We are looking for an experienced
Underwriting Manager to lead the day-to-day operations of our merchant underwriting department. This role will oversee application quality, turnaround times, team performance, escalated decisions, and adherence to company and sponsor bank requirements.
This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can manage and develop a team while remaining actively involved in complex underwriting decisions. The ideal candidate understands merchant acquiring risk, communicates well across departments, and can create the structure and accountability needed to support responsible company growth.
RESPONSIBILITIES- Lead, coach, and develop the underwriting team, including workload distribution, performance management, training, and department coverage
- Monitor application volume, turnaround times, accuracy, quality, and overall team performance
- Review and make decisions on complex, elevated-risk, high-volume, or escalated merchant applications
- Serve as the primary escalation point for underwriting exceptions and higher-risk decisions
- Evaluate credit, financial, fraud, operational, and reputational risk in line with company and sponsor bank requirements
- Recommend reserves, funding controls, volume restrictions, processing limits, or other risk-mitigation measures when appropriate
- Review underwriting decisions and documentation for accuracy, consistency, and adherence to established guidelines
- Identify emerging fraud patterns, portfolio concerns, process gaps, and opportunities for improvement
- Maintain and update underwriting policies, procedures, decision matrices, and training materials
- Partner with Risk, Compliance, Sales, Operations, Accounting, and Executive Leadership to resolve application concerns and support business needs
- Support sponsor bank reviews, internal audits, quality sampling, and compliance examinations
- Track and report on department metrics, application trends, approval rates, pend rates, declines, and quality findings
- Support hiring, onboarding, and development of underwriting team members
- Perform additional duties as assigned
QUALIFICATIONS- Advanced knowledge of merchant acquiring, payment processing, credit underwriting, and portfolio risk
- Strong understanding of sponsor bank requirements, card-brand rules, fraud indicators, chargeback exposure, and merchant business models
- Proven ability to lead, coach, and hold a team accountable
- Strong experience reviewing complex financial statements, tax returns, bank statements, credit reports, processing histories, and ownership structures
- Ability to make sound, timely, and defensible decisions involving elevated or conflicting risk factors
- Strong understanding of underwriting controls such as reserves, delayed funding, volume limits, average-ticket limits, and conditional approvals
- Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills
- Ability to communicate risk decisions effectively to sales teams, agents, executives, and external partners
- Strong analytical, organizational, and process-improvement skills
- Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, high-volume environment
- Strong documentation and reporting skills
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, CRM platforms, and third-party underwriting systems
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE- Five or more years of merchant services underwriting experience required
- Two or more years of underwriting leadership, supervisory, or team-lead experience required
- Experience managing application queues, quality reviews, employee performance, and underwriting escalations required
- Experience working directly with sponsor banks, compliance teams, or risk leadership preferred
- Experience developing underwriting procedures, training materials, or decisioning standards preferred
- Experience using TSYS systems preferred
- Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, business, economics, or a related field preferred
- Equivalent combinations of education and directly related experience may be considered
SALARY: This role includes biannual profit-sharing bonuses as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, dental, retirement planning, and/or other benefits.
- Base salary range: $85,000 - $100,000
- Salary including quarterly profit-sharing bonus and comprehensive benefits program range (annualized): $ 109,725- $ 127,725
