Multifamily Agency Deputy Chief Underwriter

Zions Bancorporation•Fort Lauderdale, FL

2h•$200,000 - $275,000•Remote

About The Position

Zions Capital Markets is establishing a disciplined, scalable multifamily lending business focused on delivering best-in-class execution to institutional and private real estate clients. The GSE Underwriting team is responsible for evaluating, structuring, and approving multifamily transactions across both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs. As part of a growing platform, the team is central to defining credit standards, enhancing execution quality, and supporting the firm’s expansion in agency lending. The Deputy Chief Underwriter will help lead this function, support the Chief Underwriter, and provide senior credit judgment across the platform. This position offers the opportunity to serve as a senior underwriting leader within a newly formed agency lending platform, with meaningful influence over transaction execution, credit discipline, team development, and underwriting standards. The Multifamily Agency Deputy Chief Underwriter will provide hands-on deal leadership, serve as a senior escalation point on complex credit matters, and help build the processes, controls, and best practices necessary to scale the platform responsibly.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required
Minimum of 10 years of commercial real estate underwriting experience
Significant multifamily agency lending experience strongly preferred
Demonstrated ability to independently underwrite, structure, review, and approve Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac multifamily transactions
Strong familiarity with agency lending structures, guidelines, approval processes, credit standards, and execution requirements
Proven ability to exercise senior credit judgment on complex transactions and communicate recommendations clearly to senior stakeholders
Deep foundation in multifamily credit analysis, including sponsorship evaluation, market analysis, property operations, cash flow sizing, and risk mitigation
Strong analytical mindset with the ability to make informed, balanced credit decisions in time-sensitive environments
Ability to lead through ambiguity in a growth-oriented, build-phase platform while maintaining discipline, consistency, and accountability
Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, with comfort presenting credit conclusions and recommendations to senior stakeholders
High attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and a practical orientation toward process improvement and scalable execution
Collaborative leadership style with the ability to work effectively across originations, capital markets, closing, servicing, asset management, compliance, and agency relationships

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree or relevant professional designation preferred
Prior experience leading, mentoring, or supervising underwriting professionals preferred
Experience developing or refining underwriting frameworks, delegated authority processes, quality control practices, and portfolio monitoring tools is a plus

Responsibilities

Provide senior underwriting leadership across Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac multifamily loan opportunities, ensuring alignment with applicable agency guidelines and internal credit standards
Support the Chief Underwriter in establishing, maintaining, and refining underwriting policies, approval processes, credit standards, and quality control protocols
Review, structure, and approve complex multifamily transactions, including transactions with nuanced sponsorship, market, collateral, cash flow, or execution considerations
Serve as a senior credit resource and escalation point for originators, underwriters, capital markets professionals, closing, servicing, asset management, and other internal stakeholders
Guide underwriting diligence, including cash flow analysis, risk assessment, third-party report review, market evaluation, sponsorship analysis, and transaction structuring
Identify credit concerns early, develop practical mitigation strategies, and help facilitate efficient, well-supported credit decisions
Review and provide guidance on comprehensive credit write-ups, approval memoranda, risk summaries, and other internal or agency-facing materials
Mentor and develop underwriting professionals, helping build consistency, accountability, technical depth, and sound credit judgment across the team
Maintain strong working knowledge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines, program requirements, credit updates, and market practices, incorporating changes into underwriting decisions and procedures
Partner with platform leadership to improve underwriting workflow, reporting, portfolio monitoring, audit readiness, and execution quality
Participate in client, broker, consultant, agency, and internal stakeholder discussions as needed to support deal execution and business development
Conduct or oversee on-site inspections as appropriate to evaluate property condition, management quality, and local market dynamics
Take on additional leadership responsibilities as the agency lending platform evolves