Senior Manager, Commercial Credit Administration

Sallie Mae • Salt Lake City, UT

133d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Commercial Credit Administration will serve as a key first line of defense risk leader responsible for the credit assessment, onboarding approval, and ongoing monitoring of for‑profit school partners. This role ensures institutional risk remains within Sallie Mae’s risk appetite, while supporting sustainable growth through strong partnership with Relationship Management and cross‑functional stakeholders. This position will be responsible for performing commercial underwriting and institutional risk assessments based on audited financial statements, financial stability, management strength, governance practices, and student outcome performance. The role requires independent judgment on moderate to highly complex risk decisions and frequent interaction with senior leadership and governance forums. The Senior Manager will also play a critical role in establishing and maintaining controls, policies, and procedures governing for‑profit school risk, including on‑site campus assessments, review of regulatory actions, marketing practices, and discharge activity.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 5+ years of experience in commercial credit, underwriting, institutional risk, financial risk management, or related disciplines.
• Strong experience analyzing audited financial statements and evaluating institutional or corporate counterparties.
• Experience with SQL, Python, R, or other programming languages commonly used in analytics.
• Familiarity with data visualization tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or similar.
• Demonstrated experience mentoring teams and influencing cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of risk governance, regulatory expectations, and first line of defense responsibilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present to senior management.

Nice To Haves

• Deep expertise in commercial credit and/or credit risk management, including underwriting, monitoring, and portfolio risk assessment.
• Experience underwriting or managing risk for regulated or complex counterparties, preferably within education, financial services, or similarly regulated industries.
• Familiarity with student loan performance metrics, borrower defense, discharge claims, or reputational risk drivers.
• Experience partnering closely with Relationship Management or client‑facing teams to balance growth objectives with risk discipline.
• Experience conducting on‑site institutional or operational reviews, including campus visits and management meetings.

Responsibilities

• Lead commercial underwriting and credit reviews for for‑profit school partners, including analysis of audited financial statements, liquidity, cash flow sustainability, leverage, and operating performance.
• Assess management quality, ownership structure, governance, and strategic stability as part of institutional risk determinations.
• Evaluate student outcome indicators, including current loan performance, delinquency trends, cohort behavior, and discharge claims, and incorporate findings into credit decisions.
• Provide clear, well‑documented risk recommendations for new school onboarding, renewals, and material relationship changes.
• Present underwriting conclusions and risk assessments to internal credit committees and senior stakeholders.
• Oversee ongoing monitoring of approved schools, including periodic financial reviews, performance scorecards, and early‑warning indicators.
• Identify emerging risks related to financial deterioration, regulatory exposure, operational changes, or adverse student outcomes.
• Partner with Relationship Management to ensure risk insights are incorporated into client strategy, engagement, and escalation decisions.
• Recommend enhanced monitoring, remediation plans, or risk actions when thresholds or risk appetite limits are breached.
• Act as a strategic risk partner to Relationship Management, providing credit and risk guidance to support informed engagement with school partners.
• Collaborate closely with Credit Risk, Compliance, Legal, Operations, and Product teams to align institutional risk management with enterprise objectives.
• Participate in joint meetings with Relationship Management and school leadership, including on‑site campus visits, to assess operational, governance, and reputational risk.
• Support Relationship Management in evaluating school‑initiated changes, growth plans, or strategic initiatives through a risk lens.
• Design, implement, and maintain first‑line controls, policies, and procedures governing for‑profit school underwriting and monitoring.
• Lead first‑line testing and monitoring activities to ensure adherence to internal standards and regulatory expectations.
• Review and assess commission actions, school websites, marketing practices, and public disclosures for potential credit, compliance, or reputational risk.
• Oversee review and escalation of borrower defense claims, discharge activity, and regulatory actions related to institutional behavior.
• Partner with Law & Compliance to implement new or revised guidance impacting school risk management.
• Coach and lead initiatives involving across teams.
• Establish consistent underwriting standards, documentation expectations, and monitoring discipline across the team.
• Foster a culture of accountability, strong risk judgment, and continuous improvement.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, and training of new team members as needed.

Benefits

• Competitive base salaries
• Bonus incentives
• Generous PTO, Floating Holidays and 12 Federal Holidays observed
• Support for financial-well-being and retirement
• 401k with employer match
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, hospital indemnity, critical illness, pet insurance and more
• Employer paid short-term/long-term disability and basic life insurance
• Flexible hybrid working arrangements.
• Paid parental leave and adoption reimbursement programs
• Free access to on-site staffed fitness centers (in Delaware) and gym subsidy (for locations outside Delaware)
• Confidential counseling support (EAP), Health Advocacy services and Wellness program with financial incentives
• Tuition Reimbursement and Family Scholarship Programs
• Career development and training opportunities

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior