Commercial Credit Senior Associate, C&I

Locations: Baltimore, Rockville or Falls Church

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 position involves analyzing financial statements, monitoring loan portfolios, and ensuring compliance with credit policies and regulatory requirements. This client-facing role serves as a critical link between relationship managers (RM) and credit risk management to facilitate sound lending decisions and portfolio management.

Commercial Credit is responsible for the credit delivery of the Bank's commercial clients throughout the credit lifecycle. Credit assessments range from initial analyses of new relationships to the Bank to material modifications or restructurings of long-term relationships and ongoing monitoring through the life of the loan. The position is an account coverage role focusing on transaction execution and portfolio management, interacting with commercial banking relationship managers and other internal personnel on credit approvals. Ability to lead a transaction execution team in partnership with a Commercial Credit Analyst. Customer interaction is expected. Works independently with limited supervision.

Responsibilities

• Focus on transaction execution and portfolio management, partnering with senior team members on complex transactions/account coverage.
• Facilitate the credit needs of customers by underwriting new requests and material modifications from deal screen through approval and for the life of the loan, including recommending adding or removing conditions.
• Manage the ongoing credit risk of existing loan portfolios through continuous credit monitoring (CCM) activities, enabling the timely identification of emerging credit risk to minimize losses and assign accurate risk ratings. CCM includes 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. Determine the need for further investigation or additional information and coordinate its gathering.
• Analyze financial information and complete credit analyses for the Bank’s commercial transactions, including an independent credit quality assessment with well-supported risk rating, identification of credit risks and mitigants, industry concerns, market trends, financial trends, and other pertinent issues.
• Make appropriate structure recommendations based on analysis and evaluation of scenarios, including the company's case, bank's base case, and a downside case.
• Identify suspicious activity and activity contrary to the customer's interest as part of managing ongoing credit risk.
• 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 designed to sensitize various conditions impacting the proposed transaction.
• Prepare cash flow, collateral schedules, covenant sensitivity calculations, financial models, and guarantor statement analysis as appropriate.
• Attend client/prospect calls with RMs to gain a thorough understanding of the client/prospect and their business to effectively analyze and underwrite the proposed transaction, recommending risk ratings based on underwriting parameters.
• Prepare summaries, present facts, and offer opinions concerning credit-worthiness. Assist in structuring loan requests, including suggestions on terms, conditions, controls, collateral, and guarantors.
• Display a deep understanding of the financial regulatory environment as it applies to underwriting most forms of commercial credit transactions.
• Ensure credit policy compliance by verifying adherence to the Commercial Credit Policy and evaluating any risk associated with non-compliance.
• Present analysis or address questions during credit request discussions or committee presentations.
• Understand and adhere to the Company’s risk and regulatory standards, policies, and controls in accordance with the Company’s Risk Appetite. Identify risk-related issues needing escalation to management.
• Promote an environment that supports belonging and reflects the M&T Bank brand.
• Maintain M&T internal control standards, including timely implementation of internal and external audit points and issues raised by external regulators.
• Complete other related duties as assigned.
• Input into the development and training of junior/newly hired Analysts.

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 with understanding and negotiating legal documentation, including structural analysis and the ability to structure transactions independently.
• 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.
• Experience with nCino.

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.