Credit Officer

BankWest - South Dakota; Pierre (SD); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

BankWest - South Dakota is seeking a Credit Officer to evaluate creditworthiness and make lending decisions within approved limits. You will support loan approval, monitoring, and policy adherence while providing guidance to staff and contributing to reporting and documentation enhancements.

The role includes collaboration on loan structures, annual stress tests, and market data analysis to assess risks across Ag/Commercial lending.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or applicable experience may be considered in lieu of degree.
• 10 years' experience in Ag/Commercial Lending.
• Experience in financial analysis, risk assessment and underwriting.
• Ability to work under pressure, meet deadlines, and manage multiple responsibilities.
• Strong credit/financial analytical skills and knowledge of commercial/ag lending concepts.
• Knowledge of banking terminology and BankWest products and services.

Responsibilities

• Review and approve Ag/Commercial Credit Requests and related loans.
• Collaborate with lending staff on loan structure and borrower financial status.
• Monitor adherence to Loan Policy and regulatory requirements.
• Provide documentation guidance (collateral, loan agreements, signatures).
• Ensure credit quality with clear risk presentation and required information.
• Assist in improving lending forms and documentation; document policy procedures.

Skills

Credit analysis

Financial analysis

Underwriting

Risk assessment

Regulatory knowledge

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Scope of Job:

The Credit Officer works with all Bank Lending Personnel and Credit Administration to help in the loan approval and loan monitoring processes. This position is responsible for evaluating the credit worthiness of current or potential customers and makes credit decisions up to limits approved by BankWest's Loan Committee. This position provides ongoing input for enhancements to the credit department, assists in training of lending staff, and in development of reports, loan forms and documentation. As backup to the Head of Credit (HOC), this position will provide timely credit decisions to meet service expectations while maintaining adherence to BankWest loan policy, guidelines and standards along with compliance with all applicable State & Federal Banking Regulations.

Primary Duties:

Review and approve Ag/Commercial Credit Requests, along with requests for Home Equity Loans, Cash Management Services and Consumer Review and approve requests for charge-offs, non-accruals and risk rating changes. Preview and recommend requests to go to Loan Committee for approval with the assistance of the CCO and HOC as needed.

Collaborate with lending staff on loan structure and to help identify potential issues associated with borrower financial status. Monitor and support adherence to BankWest's Loan Policy while finding solutions that are beneficial to BankWest.

By prudently applying loan authority granted, help maintain the quality of BankWest's loan portfolio and provide clear guidance on required documentation to include collateral, loan agreements, signatures, and anything else necessary.

Responsible for the quality control of the credit including oversight on the details of the presentation, the credit quality of the customer, the various risks involved and addressing any issues that are This will include requesting additional information, edits for analysts, and content enhancement to provide a clear picture of the risks associated with requests.

Work to enhance the credit process, provide support in improving analysis quality, plus assist in improving lending forms and related documentation for the Bank.

Assist in documenting and maintaining credit policies and procedures along with ensuring they are adhered to and consistently This will require ongoing collaboration with CCO and HOC.

Establish and maintain a process for conducting Loan Portfolio Stress Perform and document stress tests on a semi-annual basis and report results.

Acquire and maintain economic and market data reports to help monitor the financial status and trends of individual markets, lending sectors and on a state and national Reports would include, but are not limited to vacancy rates, absorption rates for new construction, unemployment rates, land prices, auction values for equipment, market prices for crops and livestock, etc. Credit Officer will be a subject matter expert on the various markets served by BankWest as it relates to critical market information.

Assist Special Assets Department as requested by CCO or HOC.

Secondary Duties:

Act in a leadership capacity, providing relevant expertise and counsel.

Work as a team with departmental counterparts on planning and implementing assigned projects and products.

Participate on various committees and project teams as deemed appropriate by management.

Attend, actively participate in organization, job specific training offered, and Quality Service programs.

Adhere to all applicable Policies and Procedures of BankWest organization.

Community involvement is strongly encouraged.

Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Education:

A Bachelor's Degree in a related field.

Applicable experience and/or related certifications may be considered in lieu of degree.

Experience:

10 years' experience in Ag/Commercial Lending

Experience in financial analysis, risk assessment and underwriting.

Knowledge and Special Skills:

Ability to work dependently and/or independently, under pressure, meet deadlines, and adjust work schedules as needed to complete job responsibilities.

Ability to organize and handle multiple responsibilities while delivering quality external and/or internal Customer Service.

Excellent credit/financial analytical skills.

Strong understanding of concepts relating to commercial and ag lending regarding the analysis of credits.

Strong interpersonal skills to ensure effective communication with external and/or internal customers.

Knowledge or ability to learn regulatory requirements pertinent to performance of specified duties in job description.

Knowledge of Commercial/Ag lending including all underwriting, analysis of financial statements, tax returns and cash flows.

Knowledge of strategic thinking, organizational leadership, and working with regulatory bodies.

Knowledge of banking terminology and procedures.

Knowledge of BankWest products and services.

Ability to skillfully use a variety of application software, learn computer programs, and comprehend the program output.

Adhere to Federal Privacy Standards in addition to following BankWest requirements for electronic communication and Social Engineering standards.

BankWest is a "Sales Organization" and all employees are expected to participate directly or indirectly with increasing BankWest's presence in their markets as appropriate.