Commercial Credit Senior Associate, Engineering & Construction

M&T Bank•Hauppauge, NY

About The Position

The Commercial Credit Senior Associate assesses and manages credit risk for commercial clients at M&T Bank. This client-facing account coverage role focuses on transaction execution and portfolio management, serving as a link between relationship managers and credit risk management. The position works with senior team members on complex transactions and account coverage, partners with relationship managers throughout the deal process, and works independently with limited supervision. Customer interaction is expected, and the role may lead a transaction execution team in partnership with a Commercial Credit Analyst. The role underwrites new credit requests and material modifications from deal screening through approval and throughout the life of the loan. It manages ongoing credit risk through continuous credit monitoring, including annual reviews, interim update memos, covenant monitoring, problem-loan management, early-warning indicators, and other credit surveillance. The work supports credit decisions for new, renewed, or amended commercial transactions and includes completing risk-rating scorecards and financial statement spreads. The position reviews and analyzes financial statements, tax returns, due diligence reports, credit bureau information, appraisals, internal credit information, industry research, and peer data. It produces written credit analyses with independent assessments of credit quality, supported risk ratings, identified risks and mitigants, and relevant industry, market, and financial trends. It evaluates company, bank base, and downside scenarios; recommends transaction structures; and prepares financial models, cash-flow analyses, collateral schedules, covenant sensitivity calculations, and guarantor statement analyses as appropriate. The Senior Associate attends client and prospect calls with relationship managers, supports loan structuring through recommendations on terms, conditions, controls, collateral, and guarantors, and presents analysis or responds to questions during credit discussions and committee presentations. The role ensures adherence to the Commercial Credit Policy and applicable regulatory requirements, identifies suspicious or potentially contrary-to-customer-interest activity, and escalates risk-related issues to management. It also maintains internal control standards, addresses audit and regulatory issues, supports belonging and the M&T Bank brand, and provides input into the development and training of junior or newly hired Analysts.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, or a related field and 5 years of experience in commercial credit, public accounting, financial statement preparation or analysis, or other financial analysis; alternatively, a combined minimum of 9 years of higher education and work experience, including 5 years in one of those areas.
Strong analytical skills and proficiency in financial modeling and credit analysis.
Ability to calculate and interpret financial ratios, analyze data, and complete trend analysis.
Emerging proficiency in understanding and negotiating legal documentation, including structural analysis, and ability to structure transactions independently.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Critical-thinking and problem-solving abilities.
Attention to detail and a high level of accuracy.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Strong organizational and time-management skills.
Customer focus and strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Capital IQ, FactSet, and Bloomberg.
Experience with nCino.
Experience underwriting Engineering & Construction loans.

Responsibilities

Underwrite new commercial credit requests and material modifications from deal screening through approval and throughout the life of the loan.
Manage ongoing credit risk through continuous credit monitoring, including annual reviews, interim update memos, covenant monitoring, problem-loan management, early-warning indicators, and other credit surveillance.
Review pertinent financial and credit information, determine whether additional investigation or information is needed, and coordinate its collection.
Analyze financial information and prepare written credit analyses, including an independent credit quality assessment, supported risk rating, risks and mitigants, and relevant industry, market, and financial trends.
Recommend transaction structures based on company, bank base, and downside-case scenarios.
Identify suspicious activity and activity that may be contrary to a customer's interest.
Partner with relationship managers throughout the deal process to maintain timely and accurate risk ratings for a commercial credit portfolio.
Spread financial statements and prepare financial models, cash-flow analyses, collateral schedules, covenant sensitivity calculations, and guarantor statement analyses as appropriate.
Attend client and prospect calls with relationship managers to understand clients and their businesses for underwriting purposes.
Recommend risk ratings, summarize and present facts, and provide opinions concerning creditworthiness.
Assist in structuring loan requests, including recommendations on terms, conditions, controls, collateral, and guarantors.
Ensure underwriting adheres to the Commercial Credit Policy and assess risks associated with non-compliance.
Present analysis and address questions during credit request discussions and committee presentations.
Identify risk-related issues requiring escalation to management and adhere to Company risk and regulatory standards, policies, and controls.
Maintain internal control standards and timely implementation of internal and external audit points and applicable issues raised by external regulators.
Provide input into the development and training of junior or newly hired Analysts.
Complete other related duties as assigned.