Commercial Real Estate - Regional Underwriting Manager

U.S. Bank; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 170,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid vacation

Job summary

U.S. Bank is seeking a senior leader to guide underwriting for the Central Region. You will establish regional underwriting strategies and collaborate with Relationship Managers, Credit partners and CRE leadership to balance growth with sound credit discipline.

You will oversee underwriting quality and portfolio risk, coach a team of analysts and underwriters, and drive process improvements across the region. This role is based in the U.S. Bank footprint with multiple city options.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
• 10+ years of banking experience.
• Five or more years of management experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead underwriting for the Central Region.
• Set regional underwriting strategies and objectives.
• Partner with Relationship Managers and CRE leadership.
• Oversee portfolio risk and underwriting quality.
• Mentor analysts and underwriters across the region.

Skills

Credit policy knowledge

Audit experience

CRE analysis

Leadership

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

At U.S. Bank, we’re on a journey to do our best. Helping the customers and businesses we serve to make better and smarter financial decisions and enabling the communities we support to grow and succeed. We believe it takes all of us to bring our shared ambition to life, and each person is unique in their potential. A career with U.S. Bank gives you a wide, ever-growing range of opportunities to discover what makes you thrive at every stage of your career. Try new things, learn new skills and discover what you excel at—all from Day One.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

Regional Leadership & Strategy

• Lead all underwriting and portfolio management activities for the Central Region.
• Establish and execute regional underwriting strategies, priorities and operating objectives.
• Partner with Relationship Managers, Credit partners and CRE leadership to support portfolio growth while maintaining sound credit discipline.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for significant credit, portfolio, operational and staffing matters.
• Drive consistency in underwriting practices, processes and documentation across the region.
• Serve as a member of the national CRE Underwriting leadership team, collaborating with peers and the Head of CRE Underwriting to advance strategic priorities, drive process improvement and operational efficiencies, and enhance the overall effectiveness and consistency of the underwriting organization.

Credit Risk Management & Portfolio Management Oversight

• Maintain overall accountability for underwriting quality and consistency throughout the region.
• Provide guidance on complex transactions, credit structures, sponsor analysis and portfolio risk matters.
• Partner with Regional Portfolio Managers to maintain a proactive portfolio management culture.
• Review and elevate emerging portfolio, covenant, sponsor or market risks as appropriate.
• Ensure risk ratings, annual reviews, modifications and portfolio monitoring activities are completed accurately and on time.
• Promote strong credit judgment and sound underwriting recommendations across all asset classes and property types.

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead and develop a team of credit analysts and senior underwriters with varying degrees of experience.
• Coach Hub Managers to enhance leadership effectiveness and technical expertise.
• Establish clear performance expectations and accountability standards.
• Support recruiting, succession planning, talent development and retention efforts.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performing culture emphasizing ownership, continuous learning and strong risk management.

Workflow & Operational Excellence

• Ensure effective allocation of underwriting resources across new business and portfolio management activities.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, standardization and scalability of underwriting processes.
• Support implementation of technology, automation and process improvement initiatives.
• Partner with Hub Managers to ensure timely execution and quality control of underwriting deliverables, monitor workflow capacity, priorities and service-level expectations.

Audit, Regulatory & Governance

• Lead underwriting engagement with internal audit, external audit and regulatory examinations.
• Ensure compliance with credit policy, underwriting standards and governance requirements.
• Coordinate responses to audit findings and support remediation efforts as needed.
• Promote strong documentation and defensible credit practices throughout the organization.

Business Partnerships

• Participate in strategic discussions regarding portfolio trends, business strategy, staffing and risk management.
• Act as a trusted advisor to CRE market leaders, Relationship Managers and Credit leadership.
• Facilitate productive partnerships between Underwriting, Credit and the Business Line.
• Serve as a key representative of the underwriting organization across the platform.

Basic qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent work experience
• 10 or more years of banking experience
• Five or more years of management experience

Preferred Skills/Experience

• Advanced knowledge of commercial lending policy, all applicable laws and regulations, and credit quality standards, with experience supporting internal and external audits, credit reviews, and/or regulatory examinations
• Advanced knowledge of commercial real estate credit analysis and transaction structures for various property types, including property-level cash flow analysis, sponsor/guarantor analysis, loan structuring, risk rating, and credit documentation.
• Experience evaluating complex CRE transactions, identifying material credit risks, and developing appropriate underwriting recommendations and risk mitigation strategies.
• Change leadership skills with experience implementing or supporting process improvement, standardization, technology, or automation initiatives within an underwriting, credit, or lending organization.
• Proven experience leading and coaching underwriters and/or portfolio managers, and contributing to recruiting, succession planning, and talent development.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills, with ability to communicate complex credit, portfolio, and risk matters clearly to business partners, credit leadership, and senior leaders.

Location expectations

This role requires working from the U.S. Bancorp Ctr, Minneapolis, or Denver Tower, Denver, CO, or Milwaukee Lewis Center, Milwaukee, WI, U.S. Bank location three (3) or more days per week.

If there’s anything we can do to accommodate a disability during any portion of the application or hiring process, please refer to our disability accommodations for applicants.

Benefits:

Our approach to benefits and total rewards considers our team members’ whole selves and what may be needed to thrive in and outside work. That's why our benefits are designed to help you and your family boost your health, protect your financial security and give you peace of mind. Our benefits include the following:

• Healthcare (medical, dental, vision)
• Basic term and optional term life insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Pregnancy disability and parental leave
• 401(k) and employer-funded retirement plan
• Paid vacation (from two to five weeks depending on salary grade and tenure)
• Up to 11 paid holiday opportunities
• Adoption assistance
• Sick and Safe Leave accruals of one hour for every 30 worked, up to 80 hours per calendar year unless otherwise provided by law

Review our full benefits available by employment status here.

E-Verify

U.S. Bank participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify program in all facilities located in the United States and certain U.S. territories. The E-Verify program is an Internet-based employment eligibility verification system operated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Learn more about the E-Verify program.

Pay Range: $170,255.00 - $200,300.00

U.S. Bank will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment. U.S. Bank conducts background checks consistent with applicable local laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act as well as the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. U.S. Bank is subject to, and conducts background checks consistent with the requirements of Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA). In addition, certain positions may also be subject to the requirements of FINRA, NMLS registration, Reg Z, Reg G, OFAC, the NFA, the FCPA, the Bank Secrecy Act, the SAFE Act, and/or federal guidelines applicable to an agreement, such as those related to ethics, safety, or operational procedures.

Applicants must be able to comply with U.S. Bank policies and procedures including the Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and related workplace conduct and safety policies.