Associate, Fund Finance Credit Underwriting & Portfolio Management; First Line of Defense

Associate, Fund Finance Credit Underwriting & Portfolio Management (First Line of Defense) Country:
United States of America

It Starts Here:
Santander is a global leader and innovator in the financial services industry and is evolving from a high-impact brand into a technology-driven organization. Our people are at the heart of this journey and together, we are driving a customer-centric transformation that values bold thinking, innovation, and the courage to challenge what’s possible. This is more than a strategic shift. It’s a chance for driven professionals to grow, learn, and make a real difference.

The Difference You Make:
The Associate role sits within Santander Corporate & Investment Banking and functions as a First Line of Defense credit role supporting the underwriting, structuring, execution, and active portfolio management of fund finance transactions for private capital clients, including private equity, credit, infrastructure, and other alternative asset managers. The role operates as a credit function and maintains direct accountability for credit analysis, transaction execution, portfolio monitoring, and ongoing risk management throughout the life of the exposure.

The Associate is expected to exercise independent credit judgment and demonstrate ownership of assigned transactions and portfolio exposures while partnering effectively with Product, Capital Markets, Legal, and Independent Risk. Reporting to the Head of Fund Finance Credit Portfolio Management, this role offers exposure to the full transaction lifecycle and is designed for a highly motivated professional seeking to develop deep expertise in fund finance underwriting, portfolio management, and credit risk management.

Serve as a First Line of Defense credit professional responsible for the preparation, analysis, and ongoing management of credit exposures, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of underwriting, due diligence, and supporting documentation. Support the underwriting and structuring of subscription lines, NAV, hybrid, EBL and other transactions including new originations, refinancings, extensions, upsizes, and amendments. Prepare comprehensive credit approval packages, including borrowing base evaluation, liquidity analysis, financial modeling, stress testing, risk rating assessment, and due diligence review.

Deliver high-quality work product with a strong focus on credit risk assessment, transaction structuring, and execution discipline. Demonstrate strong attention to detail and a commitment to analytical rigor and execution excellence. Develop and defend clear, concise, and judgment-driven credit recommendations that articulate key risks, mitigants, structural protections, and alignment with Santander's credit standards and risk appetite framework.

Independently manage a portfolio of fund finance transactions, demonstrating command of product knowledge, financing structure, and client requests. Own post-close credit monitoring activities, including covenant compliance, borrowing base performance, collateral quality assessment, investor concentration reviews, annual reviews, periodic risk-rating assessments, amendment requests, consent requests, waiver requests, and renewals. Identify emerging risks and proactively elevate adverse developments, covenant breaches, collateral deterioration, sponsor concerns, or other material credit events.

Monitor portfolio trends, performance metrics, concentration exposures, and emerging risks, providing meaningful insights to senior management and risk partners. Perform periodic and annual credit reviews of assigned exposures, reassessing performance, collateral quality, sponsor strength, and risk profile.