What are the responsibilities and job description for the Analyst, Underwriter (Direct Lending) position at Principal Financial Group?
What You'll Do
Principal Alternative Credit is the direct lending arm of Principal Asset Management, providing flexible financing solutions to sponsor-backed and non-sponsored middle-market companies. Since launching in 2020, the platform has scaled rapidly, deploying capital across leveraged buyouts, refinancings, recapitalizations, and growth investments.
We’ll help you build a successful career through:
Salary ranges below reflect targeted base salaries. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation for all roles will be based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.
Salary Range (Non-Exempt expressed as hourly; Exempt expressed as yearly)
$89300 - $152400 / year
Salary Details
The following locations are examples of market-specific salary ranges across the 3 locations:
Flexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.
Pension Eligible
No
Location(s)
We’re open to considering in-office or hybrid talent. Locations for hybrid talent Chicago, Des Moines, or New York City. You’ll work with your leader to figure out which option may align best based on several factors. You can check out what our Global Headquarters looks like here:
Work Authorization/Sponsorship
At this time, we're not considering applicants that need any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs please use the following links.
Nonimmigrant Workers and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants
Investment Code of Ethics
For Principal Asset Management positions, you’ll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.
Experience Principal
At Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we’re imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services – and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.
Principal is an Equal Opportunity Employer
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
Posting Window
We will accept applications for 3 full days following the Original Posting Date, after which the posting may remain open or be removed based upon applications received. If we choose to post the job again, we will accept additional applications for at least 1 full day following the Most Recently Posted Date. Please submit applications in a timely manner as there is no guarantee the posting will be available beyond the applicable deadline.
Original Posting Date
6/2/2026
Most Recently Posted Date
6/3/2026
Principal uses artificial intelligence tools to assist in reviewing and evaluating job applications, fraud prevention, and candidate matching and comparisons. These AI tools support our human recruiters in the initial review process but do not make final hiring decisions without human involvement. By submitting your application, you acknowledge this use of AI in our recruitment process. Please review our Workforce (U.S.) Privacy Notice for more details on our practices and your data privacy rights.
Principal Alternative Credit is the direct lending arm of Principal Asset Management, providing flexible financing solutions to sponsor-backed and non-sponsored middle-market companies. Since launching in 2020, the platform has scaled rapidly, deploying capital across leveraged buyouts, refinancings, recapitalizations, and growth investments.
We’ll help you build a successful career through:
- Coaching and mentorship from senior team members committed to your long-term development
- Ongoing training and opportunities to build new skills and take on increased responsibility
- Access to tools and resources that enable you to work efficiently and effectively
- Opportunities to expand your network through volunteering, targeted events, and strategic introductions
- Conduct due diligence including company and industry research, financial analysis, and cash flow modeling to assess creditworthiness
- Support preparation of credit memos and present recommendations to the investment committee
- Partner with stakeholders including sponsors, management teams, bankers, and internal teams
- Monitor portfolio performance and compliance with credit agreements and internal policies
- Ensure portfolio data is accurate, timely, and complete for reporting purposes
- Collaborate with team members to support deal execution and ongoing business initiatives
- Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, or a related field (minimum of 3.50 GPA)
- Ability to analyze financial statements, evaluate data, and formulate conclusions; familiarity with leveraged buyout modeling
- Proficient in Excel, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint
- Previous experience with Bloomberg preferred
- Knowledge of private credit/direct lending and fixed income strategies, including general knowledge of bond mechanics and pricing calculations is preferred
- Familiarity with database structures, big data techniques (i.e. Cassandra, Spark and Hadoop), and programming languages (i.e. Python, MATLAB, R) a plus
- Previous internship in finance preferred
Salary ranges below reflect targeted base salaries. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation for all roles will be based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.
Salary Range (Non-Exempt expressed as hourly; Exempt expressed as yearly)
$89300 - $152400 / year
Salary Details
The following locations are examples of market-specific salary ranges across the 3 locations:
- Des Moines, IA: $89,300 - 120,650 / year
- Chicago, IL: $103,400 - $139,700 / year
- New York, NY: $112,800 - 152,400 / year
Flexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.
Pension Eligible
No
Location(s)
We’re open to considering in-office or hybrid talent. Locations for hybrid talent Chicago, Des Moines, or New York City. You’ll work with your leader to figure out which option may align best based on several factors. You can check out what our Global Headquarters looks like here:
Work Authorization/Sponsorship
At this time, we're not considering applicants that need any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs please use the following links.
Nonimmigrant Workers and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants
Investment Code of Ethics
For Principal Asset Management positions, you’ll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.
Experience Principal
At Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we’re imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services – and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.
Principal is an Equal Opportunity Employer
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
Posting Window
We will accept applications for 3 full days following the Original Posting Date, after which the posting may remain open or be removed based upon applications received. If we choose to post the job again, we will accept additional applications for at least 1 full day following the Most Recently Posted Date. Please submit applications in a timely manner as there is no guarantee the posting will be available beyond the applicable deadline.
Original Posting Date
6/2/2026
Most Recently Posted Date
6/3/2026
Principal uses artificial intelligence tools to assist in reviewing and evaluating job applications, fraud prevention, and candidate matching and comparisons. These AI tools support our human recruiters in the initial review process but do not make final hiring decisions without human involvement. By submitting your application, you acknowledge this use of AI in our recruitment process. Please review our Workforce (U.S.) Privacy Notice for more details on our practices and your data privacy rights.
Salary : $89,300 - $152,400