THE ORGANIZATION:
Accion Opportunity Fund is an unparalleled financial support system that provides small business owners with access to capital, networks, and coaching. We work to build inclusive and accessible options for these determined business owners. For over 30 years we have deployed over $1 billion in over 35,000 loans and served 4 million business owners with educational resources. Our client base is nearly 90% from underserved communities.
In addition to providing resources and loans to small businesses, we also conduct original research, advocate for policy changes, and finance community construction projects in low-income neighborhoods through our New Markets Tax Credit program.
AOF is on a journey to both scale our impact and become financially sustainable. We’re building a better system for underserved small businesses and a workplace where passionate problem-solvers, data-driven thinkers, and small business champions thrive.
For more information about us, visit https://aofund.org/
ROLE SUMMARY:
Reporting to the Chief Credit Officer, the Head of Underwriting is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day underwriting operations, managing the Underwriting team, and ensuring consistent application of credit policy. The Head of Underwriting will assess creditworthiness of applicants to support loan growth and mitigate risk and will partner with VP of Credit Risk & Policy to ensure scoring models are appropriately serving AOF’s target customers and aligned with internal and external credit environments.
JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Manage commercial Underwriting policies and processes for asset based trucking, equipment and other small business loans across a variety of industries, products, channels, and collateral situations utilizing financial spreading and cash flow analyses, ratio analyses, personal and business credit reports, and other factors to decision deals in a timely and accurate manner.
- Continuously improve AOF’s loan underwriting process by balancing algorithms, scorecards, and automated criteria with appropriate human judgment, with the goal of delivering a smooth, predictable, and borrower-friendly experience.
- Oversee execution of the underwriting and credit process from credit decisioning to funding the loans.
- Lead asset-based underwriting across equipment finance and commercial vehicle/trucking portfolios, including evaluation of collateral quality, equipment valuations, loan-to-value analysis, and residual value risk to ensure sound credit decisions across secured lending products.
- Partner with the VP, Credit Risk & Policy to continuously improve the end-to-end credit approval process and establish best practices that deliver expected portfolio performance and impact results.
- Manage and develop a team of Underwriters, fostering a culture of credit excellence, clear risk articulation, and consistent application of credit policy.
- Support a culture of talent development aligned to the organization’s strategy and goals.
- Support training of Sales and Document Verification teams on credit risk, underwriting processes, and policies to enable a smooth and efficient operation.
- Collaborate with Operations, Product, Sales, Data, Engineering, and Compliance teams to identify needs and contribute to solutions that support organizational goals.
- Establish and monitor SLAs for the underwriting team, maintaining consistent and proactive communication with Sales teams on queue status, progress, and issues.
MUST HAVES:
- Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, or Business Administration, or equivalent experience. Master’s degree in quantitative field is preferred.
- 7+ years of experience in credit analysis, underwriting, and risk management, with a meaningful portion of that experience in small business asset based lending including SBA loans.
- 3+ years of experience managing or leading a team of underwriters, preferably in small business or commercial lending.
- Strong working knowledge of the principles of credit, market, liquidity, strategic, operational and compliance, and reputational risks
- Knowledge and understanding of lending/SBA regulations and strong attention to compliance and controls.
- Familiarity with commercial credit profit and loss drivers and their impact on portfolio performance
- Proven ability to lead, manager, and develop a team
- Ability to collaborate with internal partners to communicate and execute on organizational goals
- Experience identifying and implementing process improvements that positively impact business operations, performance, and client experience
NICE TO HAVES:
- MBA/Masters preferred
- Experience in federal and state loan programs such as SBA, and SSBCI
PERKS AND BENEFITS:
Our mission is what motivates us to come to work each day. We know that happy employees are productive employees, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
- Competitive salary commensurate with experience.
- An environment that values work-life balance and monthly remote work reimbursements.
- 100% company-funded Medical, Dental, Vision, Life & Disability coverage for employees (Based upon your plan selection). 90% company-funded dependent coverage (Based upon your plan selection) as well as Flexible Spending Accounts.
- Voluntary benefits with payroll deduction for Supplemental Life & AD&D insurance and legal plans.
- Tax deferred & Roth 403(b) Retirement Plan with employer match.
- Unlimited paid vacation days, 12 paid holidays, 1 floating paid holiday, 10 Sick days, and paid parental leave.
We are an equal opportunity employer and committed to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion at Accion Opportunity Fund. AOF does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.
Salary Range*: $138,300 - $203,200
*Please note that the above salary range is a national range, and compensation is dependent upon the candidate’s experience and skill level.