Commercial Credit Senior Associate, C&I

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 material modifications or restructurings of long-term relationships and ongoing monitoring through the life of the loan. The position focuses on transaction execution and portfolio management, interacting with commercial banking relationship managers and other internal personnel on credit approvals.

Responsibilities

• Focus on transaction execution and portfolio management, partnering with senior team members on complex transactions and 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 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, and early warning indicators.
• 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.
• Analyze financial information and complete credit analyses, including independent credit quality assessments, risk ratings, identification of credit risks and mitigants, industry concerns, and financial trends.
• Make appropriate structure recommendations based on scenario analysis, including the company's case, bank's base case, and downside case.
• Identify suspicious activity and 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 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 proposed transactions.
• Prepare summaries, present facts, and offer opinions concerning credit-worthiness, assisting in loan request structuring with suggestions on terms, conditions, controls, collateral, and guarantors.
• Display a deep understanding of the financial regulatory environment as it applies to underwriting commercial credit transactions.
• Ensure credit policy compliance and evaluate risks 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, escalating risk-related issues 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.
• Lead a transaction execution team in partnership with a Commercial Credit Analyst.

Qualifications

• 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.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Input into the development of and training of junior/newly hired Analysts.

Pay

The pay range for this position is $103,000.00 - $171,600.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation.

Locations

Albany, Rochester, or Syracuse, New York, United States of America