Senior Merchant Underwriter

Accountabilities:: The Senior Merchant Underwriter is responsible for assessing merchant creditworthiness, managing financial exposure, and recommending risk controls that balance business opportunities with regulatory and operational requirements. Key responsibilities include: Credit and Financial Risk Assessment: Conduct detailed credit and financial analyses of merchants, particularly those with forward-delivery exposure in sectors such as travel, furniture, and consulting services. Forward-Delivery Risk Evaluation: Assess risks associated with collecting payments before products or services are delivered, identifying potential financial exposure and recommending appropriate safeguards. Risk Mitigation and Approval Conditions: Recommend reserves, escrow arrangements, collateral requirements, processing limits, and periodic account reviews based on the merchant's risk profile. Credit Decision-Making: Make underwriting decisions within delegated approval authority and escalate applications requiring higher-level approval, providing clear supporting analysis and recommendations. Senior Management Reporting: Prepare detailed underwriting reports and present credit assessments, risk findings, and recommendations to senior management. Cross-Functional Risk Coordination: Collaborate with transaction risk teams to ensure credit decisions are consistent with transaction processing requirements and ongoing account monitoring. Team Support and Mentorship: Act as an escalation point and subject-matter resource for Underwriter I and II team members handling complex or high-risk applications. Quality Assurance and Training: Review underwriting decisions made by junior colleagues, provide constructive quality assurance feedback, and help train new underwriters on risk factors and high-risk underwriting methodologies. Stakeholder Relationship Management: Build and maintain effective relationships with sales partners, sponsor banks, internal teams, and other key stakeholders. Compliance and Documentation: Ensure underwriting activities comply with internal policies, card network rules, industry regulations, and legal requirements. Maintain accurate records and comprehensive documentation of credit decisions. Risk Monitoring and Best Practices: Apply established underwriting guidelines, identify emerging merchant risk patterns and potential synthetic fraud, and support effective compliance monitoring. Service Levels and Accuracy: Process and assess applications efficiently in a fast-paced environment while meeting departmental service-level agreements and maintaining decision quality. Requirements: The ideal candidate will bring extensive payments underwriting experience, strong financial analysis capabilities, and the confidence to make independent decisions on complex merchant risk cases. Required qualifications and skills include: Professional Experience: At least 5 years of experience in payments or merchant underwriting, including a minimum of 3 years working with high-risk and/or high-volume merchants. Credit and Financial Analysis: Demonstrated experience reviewing individual and business credit reports, interpreting financial statements, and evaluating merchant creditworthiness. High-Risk Merchant Expertise: Strong understanding of high-risk and forward-delivery business models, including the financial exposure associated with advance payments and delayed fulfillment. Card Network Compliance: Working knowledge of card network high-risk and high-brand-risk merchant monitoring programs and their associated compliance obligations. Payments Risk Knowledge: Thorough understanding of merchant risk fees, dispute processes, and card network registration requirements. Risk Mitigation Skills: Ability to identify appropriate risk controls, recommend approval conditions, and balance financial exposure with business needs. Analytical and Decision-Making Abilities: Strong analytical skills, sound financial judgment, and the ability to make well-supported underwriting decisions within designated approval authority. Leadership and Mentorship: Demonstrated ability to guide junior underwriting staff, review their work, provide constructive feedback, and support professional development. Communication and Presentation: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex risk assessments and present recommendations to senior management. Education: A bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent professional experience may be considered. Time Management and Accuracy: Ability to manage competing priorities, meet departmental service-level agreements, and maintain accuracy in a fast-paced operating environment. Professional Integrity: Commitment to ethical conduct, compliance standards, accurate documentation, and consistent application of underwriting best practices. Benefits: Specific salary, benefits, and additional compensation details were not provided in the original job description. Professional Development: Opportunity to deepen expertise in payments underwriting, merchant credit risk, and complex financial exposure assessment. Leadership Opportunities: Ability to mentor junior underwriters, contribute to quality assurance, and support team development. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with transaction risk teams, senior management, sales partners, and sponsor banks. Professional Impact: Contribute to responsible merchant growth, stronger risk controls, and effective compliance practices.