Senior Credit Risk Underwriter (2nd line)

Stride Recruitment; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Bonus

Job summary

Stride Recruitment supports a well-established specialist bank in London to hire a Senior Credit Risk Underwriter for Specialist Mortgages, Bridging Finance, Buy-to-Let and HMO. The role operates in the 2nd Line of Defence with delegated lending authority and independent risk oversight.

The successful candidate will assess complex property-backed lending, provide credit risk challenge, and contribute to policy development. Hybrid working with 50% office presence is required.

Qualifications

• Recent and substantial experience within Credit Risk Underwriting and Sanctioning.
• Proven experience operating within a 2nd Line of Defence Credit Risk environment.
• Experience operating with personal delegated lending authority.
• Strong experience across Specialist Mortgages, including Buy-to-Let and HMO.
• Experience assessing complex property-backed lending propositions.
• A strong understanding of financial, economic and property markets.
• Good knowledge of credit risk grading systems and processes.
• Experience making independent lending decisions and providing balanced recommendations.
• Confidence challenging first-line credit recommendations where appropriate.
• Experience presenting credit assessments to senior stakeholders and/or Credit Committee.

Responsibilities

• Sanction credit proposals within personal delegated lending authority, in line with the Bank’s Credit Risk Framework and policies.
• Analyse new and existing lending propositions across Real Estate Bridging and Investment.
• Act as a credit risk sounding board to the Bridging and Specialist Mortgages business.
• Provide independent challenge and balanced credit decisions across complex lending proposals.
• Prepare comprehensive credit risk assessments and recommendations for presentation to Transactional Credit Committee where required.
• Work closely with 1st Line Credit teams and lending stakeholders to ensure appropriate risk assessment and decision-making.
• Support the development of a strong credit risk culture across the business.
• Contribute to the ongoing development and review of credit risk policies, frameworks and sanctioning processes.
• Support portfolio-level credit risk monitoring, analysis and reporting.
• Assist with portfolio reviews and detailed investigations where required.
• Support lending decision assurance activity and provide oversight of lending decisions.
• Maintain understanding of the Bank’s risk appetite and ensure lending decisions are within parameters.

Skills

Credit risk underwriting

2nd Line of Defence

Lending authority

Specialist mortgages

Analytical thinking

Credit risk assessment

Independent judgement

Stakeholder communication

Job description

Senior Credit Risk Underwriter – Specialist Mortgages & Bridging Finance

Location: London Working Arrangement: Hybrid – minimum 50% of the month in the office

Salary: £80,000 - £90,000 + bonus and benefits

Department: Credit Risk Function: 2nd Line Credit Risk

The Opportunity

We are working with a well-established specialist bank seeking an experienced Senior Credit Risk Underwriter to join its 2nd Line Credit Risk function. This is a senior opportunity for an experienced credit professional with a strong background in specialist lending, particularly across Specialist Mortgages, Bridging Finance, Buy-to-Let and HMO.

The successful candidate will operate as a sanctioned within the 2nd Line of Defence Credit Risk function, taking responsibility for sanctioning credit proposals within their own delegated lending authority and providing independent credit risk oversight and challenge to the business.

The role will provide exposure to significant and complex lending transactions, with typical facilities ranging from £1m to £35m.

Key Responsibilities

• Sanction credit proposals within personal delegated lending authority, in line with the Bank’s Credit Risk Framework and policies.
• Analyse new and existing lending propositions across Real Estate Bridging and Investment.
• Act as a credit risk sounding board to the Bridging and Specialist Mortgages business.
• Provide independent challenge and balanced credit decisions across complex lending proposals.
• Prepare comprehensive credit risk assessments and recommendations for presentation to Transactional Credit Committee where required.
• Work closely with 1st Line Credit teams and lending stakeholders to ensure appropriate risk assessment and decision-making.
• Support the development of a strong credit risk culture across the business.
• Contribute to the ongoing development and review of credit risk policies, frameworks and sanctioning processes.
• Support portfolio-level credit risk monitoring, analysis and reporting.
• Assist with portfolio reviews and detailed investigations where required.
• Support lending decision assurance activity and provide appropriate oversight of lending decisions.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the Bank’s risk appetite and ensure lending decisions are made within agreed parameters. Experience Required

The successful candidate will ideally have:

• Recent and substantial experience within Credit Risk Underwriting and Sanctioning.
• Proven experience operating within a 2nd Line of Defence Credit Risk environment.
• Experience operating with personal delegated lending authority.
• Strong experience across Specialist Mortgages, including Buy-to-Let and HMO.
• Experience assessing complex property-backed lending propositions.
• A strong understanding of financial, economic and property markets.
• Good knowledge of credit risk grading systems and processes.
• Experience making independent lending decisions and providing balanced recommendations. Confidence challenging first-line credit recommendations where appropriate.
• Experience presenting credit assessments and recommendations to senior stakeholders and/or Credit Committee.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to distil complex information into clear, concise recommendations.
• Strong communication and influencing skills.
• The ability to exercise sound and independent judgement.

The Ideal Candidate This role would suit an experienced Senior Credit Underwriter, Credit Risk Underwriter, Credit Manager or similar professional who has moved beyond purely first-line underwriting and has genuine experience within a 2nd Line Credit Risk and sanctioning environment.

You will need to be comfortable making independent credit decisions, operating within delegated authority and providing appropriate challenge to lending teams. Experience within specialist banking, property finance or specialist mortgage lending would be particularly relevant.

Benefits In addition to the salary and bonus opportunity, the role offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Pension contribution
• Further employee benefits

Working Arrangement The role is based in London with a hybrid working arrangement, requiring a minimum of 50% of the month to be spent working from the office.