Senior Commercial Credit Underwriter

At Community Financial System, Inc. (CFSI), we are dedicated to providing our customers with friendly, personalized, high-quality financial services and products. Our retail division, Community Bank, N.A., operates more than 200 customer facilities across Upstate New York, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont and Western Massachusetts. Beyond retail banking, we also offer commercial banking, wealth management, investment management, insurance and risk management, and benefit plan administration.

Just as our employees are committed to helping our customers manage their finances, we're committed to our employees. After all, they make it happen for our customers every day.

To ensure our people can enjoy long and successful careers here at CFSI, we offer competitive compensation, great benefits, and professional development and advancement opportunities. As an equal-opportunity workplace and affirmative-action employer, we celebrate and support a diverse workplace for the benefit of all: our employees, customers and communities.

The Commercial Credit Underwriting Department is responsible to provide an independent credit quality assessment of the Bank's commercial clients. These assessments range from initial analyses of new relationships to the Bank, ongoing monitoring via annual reviews and renewals, to material modifications or restructurings of long-term relationships. The Department also is responsible for ensuring the accurate completion of the Bank's risk rating scorecards and financial statement spreads. The work completed in this capacity is used to make new credit decisions.

The position interacts with commercial banking relationship managers within their region as well as other internal personnel on credit approvals typically of at least $10 million in exposure.

Customer interaction is expected.

Essential Duties:

• Facilitate Credit Needs: Underwrite new requests and material modifications from deal screen through approval, ensuring a smooth transition of new customers/loans to the monitoring team for ongoing credit monitoring.
• Review Financial Information: Examine all relevant credit and financial data, including financial statements, tax returns, due diligence reports, credit bureaus, appraisals, internal credit information, industry research, and peer data. Determine the need for further investigation or additional information and coordinate its collection.
• Analyze Financial Data: Conduct thorough credit analyses for the Bank's commercial transactions, including independent credit quality assessments with well-supported risk ratings, identification of credit risks and mitigants, industry concerns, market trends, financial trends, and other pertinent credit issues. Based on underwriting parameters, recommend the risk rating.
• Collaborate with Teams: Work closely with relationship managers and portfolio managers throughout the deal process, from deal screen through approval.
• Spread financial statements and prepare financial models designed to sensitize various conditions impacting the proposed transaction. Prepare cash flow, collateral schedules, covenant sensitivity calculations, financial models, and guarantor statement analysis as appropriate.
• Attend client/prospect calls with RMs to gain a thorough understanding of the client/prospect and their business to effectively analyze and underwrite the proposed transaction.
• Assist in the structure of loan requests, where appropriate, to include suggestions on terms, conditions, controls, collateral, and guarantors.
• Regulatory Compliance: Demonstrate a deep understanding of the financial regulatory environment as it applies to underwriting various commercial credit transactions. Ensure Policy Compliance: Verify adherence to the Commercial Credit Policy and evaluate any risks associated with non-compliance.
• Present analysis or address questions during credit request discussions or committee presentations.
• Adhere to Compliance Standards: Follow applicable compliance and operational risk controls in accordance with company or regulatory standards and policies.
• Complete other related duties as assigned.

Ancillary Duties:

As an integral member of the Credit department, this position is also responsible to provide assistance wherever necessary to help the department and the bank in achieving their annual goals. Train newly hired or junior underweriting staff and assist in annual credit reviews as needed. Assist in the presentation of transactions to the credit committee in support of approval.

Education, Training and Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree in Business field of study (finance, economics, accounting, management); advanced credit analysis and loan structuring training required, MBA and/or CPA a plus.
• All applicants must be 18 years of age or older.

Skills:

• Highly proficient financial analysis skills, including financial modeling and understanding of financial data for commercial loan transactions
• Ability to work well with a team, adjust quickly to various work situations, and remain composed under pressure
• Ability to work independently on multiple long-term transactions simultaneously, while prioritizing assignments to meet deadlines
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Experience:

• Formal Credit training and 5+ years' experience in commercial credit, public accounting, financial statement preparation/analysis or other financial analysis with experience underwriting middle market Commercial & Industrial (C&I) and Commercial Real Estate (CRE) loans.
• Proven organizational skills; able to work independently with limited supervision and be detail-oriented. Proven analytical ability

Compensation: Commensurate with experience plus potential for annual merit increase. In addition to your competitive salary, you will be rewarded benefits including: 11 paid holidays, paid vacation, Medical, Vision & Dental insurance, 401K with generous match, Pension, Tuition Reimbursement, Banking discounts and the list goes on!

Physical Requirements:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be required to stand, walk or sit. Use hands and fingers, handle or feel, reach with hands or arms, and speak and hear. The employee may occasionally be required to lift and or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and the ability to focus.

The Company is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

The Company will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with a disability. If you have a physical or mental impairment and would like to request an accommodation with respect to the application process, please contact the Human Resources Department.