[Hiring] Underwriting Associate @Hire5

Role Description

We’re hiring an Underwriting Associate to act as the “first responder” on new property leads. Your job is to quickly (within 1 h) evaluate raw retail opportunities and turn them into investable business cases. You'll assess the potential upside, pressure-test assumptions, and help us make buy decisions — fast. This is napkin underwriting with real impact: based on your analysis, we decide whether to make an offer. You’ll also support deeper second-round reviews and follow-up diligence for deals we pursue.

Responsibilities

• Underwrite property leads daily across U.S. markets, with a focus on Washington
• Quickly turn around high-level investment analyses: check zoning, pull lease comps, assess value-add potential
• Build and maintain financial models (cash-flow, sensitivity, DCR, IRR, equity multiple, waterfall)
• Call brokers, qualify leads, and clarify assumptions
• Conduct market and HBU analysis: rent/sales comps, zoning/FAR, demographic trends, parking requirements
• Draft concise IC memos and lender packages that clearly defend the business plan and risk profile
• Support deeper diligence for deals that move to the next phase

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of hands-on underwriting experience (real estate or investment banking) for the U.S. market
• Direct exposure to U.S. retail real estate, especially strip malls or value-add repositioning
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Real Estate, Economics, Engineering, or a related field
• Proficient in Excel and Google Sheets (including nested formulas, Power Query or VBA a plus)
• Demonstrated ability to model ground-up or heavy-value-add projects (IRR, equity multiple, waterfall)
• Comfortable interpreting zoning codes, reading architectural drawings, and discussing site layout plans
• Clear written and verbal communication; able to distill a 50-tab model into a five-slide pitch
• Sharp, fast, and organized — you don’t wait for instruction, you take initiative

Working Hours

The Managing Partners are based in Seattle (PST), and we need someone who can reliably overlap with our core working hours. Required availability: 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM PST (Monday to Friday). The remaining 2 hours are flexible. We value responsiveness during working sessions and give you autonomy for deep focus the rest of the time.

Benefits

• Full-time job (8 working hours per day, Monday-Friday). Please note that we will not consider candidates planning to combine several jobs.
• Direct Impact – Your underwriting will directly influence multimillion-dollar investment decisions. You’ll be a key part of a lean, entrepreneurial team—not a cog in a corporate machine.
• Speed & Autonomy – We move fast and value independent thinking.
• Salary will be discussed during the interview. Paid in USD.
• Quick selection process.

Selection Process

• Initial Interview with Hire5's Recruiter
• Submit a Past Underwriting Sample - you’ll be asked to share a previous underwriting report you personally prepared for a value-add retail acquisition in the U.S.
• First Interview with the Managing Partners (30 minutes) - a focused conversation to assess alignment and dive deeper into your approach to underwriting and retail assets
• Second Interview with the Managing Partners (45 minutes) - a detailed discussion covering your experience, strategic thinking, and expectations
• Final Stage: test assignment. You’ll produce a fresh underwriting report on Elliot Plaza — a mismanaged 68 KSF strip mall in Seattle.