Commercial Credit Senior Associate

About the Role

The Commercial Credit Senior Associate plays a pivotal role in assessing and managing credit risk for commercial clients at M&T Bank. This client-facing position serves as a critical link between relationship managers (RM) and credit risk management to facilitate sound lending decisions and portfolio management. The role focuses on transaction execution and portfolio management, partnering with senior team members on complex transactions and account coverage.

Responsibilities

• Underwrite new credit requests and material modifications from deal screen through approval and for the life of the loan, including recommending conditions.
• Manage the ongoing credit risk of existing loan portfolios through continuous credit monitoring (CCM) activities, such as annual reviews, interim update memos, covenant monitoring, problem loan management, early warning indicators, and other forms of credit surveillance.
• Review all pertinent credit and financial information, including financial statements, tax returns, due diligence reports, credit bureaus, appraisals, internal credit information, industry research, and peer data. Coordinate gathering additional information as needed.
• Analyze financial information and complete credit analyses for commercial transactions, including independent credit quality assessments, risk ratings, identification of credit risks and mitigants, industry concerns, market trends, and financial trends.
• Make structure recommendations based on scenario analysis (company’s case, bank’s base case, and downside case).
• Identify suspicious activity or activity contrary to the customer’s interest as part of ongoing credit risk management.
• Partner proactively with relationship managers throughout the deal process to maintain timely and accurate risk ratings for a portfolio of commercial credits.
• Spread financial statements and prepare financial models to sensitize various conditions impacting proposed transactions.
• Prepare cash flow, collateral schedules, covenant sensitivity calculations, financial models, and guarantor statement analysis.
• Attend client/prospect calls with RMs to understand the client/prospect and their business, and recommend risk ratings based on underwriting parameters.
• Prepare summaries, present facts, and offer opinions concerning creditworthiness. Assist in structuring loan requests, including terms, conditions, controls, collateral, and guarantors.
• Ensure compliance with credit policy and evaluate risks associated with non-compliance. Present analysis during credit request discussions or committee presentations.
• Adhere to the company’s risk and regulatory standards, escalating risk-related issues to management.
• Maintain M&T internal control standards, including implementing audit points and issues raised by external regulators.
• Lead transaction execution teams in partnership with Commercial Credit Analysts.
• Input into the development and training of junior or newly hired analysts.
• Complete other related duties as assigned.

Scope of Responsibilities

Commercial Credit is responsible for the credit delivery of the Bank's commercial clients throughout the credit lifecycle, including initial analyses of new relationships, material modifications, restructurings, and ongoing monitoring. The role ensures the accurate completion of risk rating scorecards and financial statement spreads, which are used to make credit decisions for new, renewed, or amended transactions. This position interacts with commercial banking relationship managers across the bank’s footprint and industry verticals, as well as other internal personnel on credit approvals. Customer interaction is expected, and the role operates independently with limited supervision.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, or related field and 5 years’ experience in commercial credit, public accounting, financial statement preparation/analysis, or other financial analysis.
• In lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 9 years’ higher education and work experience, including 5 years’ experience in commercial credit, public accounting, financial statement preparation/analysis, or other financial analysis.
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in financial modeling and analysis of credit metrics.
• Ability to calculate and interpret financial ratios, analyze data, and complete trend analysis.
• Emerging proficiency in understanding and negotiating legal documentation, including structural analysis and independent transaction structuring.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Attention to detail and high level of accuracy.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Customer-focused with strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Capital IQ, FactSet, and Bloomberg.

Pay

The pay range for this position is $113,300.00 - $188,800.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation.

Location

Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America