Credit Manager at Watercress Financial Group LLC – West Des Moines, Iowa

The Credit Manager is responsible for leading the credit underwriting function within a fast-paced, technology-driven lending environment. This role oversees the daily loan approval operations and strategic direction of the underwriting team, ensuring consistent, compliant, and data-informed credit decisions that align with company risk tolerance and growth objectives. The Credit Manager drives performance through coaching, policy execution, and collaboration with cross-functional teams, including Product, Compliance, Operations, and Risk. Ideal candidates are experienced leaders with a deep understanding of consumer credit underwriting, process optimization and loan approval automation.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead, manage, and develop a team of credit underwriters across all levels.
• Oversee the review and decisioning of loan applications, ensuring sound credit judgment, accuracy, and adherence to policies.
• Review and provide exception approval within company exceptions and high-dollar approval policies.
• Monitor underwriting queue and use prior-reports to maintain quality standards to ensure staff schedules achieve or surpass call-center SLA and underwriting quality assurance standards.
• Conduct regular audits and file reviews to ensure consistency, regulatory compliance, and risk integrity.
• Act as the primary subject matter expert for daily underwriting as part of ongoing monitoring and updates for company credit policies, underwriting guidelines, and risk models.
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams to enhance underwriting tools, automation logic, and workflow systems.
• Manage hiring, onboarding, training, and career development for the underwriting team.
• Identify enhancements to improve the underwriting training and on-boarding process.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex credit decisions, exceptions, and edge cases.
• Analyze underwriting data to identify trends, improve performance, and recommend portfolio risk adjustments
• Ensure team adherence to state and federal lending regulations, including ECOA, FCRA, and UDAAP.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree or MBA in finance, business, or related field.
• 10 years of direct experience in credit underwriting or credit risk management, with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Strong knowledge of consumer or commercial lending practices, risk analysis, and regulatory compliance.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Experience working in or with technology-enabled loan platforms
• Proven ability to lead and scale teams while maintaining performance standards and risk discipline.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and decision-making skills.
• Familiarity with data and credit analytics tools a plus.