Lead Commercial Underwriter

Co-operative Bank plc; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 93,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days holiday + holiday buy/sell

Annual discretionary bonus

Personal pension with matched

Life assurance (6x salary)

Private Medical Insurance

Job summary

The Co-operative Bank is seeking a Lead Commercial Underwriter in Manchester to join a high-performing Business & Commercial Credit team. You will assess new lending opportunities, refer and manage exceptions, and present cases to Credit Approval Committees for large, high-value transactions.

This senior role offers exposure to complex lending across sectors such as real estate, healthcare, renewables, and Housing Associations, with a hybrid work pattern and responsibility for portfolio

Qualifications

• 2nd Line Credit Risk Manager experience in Business & Commercial lending.
• Experience leading underwriting transactions for Credit Committees and with a personal mandate.
• Experience across sectors: mid-market trading, syndicated lending, property, healthcare, renewables, Housing Associations.
• Ability to balance financial metrics with ESG factors to form robust credit opinions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with senior stakeholders and committees.

Responsibilities

• Assess new lending opportunities, credit referrals and exceptions.
• Underwrite and review complex lending transactions for Credit Committees.
• Present cases to Credit Approval Committees up to high values.
• Oversee annual reviews and renewals; monitor portfolio performance and early warning indicators.

Skills

Credit risk management

Underwriting complex lending

Stakeholder presentation

Analytical skills

Education

Chartered Banker qualification

Job description

We have an opportunity for an experienced Lead Commercial Underwriter to join a high-performing Business & Commercial Credit team, underwriting lending requests to businesses and corporate customers.

This is a senior role, offering exposure to complex, high-value transactions and the opportunity to influence key credit decisions across a diverse portfolio where you will be responsible for assessing new lending opportunities, credit referrals, and exceptions, ensuring decisions align with the Bank’s strategy and risk appetite.

The Lead Commercial Underwriter will make lending decisions up to £2.5million and play a key role in larger transactions up to £25million & including preparing and presenting cases to Credit Approval Committees up to £100million.

The role also includes oversight of existing lending, conducting annual reviews and renewals while monitoring customer performance and early warning indicators. The role holder is expected to build a good awareness of the overall portfolio performance.

Sector exposure includes real estate, housing associations, healthcare, and renewables, with a strong focus on ESG and sustainable lending.

Location: We operate on a team-led hybrid approach with 1 day per week in the Manchester office.

Our benefits include:

• 28 days holiday a year plus bank holidays and a holiday buy/sell scheme.
• Annual discretionary bonus scheme
• Personal pension with matched contributions
• Life assurance (6 times annual salary)
• Private Medical Insurance

About you

For this role you’ll need to have:

• 2nd Line Credit Risk Manager (or equivalent level) experience in Business & Commercial lending, with a strong grasp of sound lending principles.
• Experience leading and underwriting complex lending transactions for Credit Committees, with experience of having a personal mandate.
• Experienced in a number of the following sectors: mid-market trading businesses, syndicated lending, property, healthcare, renewables, or Housing Associations.
• Ability to balance strict financial metrics (EBITDA, leverage, cash flow) with non-financial drivers (management capability, market headwinds, ESG factors) to form a robust credit opinion.
• Strong analytical skills and an ability to translate complex financial statements and non-financial risk factors into structured, articulate credit papers for committee approval.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with confidence presenting to senior stakeholders and committees.

Experience in these areas would be helpful:

• Proven ability to build and maintain strong relationships across all levels.
• Strong knowledge of the Business & Commercial banking landscape and market developments
• Good understanding of legal and regulatory requirements within corporate credit risk
• Highly organised, with strong time management and the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Chartered Banker Institute qualification (or equivalent)
• Experience engaging with Credit Approval Committees
• Previous mentoring or coaching experience
• Awareness of emerging trends in credit risk and commercial lending
• Experience in managing problem debt situations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilitiesExperience working with credit risk systems, models, and policies.

About us

In 2025, Coventry Building Society purchased The Co-operative Bank. Bringing together our purpose-led building society with the UK’s original ethical bank was the start of an exciting journey.

Trusted by over four million people, we’re a mutually owned business free from shareholders, and with our combined experience of almost 300 years, our ethics and dedication will continue to guide us. Together, we have shared values and an ethical approach towards our members, customers and colleagues.

We’re officially recognised as a ‘Great Place to Work’ and our benefits go beyond basic pay, with a discretionary bonus scheme, a culture of reward and recognition and comprehensive support for wellbeing.

We’re serious about equality, of race, age, faith, disability, and sexual orientation and we celebrate diversity. By working together, we know you’ll build more than just a career with us.

Flexibility and why it matters

We understand the need for flexibility, so wherever possible, we’ll consider alternative working patterns.Have a chat with us before you apply to see what the possibilities are for this role.

Proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer

We’re proud to offer an interview or assessment to every disabled applicant who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies. As part of the application process, disabled applicants can opt in for the Disability Confident Interview Scheme. If there are ever occasions where it is not practicable to interview all candidates that meet the essential criteria, such as when we receive a high number of applications, we commit to interviewing disabled candidates who best meet the minimum essential and desirable criteria.

Feedback

We are currently receiving a high number of applications for our roles and, while we review each one carefully against the advertised criteria, unfortunately we're unable to provide individual feedback. We will contact shortlisted candidates directly.

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