Portfolio Specialist / Senior Underwriting Associate

Founders First Capital Partners; San Diego (CA); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Founders First Capital Partners is seeking a Portfolio Specialist / Senior Underwriting Associate in San Diego, CA. This role focuses on managing existing loan portfolios and underwriting new small-business investments, balancing portfolio monitoring with credit analysis.

Ideal candidates bring 5–10 years of underwriting experience, solid modeling skills in Excel, and the ability to manage multiple deals with independent judgment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, or related field.
• 5–10 years of direct commercial or small‑business loan underwriting experience.
• Strong ability to assess financial statements, cash flow, and repayment capacity.
• Ability to manage multiple underwriting assignments and deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Monitor the financial and operating performance of assigned portfolio companies.
• Review borrower financial statements, bank activity, payment performance, and other key indicators.
• Track loan payments, covenant compliance, documentation requirements, and borrower reporting obligations.
• Identify early warning indicators and elevate deteriorating credits or emerging risks to investment leadership.
• Conduct regular borrower check-ins and maintain strong relationships with portfolio company leadership.
• Own scheduled portfolio reviews and recommend risk-rating updates for assigned credits.
• Track and calculate late payments at borrower and portfolio levels.
• Maintain complete and accurate electronic borrower and loan files.
• Support loan modifications, restructurings, renewals, and other portfolio-management activities.
• Prepare portfolio performance reports and analyses for leadership and investor reporting.
• Monitor portfolio trends and identify opportunities to improve performance and mitigate risk.
• Collaborate with investment, advisory, finance, servicing, and legal/compliance teams.
• Recommend improvements to portfolio-management policies, procedures, reporting, and internal controls.

Skills

Underwriting experience

Credit analysis

Financial modeling

Excel proficiency

Communication skills

Portfolio management

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, business, or related field

Tools

Microsoft Excel

CRM systems

Loan origination software

Portfolio management software

Job description

Location: San Diego, CA – Hybrid, on-site San Diego, CA HQ Office on Tuesday thru Thursday

Reports To: Credit and Portfolio Management Department

Compensation: $95,000 to $125,000 base salary range, plus quarterly production and annual portfolio performance incentives

About Founders First

Founders First Capital Partners provides flexible growth capital and business growth advisory support to employer-based, service businesses. Our work is designed to help growth-minded small businesses access appropriate capital, strengthen their financial capacity, create quality jobs, and build long‑term enterprise value.

As Founders First continues to scale its investment platform, we are targeting approximately $12 million in new loan originations in 2027. Maintaining strong credit discipline, portfolio performance, borrower relationships, and efficient underwriting processes is critical to achieving these objectives responsibly.

Position Overview

The Portfolio Specialist / Senior Underwriting Associate is an experienced credit and portfolio management professional responsible for managing the performance of Founders First's existing loan portfolio and underwriting new small‑business investments. The role combines approximately 50% portfolio management and 50% underwriting and credit analysis, and requires demonstrated direct underwriting experience, sound credit judgment, and ownership of assigned transactions and borrower relationships.

The successful candidate will contribute immediately as an experienced underwriter, independently managing assigned credit analyses and portfolio monitoring activities with appropriate oversight from senior credit leadership. This position is more advanced than Associate I and is expected to exercise strong judgment, take initiative, and improve credit and portfolio processes.

• Monitor the financial and operating performance of assigned portfolio companies.
• Review borrower financial statements, bank activity, payment performance, and other key indicators.
• Track loan payments, covenant compliance, documentation requirements, and borrower reporting obligations.
• Identify early warning indicators and proactively elevate deteriorating credits or emerging risks to investment leadership.
• Conduct regular borrower check‑ins and maintain strong working relationships with portfolio company leadership.
• Own scheduled annual and periodic portfolio reviews and recommend risk‑rating updates for assigned credits.
• Track and calculate late payments at the individual borrower and portfolio levels.
• Maintain complete and accurate electronic borrower and loan files.
• Support loan modifications, restructurings, renewals, payoffs, and other portfolio‑management activities.
• Prepare portfolio performance reports, dashboards, and analysis for internal leadership and investor reporting.
• Monitor portfolio trends and identify opportunities to improve performance and mitigate risk.
• Collaborate with investment, advisory, finance, servicing, and legal/compliance teams.
• Recommend improvements to portfolio‑management policies, procedures, reporting, and internal controls; share effective practices with junior associates.

Underwriting & Credit Analysis (Approximately 50%)

• Complete an average of 4 to 8 underwriting packages per quarter, or up to approximately 32 annually, subject to qualified pipeline availability and transaction complexity.
• Analyze historical and projected income statements, balance sheets, and cash‑flow statements.
• Review business and personal tax returns, bank statements, credit reports, debt schedules, accounts receivable, and other underwriting documentation.
• Evaluate repayment capacity, profitability, liquidity, leverage, cash flow, debt‑service coverage, and overall financial condition.
• Assess management strength, business model, customer concentration, industry conditions, and existing debt obligations.
• Identify and clearly articulate borrower strengths, weaknesses, key risks, and mitigating factors.
• Perform financial modeling, cash‑flow analysis, and sensitivity or scenario analysis.
• Coordinate underwriting due diligence and conduct relevant industry, company, and market research.
• Prepare decision‑ready credit memoranda, investment summaries, and well‑supported recommendations; present assigned transactions to Investment Committee.
• Recommend transaction structures, conditions, covenants, and risk mitigants, escalating complex decisions to senior underwriting leadership.
• Independently underwrite assigned transactions within established credit policies and delegated authority, and provide technical guidance to less experienced colleagues.
• Coordinate with Expansion Advisors and borrowers to monitor underperforming loans, develop workout strategies, and support timely resolution of distressed credits.
• Ensure completion of pre‑funding due diligence, including UCC searches, lien priority and collateral reviews; coordinate UCC filings and verify lien perfection.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, business, or a related field.
• 5–10 years of direct commercial or small‑business loan underwriting experience.
• Demonstrated experience preparing comprehensive credit memoranda and independently assessing business financial statements, borrower cash flow, and repayment capacity.
• Strong financial modeling and Microsoft Excel skills, including debt-service coverage, leverage, liquidity, and sensitivity analysis.
• Ability to interpret income statements, balance sheets, cash-flow statements, tax returns, bank statements, and debt schedules.
• Strong written and verbal communication, organizational skills, and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple borrower relationships, underwriting assignments, and deadlines simultaneously.
• Sound credit judgment, including identifying material risks, recommending mitigants, and appropriately escalating issues.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative and entrepreneurial environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience underwriting commercial or small‑business loans of $250,000 or greater.
• Experience coaching junior credit analysts or improving underwriting workflows.
• Experience with SBA, CDFI, private credit, revenue‑based financing, or other alternative small‑business lending models.
• Experience recommending loan structures, covenants, risk ratings, and portfolio intervention strategies.
• Experience with CRM, loan‑origination, servicing, or portfolio‑management systems.
• Experience working with growth‑stage, employer‑based service businesses.

Success Metrics

• 4 to 8 decision‑ready underwriting packages per quarter, completed on time and requiring limited substantive revision.
• Timely portfolio monitoring, reviews, and risk‑rating updates, with emerging risks escalated proactively.
• Complete, audit‑ready files and portfolio performance consistent with Founders First’s credit‑quality and delinquency objectives.

Incentive Compensation

The position is eligible for two distinct incentives that separately recognize near‑term underwriting production and longer‑term portfolio performance.

Quarterly Production Incentive rewards consistent underwriting throughput, timely execution, and quality credit analysis. Incentives are based on quality underwriting completed, not simply the number of loans approved or funded; the Associate is expected to recommend against transactions that do not meet Founders First's credit standards.

Annual Portfolio Performance Incentive rewards contribution to a healthy, well‑managed loan portfolio, including payment and delinquency trends, risk‑rating accuracy, and impairment and loss performance relative to organizational targets. Decisions consider both actual portfolio results and the quality of the Associate's portfolio‑management practices and credit judgment.

Founders First is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to characteristics protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Founders First values a range of professional experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives and encourages qualified candidates who are passionate about small‑business finance, investment, and economic opportunity to apply.