Underwriting & Funding Manager

inKind•Austin, TX

About The Position

inKind is seeking an Underwriting & Funding Manager to evaluate restaurant funding opportunities and make disciplined, timely funding decisions. The role owns reviews from initial diligence through final recommendation or approval, helping fund strong restaurant partners while managing risk. It calls for sound financial judgment, attention to detail, comfort making decisions with incomplete information, and the ability to explain conclusions clearly. The manager assesses restaurant applications and financial information, underwrites business performance and repayment capacity, recommends funding terms, and approves or declines requests within delegated authority. The role also leads diligence, documents decisions, coordinates funding readiness, improves underwriting processes, and works with the team monitoring funded restaurants to compare actual performance with underwriting assumptions. Success means delivering timely, well-supported decisions; identifying material risks before funds are released; maintaining clear and complete approval records; and helping inKind grow a healthy portfolio of restaurant partners.

Requirements

At least 4 years of experience in commercial underwriting, small business financing, fintech lending, credit analysis, investment analysis, or a related field.
Strong financial statement analysis and modeling skills, including evaluation of cash flow, liquidity, leverage, repayment capacity, and unit-level economics.
Experience independently evaluating transactions, assessing financial and operational risks, and making or recommending funding decisions.
Experience building, implementing, or improving underwriting processes, with attention to automation, operational efficiency, and scalable decision-making.
Ability to translate underwriting policies, financial thresholds, risk indicators, and approval requirements into structured business rules and automated workflows.
Strong analytical and technical aptitude, including working with financial datasets, identifying patterns, validating information, and supporting data-driven decisions.
Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills, including financial modeling, scenario analysis, and transaction-level data.
Familiarity with underwriting systems, financial data platforms, automated decisioning tools, or workflow automation technologies.
Ability to partner with Product, Engineering, and Data teams to define requirements, test solutions, and implement improvements to underwriting systems and processes.
Sound commercial judgment and ability to balance funding opportunities, speed of execution, and disciplined risk management.
Clear written and verbal communication, including explaining complex financial findings, underwriting decisions, and technical requirements to financial and nonfinancial stakeholders.
Strong organization, attention to detail, and follow-through, with ability to manage multiple funding reviews and process improvement initiatives without sacrificing quality.

Nice To Haves

Restaurant, hospitality, or multiunit business underwriting experience.
Familiarity with restaurant point-of-sale (POS) data, payment processing systems, seasonality, food and labor costs, and location-level profitability.
Experience with alternative financing structures, including revenue-based financing or merchant cash advances.
Hands-on experience implementing automated underwriting workflows, rules-based decision engines, risk-scoring models, or automated approval processes.
Experience integrating or analyzing financial data from banking platforms, POS systems, payment processors, or third-party data providers.
Working knowledge of SQL and experience with Snowflake, Sigma, Tableau, or similar data and business intelligence platforms.
Experience using AI, machine learning, or automation tools to improve financial analysis, document processing, risk assessment, or underwriting efficiency.
Track record of building or refining underwriting policies, approval frameworks, and risk management processes in a high-growth fintech or lending environment.

Responsibilities

Review new funding opportunities and assess applications, financial statements, sales trends, bank activity, existing obligations, and supporting materials for completeness and accuracy.
Underwrite restaurant businesses by evaluating operating performance, cash flow, liquidity, ownership experience, and capacity to support the proposed funding structure.
Recommend funding amounts, structures, conditions, and risk mitigants based on analysis and inKind’s underwriting guidelines.
Approve or decline requests within delegated authority and present exceptions or larger transactions to appropriate decision-makers.
Prepare concise underwriting summaries documenting the opportunity, key risks, assumptions, and decision rationale.
Lead diligence with restaurant owners and internal teams to resolve questions, verify information, and identify discrepancies or potential fraud.
Confirm required approvals, documentation, and funding conditions are complete before funds are released.
Help refine underwriting standards, approval workflows, and reporting to improve consistency and efficiency.
Partner with the team monitoring funded restaurants to compare actual results with underwriting assumptions and improve future decisions.