Job Description Summary
Title: Head of Credit Underwriting - Business Banking & SME
Function: Risk Function
Location(s): Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds or Edinburgh
Hours: Full-time
Working pattern: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time, at one of our office sites
The opportunity
SME & Business Banking serves UK clients with revenues up to £50m across Trading, Agriculture, Healthcare and Commercial Real Estate and Housing, and forms part of Lloyds Banking Group's Business & Commercial Banking division.
The Head of SME & Business Banking Credit Underwriting is a significant senior leadership role with responsibility for Credit Underwriting across SME, with a particular focus on Trading and Corporate Real Estate, alongside Business Banking. The role reports directly to the BCB Risk Director and will be responsible for leading a team of c.90 colleagues across multiple UK locations.
You'll bring deep technical credit expertise and commercial judgement across a broad range of trading sectors and Corporate Real Estate, and will be accountable for high-quality credit decision-making and portfolio outcomes, whilst supporting the sustainable growth ambitions of the business.
This is also a major change leadership role. You'll help shape the future of underwriting, simplifying the end-to-end credit journey for clients and colleagues, transforming processes and ways of working, and making greater use of data, automation and AI to deliver faster, simpler and more consistent decision-making without compromising credit quality.
What you'll be doing
•Lead Credit Underwriting across SME, SME Corporate Real Estate and Business Banking, setting clear strategic direction and maintaining high standards of credit judgement.
•Provide senior credit leadership across a diverse portfolio of trading sectors and CRE, including oversight and challenge of complex, material and judgement-led lending.
•Maintain accountability for the quality and risk profile of credit decisions, supporting strong and sustainable portfolio performance.
•Partner with senior business leaders to support growth, balancing commercial ambition, client outcomes and risk appetite.
•Influence credit policy, mandates, risk appetite and portfolio strategy, bringing practical underwriting expertise and insight to their development.
•Lead significant transformation across the underwriting function, simplifying client and colleague journeys, removing unnecessary complexity and improving the pace and consistency of decision-making.
•Lead the implementation and adoption of new processes, technology and ways of working, including increased use of data, analytics, automation and AI.
•Lead, develop and engage a large team of credit professionals, building capability, creating an inclusive and high-performing culture, and leading colleagues successfully through change.
•Represent Credit at senior executive and governance forums and deputise for the BCB Business Risk Director where required.
What we need from you
•Deep and extensive SME credit underwriting and sanctioning expertise, gained across a broad range of trading sectors.
•Strong Corporate Real Estate credit expertise, with the credibility to provide senior oversight and challenge on complex CRE lending.
•Broader experience of Business Banking and Commercial Banking credit.
•Strong technical knowledge of credit risk, portfolio management, policy, mandates and risk appetite.
•Significant experience leading specialist credit or underwriting teams.
•A proven track record of leading complex change, including client journey simplification, process improvement and operating model transformation, with strong evidence of successfully embedding new technology, processes and ways of working.
•A track record of leading teams through significant change, creating clarity and engagement while building the capability and culture required for the future.
•Excellent commercial judgement, with the ability to balance growth and client outcomes with sound credit risk management.
•Strong executive-level communication, stakeholder management and influencing skills.
Benefits
•A generous pension contribution of up to 15%
•An annual performance-related bonus
•Share schemes including free shares
•Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
•30 days' holiday, with bank holidays on top
•A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies
