Consumer Underwriter

Bank Iowa•West Des Moines, IA

11h

About The Position

The Consumer Underwriter provides consistent, independent, and timely credit analysis and underwriting decisions for consumer lending requests across Bank Iowa. The role applies Bank Iowa consumer credit policy, the Consumer Product Matrix, the Underwriting Guide, and approved decision standards across all markets. It supports DecisionPro automated decisioning by reviewing applications that require manual analysis or professional credit judgment. The underwriter works closely with regional lenders while independently assessing risk and making decisions within delegated authority. The position also provides underwriting guidance to lenders, answers questions about consumer credit policies and complex credit situations, identifies recurring underwriting issues and opportunities to improve policies or DecisionPro rules, and supports reviews, audits, regulatory examinations, credit quality monitoring, and reporting. It helps lenders structure requests that address customer needs while remaining within approved credit standards and risk parameters.

Requirements

Knowledge of consumer credit underwriting, including credit analysis, income and debt evaluation, collateral, repayment capacity, and secured and unsecured lending.
Understanding of consumer lending regulations and fair lending requirements, and ability to consistently apply lending policies and underwriting standards.
Ability to exercise independent credit judgment, assess risk, and make decisions within delegated authority.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and attention-to-detail skills.
Ability to partner effectively with lenders and employees across the organization.
Ability to work with automated loan decisioning and loan origination technology and identify opportunities to improve underwriting processes and practices.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business administration, or a related field.
Three or more years of progressive experience in consumer, retail, mortgage, commercial, or credit underwriting; direct consumer lending or underwriting experience is preferred.
Banking or financial services experience is preferred.
An equivalent combination of education and relevant credit experience may be considered.

Responsibilities

Analyze and underwrite secured and unsecured consumer loan requests that require manual review or additional credit analysis, following Bank Iowa policies, product parameters, and underwriting standards.
Evaluate borrower creditworthiness, including income, debt-to-income calculations, repayment capacity, debt obligations, collateral, credit history, and overall credit risk.
Review collateral information and title or ownership documentation when applicable.
Make consumer credit decisions and approve exceptions within delegated authority; recommend or escalate requests that require additional approval.
Review DecisionPro-referred applications requiring manual underwriting or additional judgment, and clearly document decisions, conditions, exceptions, and supporting rationale.
Apply consumer credit requirements consistently and objectively to support risk management, fair lending, regulatory compliance, and a consistent customer experience.
Communicate credit decisions, conditions, and documentation requirements promptly and clearly to lenders.
Partner with lenders across Bank Iowa to provide underwriting guidance and support while maintaining independent credit judgment.
Serve as a resource on consumer credit policies, underwriting standards, DecisionPro rules, and complex consumer credit situations.
Identify recurring underwriting issues, exceptions, policy gaps, and DecisionPro concerns, and recommend improvements or clarification.
Support ongoing validation of automated underwriting rules to ensure alignment with approved credit standards.
Support internal reviews, audits, regulatory examinations, consumer credit quality monitoring, and reporting on underwriting trends and exception activity.
Assist lenders in structuring consumer credit requests that meet customer needs while staying within Bank Iowa credit standards and approved risk parameters.