SME Underwriter

Salmon Group Ltd; Taguig; On-site; PHP 1,800,000 - 3,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

MSME lending startup

Regulated fintech infra

HMO on Day 1

International team

BGC Taguig HQ

Job summary

Salmon Bank is building its MSME lending business in the Philippines and seeks an Underwriting Lead to design and own the credit function. This hands-on role involves creating the framework, documenting processes, and developing the team for independent operation within a BSP-regulated fintech environment.

You will collaborate with Risk, Compliance, and Product to ensure underwriting standards meet regulatory requirements while leading a high-growth underwriting team at the Taguig HQ.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of MSME/SME credit underwriting experience.
• Prior experience building or rebuilding underwriting functions and processes from scratch.
• Strong knowledge of financial statement analysis, cash flow-based lending, and collateral assessment.
• Familiarity with BSP regulations and Philippine lending compliance standards.
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, high-growth environments where processes are still being shaped.
• Strong leadership and communication skills—able to coach junior underwriters and collaborate across teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and document the end-to-end MSME underwriting framework: credit policy, risk appetite, scoring methodology, and delegation of authority matrix.
• Define and standardize credit assessment criteria for business term loans, with extensibility to revolving credit lines and cash flow-based products.
• Establish approval workflows, escalation paths, and documentation standards for credit decisions.
• Coach and develop the local underwriting team, building internal capability to operate independently.
• Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, and Product to ensure underwriting standards meet BSP regulatory requirements.
• Review and sign off on credit decisions during the framework build-out phase.

Skills

MSME underwriting

Credit policy development

Risk assessment

Leadership

Communication

Job description

About Salmon Bank

Salmon Bank (Rural Bank) Inc., the banking arm of Salmon Group Ltd., is a technology-driven challenger bank in the Philippines operating under a BSP license. We combine the trust of a licensed institution with the speed and convenience of a modern financial product. Work within regulated financial infrastructure, where product, risk, compliance, operations, technology, and customer experience are closely connected.

About Salmon Bank

Salmon Bank (Rural Bank) Inc., the banking arm of Salmon Group Ltd., is a technology-driven challenger bank in the Philippines operating under a BSP license. We combine the trust of a licensed institution with the speed and convenience of a modern financial product. Work within regulated financial infrastructure, where product, risk, compliance, operations, technology, and customer experience are closely connected.

The Role

We are building our MSME lending business from the ground up and are looking for an experienced Underwriting Lead to design and own the credit function. This is a hands-on builder role — you will not inherit a finished framework. You will design it, document it, and develop the team that runs it. If you have built underwriting functions before and want to do it again in a fast-moving, BSP-regulated fintech environment, this role is for you.

What You'll Do

• Design and document the end-to-end MSME underwriting framework: credit policy, risk appetite, scoring methodology, and delegation of authority matrix
• Define and standardize credit assessment criteria for business term loans, with extensibility to revolving credit lines and cash flow-based products
• Establish approval workflows, escalation paths, and documentation standards for credit decisions
• Coach and develop the local underwriting team, building internal capability to operate independently
• Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, and Product to ensure underwriting standards meet BSP regulatory requirements
• Review and sign off on credit decisions during the framework build-out phase

What We're Looking For

• Minimum 5 years of MSME/SME credit underwriting experience, ideally in SEA or emerging market banking or fintech
• Prior experience building or rebuilding underwriting functions and processes from scratch
• Strong knowledge of financial statement analysis, cash flow-based lending, and collateral assessment
• Familiarity with BSP regulations and Philippine lending compliance standards
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, high-growth environments where processes are still being shaped
• Strong leadership and communication skills — able to coach junior underwriters and collaborate across teams

Why Join Us

• Be part of building MSME lending in a BSP-licensed digital bank from the ground up
• Work within a regulated financial infrastructure with the agility of a startup
• Competitive compensation and benefits including HMO on Day 1
• Collaborative and international team environment
• BGC, Taguig headquarters