary grade and tenure)
• Up to 11 paid holiday opportunities
• Adoption assistance
• Sick and Safe Leave accruals of one hour for every 30 worked, up to 80 hours per calendar year unless otherwise provided by law

U.S. Bank is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status, and other factors protected under applicable law.

The salary range reflects figures based on the primary location, which is listed first. The actual range for the role may differ based on the location of the role. In addition to salary, U.S. Bank offers a comprehensive benefits package, including incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase 401(k) contribution and pension (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). Pay Range: $126,820.00 - $149,200.00