Lead Underwriter

Augustus•New York City, NY

21h•Onsite

About The Position

Few people get to build a bank from scratch. Even fewer get to build one at a moment when banking itself is being reinvented. The dollar is the best product in the history of the world, with practically infinite global demand, but distribution is broken. Global clearing runs on legacy banks that are closed 115 days a year, built for humans and take two days to settle. Augustus is the update to the internet era. We received conditional approval from the OCC to charter America’s first stablecoin-native clearing bank that is always open, made for machines, at the speed of compute. We are a group of operators, unicorn early employees, ex-founders and people who walked away from degrees because they believe this is an industry and career defining opportunity. We're backed with $40M from Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Creandum and founders of Ramp, Deel and Circle. We are regulated in Europe and live with Euro and Stablecoin clearing today. Now, we are building the US team from the ground up, while continuing to grow rapidly in Europe. The Role You are the second credit hire at Augustus. You will build the credit function from zero alongside the Chief Credit Officer: the framework, the products, the workflows, and eventually the team. You will own the full loan book, corporate and HNWI borrowers, from origination through payoff. You will underwrite new credits, manage existing ones, monitor risk ratings, and own the credit relationship end-to-end. You also build the layer underneath: scalable workflows, AI-assisted tooling, and the operational systems that make all of it possible at speed. Your First Six Months Months 1-2: Launch the initial credit products and run underwriting and portfolio management with support from the CCO. You iterate shoulder to shoulder with the CCO, product, and sales teams to deliver a world class borrower experience. Months 3-4: Own the underwriting and portfolio management workflows with limited oversight. You further optimize our credit process to be faster, safer, and more robust. Months 5-6: Improve our workflows for greater scale and product depth. You constantly rethink our process and look for new and better ways to manage risk. You build the primitives for the next set of credit products. Who Will Thrive At Augustus We believe that throwing smart people with high agency at big problems produces the best outcomes. The people who succeed here share the following traits: Relentless: You can't leave something broken. You don't stop because it got hard or because no one is watching. Set The Bar: You're harder on yourself than anyone else would be. You don't need external accountability to care about quality. Shape The Game: You don't wait for a playbook and you don't need one. You walk into genuinely new territory and figure it out. You move before anyone asked you to. Systems First: You don't solve problems by adding people or effort. You build systems that make the problem smaller. Your first instinct is to automate, not to handle it manually. This role is for you if: You communicate clearly and concisely. You notice an issue and solve it before it becomes a problem - you don't wait to be told. You're detail oriented and data driven - you care about getting the small details right. You're AI native - you're already using the latest tools in your work and want to build on top of these platforms. You want to build a lending business from zero to one. You want to work with the most cutting edge companies in the blockchain space. You want to use a modern technology stack in a banking context. You want to create new lending products and launch them. You want a front row seat on how decisions are made at a regulated bank. This is not for you if: You want to follow old playbooks or do things the way they've always been done. You'd rather manage a team than do the work yourself. You want to do everything in Word and Excel and not leverage AI. You like to take weeks to underwrite a new deal.

Requirements

5+ years of commercial credit underwriting/portfolio management experience at a Bank, Fund, or Fintech.
Strong financial modeling and investment analysis skills.
Fluent in using LLMs to improve workflows.
Based in NYC or Dallas or willing to relocate - this is an in-office role.
Communicate clearly and concisely.
Notice an issue and solve it before it becomes a problem - you don't wait to be told.
Detail oriented and data driven - you care about getting the small details right.
AI native - you're already using the latest tools in your work and want to build on top of these platforms.
Want to build a lending business from zero to one.
Want to work with the most cutting edge companies in the blockchain space.
Want to use a modern technology stack in a banking context.
Want to create new lending products and launch them.
Want a front row seat on how decisions are made at a regulated bank.

Nice To Haves

You don't wait for a playbook and you don't need one. You walk into genuinely new territory and figure it out. You move before anyone asked you to.
You don't solve problems by adding people or effort. You build systems that make the problem smaller. Your first instinct is to automate, not to handle it manually.
You can't leave something broken. You don't stop because it got hard or because no one is watching.
You're harder on yourself than anyone else would be. You don't need external accountability to care about quality.

Responsibilities

Build the credit function from zero alongside the Chief Credit Officer: the framework, the products, the workflows, and eventually the team.
Own the full loan book, corporate and HNWI borrowers, from origination through payoff.
Underwrite new credits, manage existing ones, monitor risk ratings, and own the credit relationship end-to-end.
Build the layer underneath: scalable workflows, AI-assisted tooling, and the operational systems that make all of it possible at speed.
Launch the initial credit products and run underwriting and portfolio management with support from the CCO.
Iterate shoulder to shoulder with the CCO, product, and sales teams to deliver a world class borrower experience.
Own the underwriting and portfolio management workflows with limited oversight.
Optimize our credit process to be faster, safer, and more robust.
Improve our workflows for greater scale and product depth.
Constantly rethink our process and look for new and better ways to manage risk.
Build the primitives for the next set of credit products.