Senior Credit Underwriting Specialist - Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 1st-jobs

Description

Senior Credit Underwriting Specialist (RNPL)

Job Type: Full-time
Location: Dubai, UAE

Role Overview

We are seeking a Senior Credit Underwriting Specialist with a strong background in reputable banking institutions to act as the final credit decision authority for our Rent Now, Pay Later (RNPL) portfolio.

This is a hands-on, judgment-driven underwriting role, not a general finance or analyst position. The successful candidate will manually assess credit applications, interrogate financial documentation, detect sophisticated fraud risks, and proactively prevent defaults through disciplined underwriting and risk controls.

You will operate as a credit gatekeeper, expected to stand firm on credit decisions despite commercial pressure, ensuring long-term portfolio health and regulatory compliance.

Key Responsibilities

Credit Underwriting & Approval

• Conduct manual, end-to-end credit assessments of RNPL applications, including bank statements, pay slips, credit bureau reports, and supporting documentation.
• Analyze applicants financial position, credit standing, and property evaluations to determine credit eligibility and approval feasibility.
• Approve loans within delegated authority limits and refer higher-risk cases to loan committees where required.
• Calculate Debt Burden Ratio (DBR), total indebtedness, repayment capacity, and projected time for debt liquidation.

Risk Decisioning & Portfolio Protection

• Approve, condition, flag, or reject applications based on strict risk-based criteria, not automated or black-box scoring models.
• Anticipate potential defaults by identifying behavioral and financial red flags in applicant data.
• Design proactive mitigation measures, including adjusted limits, revised payment terms, or enhanced controls.
• Partner with Collections to analyze default trends and tighten credit policies in response to emerging risks.

Fraud Detection & Document Verification

• Perform advanced manual document vetting to detect altered, falsified, or inconsistent financial records.
• Apply institutional-level fraud detection techniques to validate income, employment, banking behavior, and supporting documents.
• Conduct rigorous sanity checks to ensure loan agreements and application documentation are complete, accurate, and policy-compliant.

Application Review & Stakeholder Coordination

• Interview applicants and request additional documentation where clarification or validation is required.
• Contact applicants, employers, or creditors to resolve discrepancies or incomplete information.
• Submit applications to credit analysts for independent verification and recommendations when required.
• Ensure all loan agreements comply with internal credit policies and regulatory standards.

Regulatory & Policy Compliance

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of credit regulations, lending standards, and internal risk policies.
• Establish payment priorities in line with credit terms and interest rates to reduce overall borrower risk exposure.
• Ensure underwriting decisions are fully documented and defensible from a regulatory and audit perspective.

Mandatory Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelors degree in Finance, Banking, Economics, Accounting, or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years direct experience in loan approval, credit underwriting, or credit risk management within a reputable commercial bank or regulated financial institution.
• Proven experience in retail lending, mortgage credit, or installment-based lending products.
• Demonstrated ability to make independent credit decisions and reject applications despite commercial pressure.

Key Skills & Technical Competencies

• Advanced financial statement analysis
• Manual credit assessment and DBR modeling
• Institutional-grade fraud detection
• Credit risk forecasting and portfolio analysis
• Strong business judgment and decision autonomy
• High attention to detail and documentation discipline

Behavioral Competencies (Priority Order)

• Integrity: Acts ethically, independently, and consistently in all credit decisions.
• Stress Tolerance: Remains calm and decisive in high-pressure, high-stakes environments.
• Adaptability: Responds effectively to policy changes, market shifts, and portfolio dynamics.
• Initiative: Proactively identifies risks and takes ownership of outcomes.
• Concern for Others: Communicates decisions professionally and fairly while safeguarding portfolio integrity.

Why Join Us?

Unlike traditional banking roles, your impact here is direct and highly rewarded. We offer a competitive base salary and a significant performance incentive tied directly to the health of the portfolio. If you are an expert at picking "good" risk, your earning potential is uncapped.