Underwriting Manager

Teachers BS; Holdenhurst; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary + bonus

Training & development

Pension & life cover

Career progression

Job summary

Teachers BS is seeking an experienced Underwriting Manager to lead our underwriting function, delivering robust risk management and responsible lending outcomes within a hybrid working environment.

You will guide a skilled manual underwriting team, ensure compliance with MCOB and FCA conduct rules, and drive continuous improvement through policy review, training, and strong stakeholder engagement. This role requires strategic thinking and team development.

Qualifications

• Experience leading underwriting teams and delivering customer-focused outcomes.
• Proven ability to manage manual underwriting in complex scenarios.
• Strong understanding of credit risk and regulatory requirements (MCOB).
• Experience aligning underwriting with lending policy and risk appetite.
• Ability to train and develop staff and provide technical guidance.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Underwriting/Underwriting Support Team to deliver effective underwriting and customer outcomes.
• Provide technical underwriting guidance to team members.
• Ensure compliance with Lending Policy and regulatory expectations (MCOB).
• Balance risk appetite with responsible lending and SLA adherence.
• Develop the team through training, PDRs, and performance reviews.
• Underwrite mortgage applications, including complex cases, within policy.
• Support wider business with regulatory and technical guidance.

Skills

Team leadership

Manual underwriting

Credit risk

Regulatory knowledge

Lending policy understanding

Job description

Salary: DOE
Location: Wimborne, Dorset / Hybrid
Full Time - 35 hours per week (Monday - Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm)

About the role

We're looking for an experienced and people-focused Underwriting Manager to lead our underwriting function, ensuring excellent customer outcomes, robust risk management, and the delivery of responsible lending solutions.

This is an exciting opportunity for a proven underwriting professional who combines strong technical expertise, with experience in manual underwriting, with outstanding leadership skills. You'll play a pivotal role in managing a talented manual underwriting team, supporting strategic lending initiatives, and helping drive the continued growth and success of the Society.

As a Certified Role under SM&CR, the postholder is accountable for maintaining their own fitness and propriety and upholding the FCA Conduct Rules.

Responsibilities

• Leading and managing the Underwriting/Underwriting Support Team’s to deliver effective underwriting and customer outcomes with a solution based underwriting approach to support the Society’s growth plans
• Provide technical underwriting guidance to team members
• Ensure decisions within the department remain compliant with Lending Policy, credit risk appetite, and regulatory expectations in accordance with relevant MCOB rules
• Ensure discretion afforded to underwriters is correctly utilized to provide responsible lending solutions within credit risk appetite
• Ensure underwriting of cases, post completion contract variations and review of case referrals are completed within SLA’s
• Ensuring the team are kept informed to changes to Lending Policy and wider processes which impact them
• Maintain relevant processes and procedures
• Effective team management, including creation and roll-out of annual PDRs, monthly, quarterly and annual 1-2-1s, quality control feedback, training and development, mandate recommendations, application decline review and confirmation, and Incident Reporting (Lets Fix It) action setting
• Completion of the teams quarterly T&Cs
• Maintain a mandated position
• Underwrite mortgage applications regardless of amount focusing on the assessment of out of policy and more complex mortgage loans across a mix of residential lending types

Wider Responsibilities

• Investigating and responding, where required, with requests relating to both internal and external audits to ensure their effective completion
• Provide technical/regulatory support to BDM’s, Broker Support, Intermediaries, Internal Mortgage Advisors, Underwriters, Mortgage Servicing and the wider business
• Liaise with external partners and manage those relationships (such as LGSS, MIG, L&G, RSM UK, etc.).
• Proactively consider and where appropriate implement process and other improvements that optimise the effectiveness and efficiency of the Underwriting team
• Complete other tasks as required by the Chief Lending & Lending Officer
• Ensuring the delivery of an effective underwriting team utilising the skills of new and experienced manual underwriters
• Ensure applications are underwritten competently and within risk appetite
• Ensure submitted applications are processed to an acceptable level and within SLA’sEnsure servicing sales referrals are completed to an acceptable level and with acceptable timeframes
• Ensuring the work completed within the department meets regulatory and internal compliance requirements
• Look to identify and deliver operational efficiency whilst maintaining acceptable levels of control/oversight
• Keeping up to date with, and maintaining a knowledge of, credit risk and regulatory rules/guidance connected with the assessment of mortgage applications
• Keeping all policy and supporting literature up to date

About you

• Experience of managing teams and developing staff working on own initiative
• Experience of manually underwriting both standard and (Specialist (Complex) areas of lending where discretion has been afforded
• Understanding of credit risk
• Understanding of individual and company accounts for the purpose of understanding the sustainability of current or potential income
• Understanding of Property Risk
• Analytical, thorough and able to interpret and communicate personal financial information in a practical way
• Clear communicator with a history of liaising with Intermediaries/BDM’s, Credit Committee and the wider business
• Ability to train and support colleagues with Specialist application assessments, documenting and tracking progress and ongoing development
• Completion of case review/T&C of underwriters
• Maintaining Policies and procedures
• Working knowledge of MCOB and other regulation

What we offer

• Competitive salary and annual performance bonus
• Comprehensive training and ongoing professional development
• Pension scheme and life assurance
• Opportunities for career progression within a growing organisation