Senior Vice President, Underwriting

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, UNDERWRITING

Join Our Senior Leadership Team as SVP, Underwriting.

Why FCS Financial? Ever dreamed of being part of an organization with deep roots in agriculture and the community? For over 100 years, as part of the Farm Credit System, we’ve been supporting agriculture and rural communities in Missouri. If you are a strategic credit leader with deep expertise in agriculture finance, and you have a passion for developing high-performing teams, act now and apply for this Underwriting Leadership opportunity!

About the Role: As SVP, Underwriting, you will lead a team of seasoned credit professionals, ensuring adherence to credit administration and classification standards. You’ll play a pivotal role in credit approvals, loan structuring, and risk management, while driving process improvements and mentoring future leaders and analysts. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Credit Analysis & Risk Assessment: Evaluate borrower creditworthiness using the 5 Cs of credit, financial ratios, and industry benchmarks.
•  Credit Approval & Committee Leadership: Serve as Position 1 on both the Credit and Executive Loan Committees, approving complex credit actions and guiding loan structure decisions.
• Team Leadership: Recruit, develop, and inspire a team of credit analysts and team leaders, fostering a culture of excellence and accountability. 
•  Strategic Oversight: Lead initiatives to enhance risk identification, loan administration, and portfolio management, while collaborating with lending teams on large or complex credit facilities.

What We Offer:

• Competitive Salary: $153,000 – $220,000
• Top-Notch Benefits: Health, dental, and vision, plus a standout 401(k) plan
•  Flexible Work Environment: A hybrid (combination of remote and in-office) work arrangements will be considered for candidates within FCS Financial’s Loan Servicing Area.
• Location Flexibility: Preferred locations would be Jefferson City, O’Fallon, Harrisonville, St. Joseph, or Springfield, but other FCS Financial locations will be considered for the right candidate.

What You Need

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Accounting, Agriculture Economics, Finance, Business, or related field
•  Experience: 15 years of credit and business analysis experience, loan structuring, and portfolio management
• Skills: Strong leadership, communication, and strong decision making skills negotiation, and relationship-building skills.

This position is open until filled.

This position preferred locations would be Jefferson City, O’Fallon, Harrisonville, St. Joseph, or Springfield, but other FCS Financial locations will be considered for the right candidate.

This position is classified as Exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Department: Credit

Reports To: Chief Credit Officer

Supervises: Team Leaders and Credit Analysts

Job Functions*

45%

Credit Approval and Loan Committee Participation

• Serves as Position 1 on both the Credit Loan Committee and Executive Loan Committee 
• Leads credit decisioning for complex and high-value transactions 
• Reviews, amends, approves/denies credit actions where individual analyst’s delegated authorities are exceeded including working with Team Leaders via Association’s Signature Authority
• Determines loan structure, terms, conditions, and risk controls 
• Determines the loan classification, probability of default and loss given default assignment
• Ensures consistency and quality in credit decisions across the portfolio 

35%

Leadership and Management 

• Provides strategic leadership and direction to credit analysts and team leaders
• Selects, trains, and develops staff to build a high-performing credit team
• Establishes clear performance expectations and accountability standards
• Coaches and mentors team members to enhance technical and leadership capabilities 
• Designs and implements training programs to support professional growth
• Promotes a collaborative and results driven work environment 

15%

Lending Oversight and Process Improvement

• Leads initiatives to improve credit processes and risk identification 
• Partners with Commercial and Ah & Rural Lending Teams on large or complex transactions
• Recommends and implements procedural enhancements to improve efficiency and effectiveness 
• Ensures alignment with regulatory and policy standards 

5%

Credit Analysis

• Assesses creditworthiness of borrowers by:

1. Completes credit underwriting by analyzing character, capacity, cash flow, capital, collateral, and conditions 
2. Compares the borrowers overall financial position to industry and core lending standards
3. Identifies potential risks of the proposed loan

• Determines appropriate scope of financing. 
• Ensures financial ratios meet lending standards or have sufficient offsetting strengths
• Completes risk analysis by determining probability of default ratings and loss given default assignments
• Approves and denies credit actions within delegated authority or recommends approval/denial to Loan Committee for final consideration
• Creates written narrative of the financial analysis and trends, strengths, weaknesses, conformity to lending standards and terms/conditions to control risks

n/a

• Other duties as assigned to meet the needs of the organization.

* Essential Functions for this position consist of all items listed under any category that make up 5% or more of the job duties. This job description is subject to change without notice.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, accounting, agricultural economics, finance, or related field
• 15 years of credit and business analysis experience
• 2 years of supervisory experience
• Or an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to perform the essential functions of the job

 Required Knowledge and Skills

• Expert knowledge of the agriculture industry and the impact of current events on agricultural operations and credit
• Expert knowledge of financial ratios, criteria, and production performance measures for Ag production
• Expert knowledge of Association lending procedures and policies
• Expert knowledge of scorecard underwriting and portfolio management
• Expert knowledge of loan covenants
• Expertise in loan structuring and negotiating loan terms and conditions
• Expertise in analyzing and interpreting tax returns, profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flows and similar financial documents
• Expertise in understanding relationship between financial statements and operations
• Oral and written communication skills, sufficient to exchange information effectively with peers, supervisors, senior management, industry leaders and customers
• Skill in applying processes and procedures to factual data to come to a logical decision
• Skill in gathering, compiling, and organizing information
• Skill in communicating objectives and delegating responsibility
• Skill in developing and presenting credit analysis and risk management training materials
• Skill in utilizing Word, Excel, and Outlook to increase efficiency and/or effectiveness
• Responsible to appropriately protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of the Association’s systems and data and clients’ data

Scope of Responsibilities:

Responsibility

Metric

Supervision

3-4 direct reports

Individual Authority Level

Level 7

Credit Loan Committee

Position 1

Executive Loan Committee

Position1 - Voting Member

Aggregate Portfolio

$3-4 billion