Consumer Lending Underwriter

Thank you for taking the time to review our Consumer Lending Underwriter position.  At Leaders Credit Union, our mission is to “Power your passion and make lives better.”  We are very intentional about the hiring and interview process, which means we take our time.  We want to make sure that you find the perfect career path!   We truly appreciate your interest in Leaders Credit Union.

Who is Leaders Credit Union? We are a member-owned financial cooperative.  This means that we exist to serve the needs of the consumers who own accounts at Leaders Credit Union.  They are owners, and their financial well-being is at the heart of every decision we make.  We are one of the largest credit unions in West Tennessee, and one of the most stable.  Our purpose is simple:  to provide a sound, convenient alternative to traditional banking.

What are our core values?  As a team member of Leaders Credit Union, you would be asked to adhere to a specific set of core values.  These values should govern all decisions that are made when serving our members’ needs.   These values are:

• Member Focused
• Team Oriented
• Community Minded
• Forward Thinker
• Trusted Partner

Why Leaders?  Leaders Credit Union has been ranked one of the Best Credit Unions to Work for five years in a row.  So, what makes Leaders such a great place to work?

• Great benefits! We offer healthcare, vacation time, sick time, 401k options, and a profit-sharing plan (just to name a few!)  Our Human Resources team is always looking to ensure that our benefit packages are competitive.
• Work with a mission! Our mission statement isn’t just something written on a billboard, we truly look to “power your passion and make lives better.”   That mission is lived out by member-facing personnel as well as our back-office employees.
• Extensive training! We go to great lengths to make sure you know your job responsibilities and are comfortable through a very thorough training process.   But our training goes beyond that.   We offer monthly classes on everything from mortgage products to conflict resolution.  We give you the tools you need to succeed.
• Room for growth! At Leaders, you are only limited by your own ambition.  Being part of a quickly growing financial institution leaves room for personal growth, and we do our best to promote from within whenever possible.  

About the Role

Leaders Credit Union is hiring a Consumer Lending Underwriter to join our Lending team. This is a role that will have you involved with both underwriting and being a system administrator for our Loan Origination System (LOS). From an underwriting perspective, you will spend time decisioning consumer loan applications within your delegated lending authority. The remainder of your time is dedicated to administering and continuously improving our Loan Origination System (LOS).

What does a day as an Underwriter look like?

• Within your Underwriting function, you would be responsible for reviewing and evaluating loan documents from our branch network.  Working to ensure that all loans are decisioned in accordance with the Credit Union lending policies.
• Reviewing and evaluating loan documents to ensure loan conditions meet credit union standards for indirect direct lending.  Evaluates the earnings and financial condition of applicants to make decisions to approve, counter, decline, or when needed, request additional information.
• Reviews the loan documents for completeness and accuracy.  Records loan denials with supporting data used for declining.
• Maintains records of approved and denied applications, making notes for any denials or exceptions.
• Communicates directly with dealer partners as well as potential members in order to work through the approval process.

Beyond Underwriting - What else does this role own?

• In addition to day-to-day credit decisioning, this role serves as the team's go-to expert and system administrator for our Loan Origination System. You will help safeguard the health, accuracy, and continuous improvement of the platform that powers our consumer lending engine, you would:
• Serve as a system administrator for the LOS, including day-to-day maintenance, user access and permissions, workflow and queue configuration, template management, and resolution of system issues in partnership with IT and the LOS vendor.
• Stay ahead of all releases, enhancements, and product updates, reviewing release notes, attending vendor webinars and user groups, testing new functionality inour sandbox, and translating what's new into actionable recommendations for the Director of Consumer Lending.
• Maintain our automated decisioning logic and recommend refinements to decision rules, score cuts, stipulations, cross-sell offers, and third-party integrations. 
• Recommend improvements to underwriting criteria, lending policy execution within the system, and overall loan workflow by bringing data, peer benchmarks, and frontline insight to inform final decisions.
• Lead User Acceptance Testing and change management for approved system enhancements, integrations, and new product rollouts including testing, communication, and post-launch monitoring.
• Act as the escalation point for LOS questions from underwriters, processors, and branch staff, and as the internal subject-matter expert when working with LOS support and our vendor partners.

What is the schedule?  This position has a unique schedule in order to meet the needs of our membership.   The hours will be Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm and the occasional Saturday, which would be 9:00am to 1:00pm.

Does your skillset and experience line up?  For this role, we are looking for someone who:

• Has 3 to 5 years of similar or related experience.
• A bachelor’s degree in business, accounting, economics, or any similar or related field.
• Previous experience as a Consumer Lending Underwriter preferred.
• Hands-on experience with a Loan Origination System strongly preferred. Prior system administrator, configuration, or "power user" experience is a significant plus.
• Comfort with data and reporting tools preferred.
• A process-improvement mindset - someone who notices friction in a workflow and proactively brings a solution, not just the problem.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Suite of Products (Excel, Outlook, Word, etc.)
• Must maintain a professional, courteous, and friendly atmosphere for members and co-workers.
• Must have very strong communication skills with the ability to explain decisions and reasoning behind those decisions.
• Must maintain a working knowledge of the credit union’s loan standards and governmental regulations.

What is next?  If you think this role is the perfect fit for you, please apply, and upload your resume online.  Once you have applied you will receive an email from our system saying your application has been received.  Keep an eye on your email over the next few weeks as this is our main form of communication.  If the next step for you is an interview, we will reach out via email.  If this position isn’t the right fit at this time, we will keep your resume on file in case anything else comes available that you might be a great fit for.

Thank you for choosing Leaders!