Underwriting Manager - Non-Agency

Planet Home; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical plans (3 comprehensive)

Disability insurance

401(k)

Employer paid holidays (11)

Job summary

Planet Home Lending, a leading mortgage lender, seeks an Underwriting Manager - Non-Agency to steer the Non-Delegated underwriting team and ensure accurate, compliant loan decisions across specialized programs.

You will guide a skilled team, align with risk, sales, and operations, and drive credit quality while meeting service levels in a dynamic correspondent environment.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of leadership experience managing underwriting, operations, or mortgage fulfillment teams.
• Minimum 3 years of direct experience with Non-QM and/or Non-Agency mortgage products, including investor guideline interpretation and alternative documentation programs.
• Demonstrated experience leading both underwriting and operational teams in a correspondent or wholesale mortgage environment.
• Experience managing operational performance, staffing, productivity, quality, and service level agreements.
• Proven success implementing operational improvements, technology initiatives, and process enhancements.

Responsibilities

• Directs Non-Delegated underwriting operations, ensuring sound credit decisions and consistent application of investor guidelines. Provides training, leads, and mentors the underwriting team.
• Represents the Company in a professional manner by providing exceptional customer service.
• Maintains proficient customer service levels between sellers, underwriters and operations.
• Serves as a subject matter expert for Non-Agency and Non-QM products, including DSCR, Bank Statement, Asset Depletion, P&L, Foreign National, and other alternative documentation programs.
• Reviews and approves complex, high-risk, or escalated loan scenarios when necessary.
• Monitors pipeline volume, staffing capacity, productivity, and service level agreements. Identify operational risks and implement process improvements to improve efficiency and scalability.
• Partners with Credit Risk to evaluate underwriting exceptions, emerging trends, and guideline changes.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Skills

Non-QM products

Non-Agency products

Credit analysis

Risk assessment

Executive communication

Lead remote teams

Project management

Change management

Data-driven decisions

Education

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent

Job description

Join a winning team of innovative thinkers, seasoned mortgage professionals, and financial experts. Build your career at Planet-re recognized as a Top Mortgage Employer by National Mortgage Professional.

Job Summary

The Underwriting Manager - Non-Agency is responsible for the leadership and operational performance of the Non-Delegated Underwriting team. This position is responsible for the day-to-day leadership and performance of the underwriting functions, ensuring loans are underwritten accurately, consistently, and in accordance with Planet’s guidelines, company credit policy, and regulatory requirements.

The Manager will provide leadership, coaching, and technical guidance to the underwriting team while serving as a subject matter expert for Non-Agency loan products. This role is responsible for maintaining strong credit quality, meeting service-level expectations, managing pipeline capacity, and ensuring consistent underwriting practices across the team.

The Manager will work closely with Credit Risk, Sales, Capital Markets, Operations, Quality Control, Compliance, and other business partners to resolve complex loan scenarios, support new products and initiatives, identify process improvement opportunities, and provide a consistent and positive experience for our correspondent sellers.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Directs Non-Delegated underwriting operations, ensuring sound credit decisions and consistent application of investor guidelines. Provides training, leads, and mentors the underwriting team.
• Represents the Company in a professional manner by providing exceptional customer service.
• Maintains proficient customer service levels between sellers, underwriters and operations.
• Serves as a subject matter expert for Non-Agency and Non-QM products, including DSCR, Bank Statement, Asset Depletion, P&L, Foreign National, and other alternative documentation programs.
• Reviews and approves complex, high-risk, or escalated loan scenarios when necessary.
• Monitors pipeline volume, staffing capacity, productivity, and service level agreements. Identify operational risks and implement process improvements to improve efficiency and scalability.
• Partners with Credit Risk to evaluate underwriting exceptions, emerging trends, and guideline changes.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent related work experience required

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of leadership experience managing underwriting, operations, or mortgage fulfillment teams, including experience as a Supervisor, Manager, Senior Underwriter, or similar leadership role.
• Minimum 3 years of direct experience with Non-QM and/or Non-Agency mortgage products, including investor guideline interpretation and alternative documentation programs.
• Demonstrated experience leading both underwriting and operational teams in a correspondent or wholesale mortgage environment.
• Experience managing operational performance, staffing, productivity, quality, and service level agreements.
• Proven success implementing operational improvements, technology initiatives, and process enhancements.

Functional/Technical Skills

• Extensive knowledge of Non-QM and Non-Agency mortgage products, including Bank Statement, DSCR, Asset Depletion, P&L, Foreign National, ITIN, Jumbo, and other alternative documentation programs.
• Strong understanding of non-delegated correspondent lending models.
• Advanced knowledge of mortgage credit analysis, income calculation, asset review, collateral analysis, and risk assessment.
• Thorough understanding of mortgage regulations, including ATR/QM, TRID, RESPA, TILA, ECOA, Fair Lending, and investor compliance requirements.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, and executive-level communication skills.
• Proven ability to analyze operational data and use metrics to drive performance improvements.
• Demonstrated ability to lead remote and geographically dispersed teams.
• Strong project management and change management capabilities.

Environmental/Physical Demands

Work is typically performed in a standard office environment. The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sustain predictable work attendance, communicate with others, frequently required to stand, walk, sit, and use arms, hands and fingers to reach, handle or touch. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus. Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of an employee. The Company reserves the right to amend or modify this document at any time and without notice.

• 3 comprehensive Cigna or Kaiser medical plans, dental, and vision insurance.
• We provide short term and long-term disability insurance, basic life insurance, 401(k), and 11 employer paid holidays.
• In addition, we offer supplemental benefits to include life insurance, critical illness and accident plans.

Planet Home Lending does not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate submissions from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of an enforceable, fully executed agreement for a specified position, Planet Home Lending has no obligation to pay any compensation or recruiter fee of any kind. In the event a recruiter, agency or other similar third-party submits a resume or candidate without a valid binding agreement, Planet Home Lending explicitly reserves the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any obligation or compensation to the referring party. Any unsolicited resumes, referrals, or candidate submissions, including those communicated to a member of the Human Resources team or a hiring manager, shall be deemed the property of Planet Home Lending. If you or your agency would like to be considered as a future recruiting partner, please email [e-mail].