Underwriting Team Leader

We’re hiring an Underwriting Team Leader to lead from the front - delivering quality decisions, strong performance, and standout customer outcomes.

In this role, you’ll take ownership of day-to‑day underwriting performance, leading and developing a team to deliver consistent, high‑quality decisions. You’ll manage pipeline flow, drive operational efficiency, and use data to identify trends, risks and improvement opportunities; while working closely with key stakeholders to ensure cases progress smoothly and customer and broker expectations are met.

You’ll lead a team of Mortgage Underwriters, ensuring we deliver timely, high‑quality lending decisions that balance customer outcomes, commercial performance, and risk. This is a hands‑on leadership role where you’ll:

• Lead and inspire your team – coaching, developing, and building confidence in underwriting decisions
• Drive performance – managing pipeline flow, SLAs and case quality to deliver a seamless broker and customer experience
• Use data to make decisions – spotting trends, identifying risks, and continuously improving how we operate
• Champion operational excellence – removing inefficiencies, improving turnaround times, and enhancing the journey from application to offer
• Partner across the business – working closely with Sales, Credit, Completions and Operations to keep cases moving and deliver great outcomes
• Own quality and risk – embedding strong governance, ensuring adherence to policy, and promoting balanced, responsible decision‑making

We’re looking for someone who combines strong technical underwriting expertise with the ability to lead, influence and develop others. You’ll bring:

• Experience in mortgage underwriting within a regulated environment
• Proven people leadership – coaching, developing and performance managing teams
• Strong understanding of credit risk, lending policy, affordability and securities
• Experience managing pipelines, SLAs and operational performance
• The ability to balance customer needs, commercial outcomes and risk
• Confidence working in a fast‑paced, evolving environment
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to challenge constructively
• A CeMAP qualification or openness to obtaining a mandate would be beneficial, but not essential.

• Hybrid working policy (2 days onsite in Manchester and 3 days at home)
• Competitive salary and a great range of core benefits including: annual bonus, 10% employer contribution pension, private medical with BUPA and 38 days holiday (inc. bank holidays)
• A friendly and flexible culture, the same as how we work with our customers
• A growing organisation that means there’s lots of opportunities to progress
• A drive for continuous improvement, which you will be empowered to get behind from day one

Join us and we’ll make the same promises to you as a colleague, as we do to each of our customers. We’re committed to building a working environment that values respect, diversity, and compassion. We welcome people regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, and whether you’re pregnant or on family leave.

Please note:

we have a thorough screening and referencing process, which includes financial and criminal record checks.