[Hiring] Senior Underwriting Manager @Upstart

Role Description

The Home Lending Underwriting team is responsible for delivering accurate, consistent, and high-quality credit decisions that enable responsible growth of our Home Lending business. As the Senior Underwriting Manager, you will lead and develop a team of mortgage underwriting professionals while serving as a subject matter expert across Home Lending. You’ll partner closely with Credit Strategy, Product, Risk, Compliance, and Operations to translate credit policy into effective underwriting practices, resolve complex lending scenarios, identify emerging trends, and continuously improve the underwriting experience for our customers and frontline teams.

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of mortgage underwriting professionals responsible for delivering accurate, timely, and consistent credit decisions.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on residential mortgage underwriting, providing guidance on complex borrower scenarios, income analysis, assets, credit, collateral, debt-to-income calculations, and exceptions.
• Ensure underwriting decisions are consistently executed in accordance with established credit policy, investor guidelines, and regulatory requirements.
• Partner closely with Credit Strategy to interpret and operationalize credit policy, resolve complex underwriting questions, and provide frontline insights that inform future policy decisions.
• Monitor underwriting performance, quality results, exception trends, and recurring issues to identify opportunities to improve decision quality and the borrower experience.
• Establish effective escalation and decision-making practices for complex or ambiguous loan scenarios, ensuring underwriting teams receive timely and consistent guidance.
• Partner with Product and Engineering to improve underwriting workflows, tools, and technology, bringing the voice of the underwriter into product development and prioritization.
• Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, Operations, and other cross-functional partners on changes that impact underwriting and ensure underwriting considerations are represented in business decisions.
• Develop underwriting talent and subject matter expertise across the organization through coaching, knowledge sharing, and effective training.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of residential mortgage underwriting experience, including experience underwriting complex borrower scenarios.
• 3+ years of people leadership experience managing mortgage underwriters or underwriting teams.
• Demonstrated experience evaluating borrower income, assets, credit, collateral, and debt-to-income calculations.
• Experience applying conventional mortgage underwriting guidelines and credit policies to loan decisions, complex scenarios, and exceptions.
• Experience interpreting and implementing changes to mortgage credit policies, investor guidelines, or underwriting requirements.
• Experience partnering with Credit, Risk, Compliance, or other stakeholders within a regulated mortgage lending environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of the end-to-end residential mortgage origination lifecycle, including processing, underwriting, closing, and post-closing.
• Knowledge of agency, investor, and regulatory requirements applicable to residential mortgage underwriting.
• Experience underwriting home equity products, including HELOCs.
• Experience using underwriting quality, performance, and exception data to identify trends and improve decision-making.
• Experience partnering with Product and Engineering teams to improve underwriting workflows, decisioning tools, or lending technology.
• Ability to translate complex credit policies and guidelines into clear guidance for underwriting teams.
• Experience leading underwriting teams through significant credit policy, product, or technology changes.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly.
• Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada).
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only).
• Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.
• Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only).
• Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security.
• Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements.
• Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country).
• Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources.
• Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only).
• Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you.
• Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from.
• Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs).
• Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City (opening Summer 2026!).