Applications must be submitted by: 04-03-2025
Vacancy for Senior Credit Specialist
Reporting to the Head of Credit, the role is two-fold, covering both leadership of key parts of the credit function and line management of individuals within it; and delivery of loan casework from application to credit decision.
*Please note this advert will close on the 3rd March 2025 at 23.59pm.
Title: Senior Credit Specialist
Band: Innovate UK Band 2 (UKRI Ts & Cs)*
Salary: From £62,000 - £65,000 gross per annum**+
Reports to: Head of Credit
Location: Field based
Contract: Permanent
*This position includes Performance Related Pay of up to 15% per annum
** Subject to Pay & Reward policy
+ Potential for a Specialist Allowance per annum is also available for this role (dependent on skills and experience).
Innovate UK recognises the importance of work-life balance and we will be happy to discuss any requests for flexible working arrangements.
Job Purpose:
You will be a senior member of the Credit team of Innovate UK Loans Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UK Research and Innovation, and of the wider Innovation Finance team within the Innovate UK Products & Services Directorate responsible for:
* Delivering £150m in the future economy innovation loans programme, together with the DASA defence innovation loans programme, during the current spending review period;
* Leadership, development, implementation and continuous improvement of credit and investment risk, and finance (capital and budget management) functions of Innovate UK Loans Limited;
* Design, implementation and continuous improvement of financial capability, capacity and good standing due diligence activities for the investor partnerships programme, covering Angel Networks and Venture Capital firms;
* Development and pilot delivery of the new Catapult Investment programme to support convertible loan note (quasi-equity) investments by Catapults in innovative SMEs to leverage equity investments and generate returns for the benefit of the programme;
Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
As a Senior Credit Specialist, you will:
* Continue development of the systems that underpin IUKL’s approach to credit, bringing together internal workflow tracking and credit reporting, with external data to support decision making;
* Act as one of IUKL’s thought leaders on new and emerging technologies in the finance sector, challenging IUKL’s ways of working as appropriate to bring new perspectives and data to bear on decision making;
* Line manage a team of credit specialists and credit analysts in delivering casework and the recruitment, personal development and performance reviews of your direct reports;
* Operate a personal delegation for lending decisions, under the Credit Committee, to be determined against experience and performance over time – you may also substitute for the Head of Credit and operate their delegation from time to time.
You will determine the credit worthiness of applications by:
* Gathering information about clients, going beyond their application to provide insight into the viability of borrowing propositions and commercial forecasts for complex, cutting edge businesses;
* Maintaining an overview of the broader market for SME finance, and legal, compliance and regulatory issues;
* Assessing, analysing and interpreting complex financial information, providing a critical overlay for review by the Credit Committee;
* Undertaking credit risk analysis by interpreting financial data and producing sensitivity analyses, but also forming a view on the capability, breadth and quality of the management team;
* Working directly with applicants, acting as first point of contact and leading relationship activities;
* Contributing to financial reporting on the quality and performance of the loan portfolio;
* Making recommendations to credit committee and taking personal accountability for the judgements you present.
This is not an exhaustive list and you might be encouraged to undertake any other duties across the wider directorate, commensurate with the Band and level of responsibility of this post, for which the post holder has the key experience and/or training.
Person Specification:
Qualifications:
* The candidate will have relevant experience in the field of SME credit and/or investment decisioning in a fund, banking or alternative finance environment and/or a good degree or professional qualification in a relevant discipline.
Experience:
Essential –
* A firm grasp of specifying, developing and implementing credit systems in a fast paced environment;
* Experience in recommending and/or sanctioning non-credit scored corporate/commercial SME lending or equity investments either on the frontline or in a back office credit role;
* Proven financial analysis skills and/or experience in operating financial models to determine portfolio risk;
* Experience of making written and oral presentations to internal and external stakeholders;
* Experience in sourcing, reviewing and analysing financial information, in particular in the form of audited financial accounts and management accounts;
* Commercially aware, with a clear understanding of the drivers of business growth and the costs of delivery;
* Experience of leading deal generation from inception through to execution.
Skills:
* Self-motivated and proactive, ability to work within agreed parameters and deliver to tight timescales in a highly pressured environment;
* Strong quantitative and qualitative analysis skills;
* Proven team working and project management skills;
* Self-organisation skills and a demonstrable ability to manage and prioritise a workload in order to meet tight deadlines;
* Strong communication (both written and oral) skills and the ability to produce clear, concise and accurate presentations and written documents;
* Strong attention to detail.
Travel Requirements:
Field-based: There will a requirement to travel, mostly national, and there is some flexibility in this.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:
Innovate UK is a diverse workforce of people. We believe that encouraging these differences and drawing the best from them will build a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, where talents are fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met.
Employee Benefits:
We offer a benefits package crafted to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege days, flexible working hours, an exceptional defined benefit pension scheme, and access to a variety of support networks and discount schemes.
Pre-employment Screening:
To enable us to hire the very best people we will conduct a comprehensive pre-employment check on successful applicants as part of the recruitment process.
Applications must be submitted by: 04-03-2025
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