Head of Underwriting Operations
Office presence required once a week – Southern or Northwest England
Up to £95k plus bonus and benefits
We’re pleased to be working with our specialist mortgage lender client, as they seek a Head of Underwriting Operations to lead and manage the change and redesign of the underwriting function. Reporting into the Director of Operations, this role holder will have responsibility for leading both hands on and strategic operations for the Mortgage Underwriting function.
Duties of the Head of Secured Lending will include:
- Lead lending operations across multiple mortgage brands.
- Manage and develop underwriting teams to ensure compliant, consistent decisions.
- Drive customer-focused lending strategies and uphold Consumer Duty standards.
- Oversee fraud prevention, risk management, and complex case escalations.
- Support business continuity, supplier oversight, and process improvement.
- Lead readiness for operational change and staff training initiatives.
- Contribute to quality assurance, risk mitigation, and performance monitoring.
- Collaborate with leadership to deliver strategic and operational goals.
- Communicate and embed company strategy and culture.
- Track KPIs/KRIs and ensure full regulatory compliance.
The successful candidate will possess:
- A wealth of experience leading teams in a manual, mortgage underwriting environment
- Proven ability to manage change with a focus on transforming technology capability
- Strong relevant experience across all areas of Mortgage lending, ideally including BTL, Bridging and residential manual underwriting at leadership level.
In return you can expect a highly competitive salary as well as strong benefits which include generous bonus and pension. There will be a requirement to be office based twice a week for the initial few months, then once per week. They have offices in both the South and the Northwest of England.