Commercial Lending and Fraud Prevention Specialist

Ford Motor; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading automotive company is looking for a Commercial Lending and Fraud Prevention Analyst to enhance their underwriting process. The role requires expertise in commercial credit and fraud prevention, focusing on SME portfolios. Successful candidates will provide operational support and lead strategies to combat financial crime. This hybrid position based in Manchester offers opportunities for professional growth within a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• Strong progressive commercial credit underwriting experience in financial services.
• Demonstrable expertise underwriting diverse commercial entities.
• Proven experience identifying, investigating, and preventing commercial lending fraud typologies.
• Experience providing guidance on complex cases as a lead underwriter or specialist.
• Strong understanding of commercial lending legal structures.
• Proficiency with commercial credit bureaus and underwriting systems.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary escalation point for high value loans for the SME portfolio.
• Provide expert guidance on deal structuring and financial analysis.
• Conduct in-depth reviews and underwrite high-risk cases.
• Lead investigations into suspicious applications.
• Monitor emerging fraud threats and technological advancements.

Skills

Commercial credit acumen

Fraud prevention and investigation

Analytical skills

Leadership abilities

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor’s degree in finance, Business, Economics

Tools

Fraud detection software

Financial analysis tools

Job description

The Opportunity

As our commercial portfolio expands and financial crime evolves; we're creating a critical new role for a seasoned Commercial Underwriting expert. This high-impact position is vital to protecting our business and empowering our underwriting teams by providing specialist fraud prevention knowledge and strategic process improvements.

Role Summary

The Commercial Lending and Fraud Prevention Analyst is a dual-focused Subject Matter Expert. You'll provide critical operational support for commercial applications focused on an SME portfolio, while leading strategic initiatives to enhance our underwriting framework, with a strong emphasis on fraud prevention. This role significantly strengthens our ability to assess credit risk and combat financial crime.

Key Competencies

• Expert commercial credit acumen across diverse entity types and complex deals.
• Advanced practical experience in commercial lending fraud prevention and investigation.
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and decision-making skills.
• Proven subject matter expertise, leadership, and mentoring abilities.
• Proactive approach to process/policy enhancement and excellent communication skills.
• Meticulous attention to detail.

Minimum Skill Requirements

• Strong progressive commercial credit underwriting experience in financial services.
• Demonstrable expertise underwriting diverse commercial entities
• Proven hands-on experience identifying, investigating, and preventing specific commercial lending fraud typologies
• Experience as a lead underwriter, specialist, or SME, providing guidance/sign-off on complex cases.
• Track record of developing/delivering training, policies, or best practices within an underwriting/risk function.
• Strong understanding of commercial lending legal structures and documentation.
• Proficiency with commercial credit bureaus, financial analysis tools, and underwriting systems.
• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Business, Economics, or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience with specific fraud detection software/verification tools

Desired Skills (Nice-to-Haves)

• Experience in automotive or asset finance.
• Relevant professional certifications (e.g., CFE, Advanced Commercial Lending).
• Experience managing small projects or process improvement initiatives.

Additional Information

The Company is committed to diversity and equality of opportunity for all and is opposed to any form of less favourable treatment or harassment on the grounds of race, religion or belief, sex, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability

This position is based in Dunton or Manchester, and it is expected the successful candidate will be able to attend the Dunton office or Manchester Business Centre for typically 4 days a week and remain flexible on the days they are required to attend the office according to business requirements.

As part of our pre-employment checks process, successful candidates will be required to undergo a criminal record check. This will be conducted in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and applied only to unspent convictions.

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Responsibilities

• Operational Support & Underwriting Expertise:
  • Serve as the primary escalation point for high value loans for our SME portfolio lending as well as supporting underwriting for more complex commercial applications.
  • Provide expert guidance on deal structuring, financial analysis, business models, sector risk analysis and industry risk.
  • Conduct in-depth reviews and underwrite high-ris cases, applying advanced analytical and fraud detection techniques.
• Fraud Prevention, Investigation & Enhancement:
  • Act as the front-line specialist in commercial lending fraud typologies
  • Work with second line teams to develop and refine enhanced due diligence, detection rules, and verification protocols.
  • Lead investigations into suspicious applications, collaborating with internal and external teams.
  • Analyse fraud attempts to identify systemic weaknesses and recommend preventative measures.
  • Monitor emerging fraud threats, regulations, and technological advancements
• Strategic Initiatives & Knowledge Sharing:
  • Work with our Learning and Development team to design and deliver training to underwriting teams on financial analysis and fraud identification.
  • Lead/contribute to strategic projects improving underwriting efficiency and fraud detection.
  • Develop best practices, guidelines, and fraud checklists tailored to our portfolio.
  • Conduct regular quality checks on underwriters and provide feedback on findings.