Commercial Credit Associate

Overview

The Commercial Credit Associate plays a pivotal role in assessing and managing credit risk for commercial clients at M&T Bank. This position involves analyzing financial statements, monitoring loan portfolio, and ensuring compliance with credit policies and regulatory requirements. The role serves as a critical link between relationship managers and credit risk management to facilitate sound lending decisions and portfolio management.

• Facilitate the credit needs of customers by underwriting new requests and material modifications from deal screen through approval and throughout the life of the loan, including recommending addition or removal of conditions.
• Work with senior team members on more challenging complex transactions and account coverage.
• Manage ongoing credit risk of existing loan portfolios through continuous credit monitoring (CCM) activities, including annual reviews, interim update memos, covenant monitoring, problem loan management, early warning indicators, and other credit surveillance.
• Review all relevant credit and financial information (financial statements, tax returns, due diligence reports, credit bureaus, appraisals, internal credit information, industry research, peer data) and determine the need for additional investigation or information.
• Complete credit analyses for the bank’s commercial transactions, producing a written analysis that includes an independent credit quality assessment with risk rating, identification of credit risks and mitigants, industry concerns, market and financial trends, and other pertinent issues.
• Recommend appropriate structure and risk rating based on base case and downside case scenarios.
• Identify suspicious activity and activity potentially contrary to customer interests, and partner proactively with relationship managers throughout the deal process to maintain timely and accurate risk ratings.
• Prepare financial spreads, models, cash flow, collateral schedules, covenant sensitivity calculations, and guarantor statement analysis as appropriate.
• Attend client/prospect calls with RMs to gain understanding of the client’s business to effectively analyze and underwrite the proposed transaction.
• Present analysis, facts, and opinions during credit request discussions or committee presentations, ensuring credit policy compliance and commenting on risk associated with non‑compliance.
• Escalate risk‑related issues to management as needed.
• Maintain internal control standards and implement audit and regulator requirements.
• Complete other related duties as assigned.

Commercial Credit is responsible for the credit delivery of the bank’s commercial clients throughout the credit lifecycle, from initial analyses of new relationships to material modifications or restructurings, and ongoing monitoring throughout the life of the loan. The work is used to make credit decisions for new, renewed, or amended credit transactions and includes accurate completion of risk rating scorecards and financial statement spreads.

The role is a developmental account‑coverage position with interaction with commercial banking RMs, independent work with limited supervision, and potential to lead transaction‑execution teams.

• Contribute to development and training of junior or newly hired analysts.

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, or related field and at least 4 years’ experience in commercial credit, public accounting, and financial statement analysis.
• Alternatively, a combined minimum of 8 years of higher education and work experience, including at least 4 years in commercial credit, public accounting, or financial statement preparation/analysis.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in financial modeling and analysis of credit metrics.
• Ability to calculate and interpret financial ratios, perform trend analysis, and analyze data.
• Familiarity with legal documents and ability to understand structural elements efficiently.
• Critical thinking, problem‑solving abilities, attention to detail, strong…