Job Description
About us
Belmont Green provide mortgage solutions operating through its “Vida Homeloans” brand for Buy to Let (BTL) and residential borrowers (ROO) who find themselves underserved elsewhere. Our borrowers range from Buy to Let investors, to the self-employed and customers with multiple jobs. Our business model and strategy are underpinned by our core purpose to ‘Help More People Find a Place to call Home’.
We are here to help the under-served, especially those with more nuanced personal circumstances or borrowing needs who are not able to access a mortgage from a mainstream mortgage lender. Working exclusively with intermediary partners, we combine cutting-edge technology with skilled and caring underwriting expertise to solve complex customer problems.
As a business with an aspiration to become a bank and grow over the coming years, we recognise the importance of having a clearly articulated culture strategy and the need to actively manage how it embeds in the business together with the behaviours which exemplify it.
As a recognised Best Companies Top 100 mid-sized company to work for in the UK and a finalist at the Financial Reporter Women’s Recognition Awards, we take pride in our diverse workforce, championing both ethic and gender diversity through our EDI commitments.
Having met the target set by being a member of the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter we have 50% of senior management roles filled by women.
With offices in Egham, London, and Skipton, we bring our teams together regularly to collaborate and empower our colleagues to have more choice around when and where they work on the days they are not in the office, with colleagues working remotely in various locations across the UK.
Our Culture
We are proud to have built a culture founded on an ethos of caring, and that sits at the heart of our Vida Values, driving the way we run our business, support our customers and other stakeholders on a daily basis.
We genuinely care about delivering the right outcomes for all of our stakeholders who we consider through the cultural framework as our customers, colleagues, company and communities that we operate in.
By Joining Vida you will have a sense of belonging in what is a diverse and collaborative environment, where you will be empowered to take responsibility for driving delivery.
We embrace a diversity of backgrounds and experiences in our people, in the deeply held belief that better outcomes are achieved for customers when our colleagues are better placed to empathise with and understand their unique circumstances. From application to interview, we place inclusion at the heart of all we do.
Role Overview:
A level 5 (£750k) mandated underwriter is responsible for ensuring effective and efficient processing of all mortgage applications whilst developing successful relationship with brokers and advisors, and thereby enhancing our service throughout the customer journey.
Ensuring all financial, quality, regulatory, responsible lending and service requirements are met and maintained.
Key Responsibilities:
- Maintaining a level 5 underwriting mandate (or above) and underwriting and decisioning mortgage applications using a holistic approach that is in line with our risk appetite, regulatory obligations, and that ensures the delivery of exceptional customer service.
- Operating within agreed mandate to effectively utilise allowable exceptions to policy where appropriate and based on judgement and experience.
- Review exception requests from other underwriters, approving where appropriate and providing feedback where you are unable to agree the exception.
- Deliver operational effectiveness, achieving targets and objectives set by the business.
- Ensure responsibilities regarding Consumer Duty, the Prevention of Financial Crime (including AML, identification and reporting of fraud), responsible lending and complaints are carried out effectively and in accordance with the Company’s policies.
- Acquire a full understanding of our mortgage products and criteria.
- Manage and organise caseload in line with the priorities of the business.
- Build successful working relationships across the business, including our Credit and Sales functions.
- Supporting the Change environment including the testing lifecycle and system development
Requirements:
- Hold at least a £750k mandate (Level 5)
- Extensive experience of mortgage underwriting, the mortgage intermediary market, its products, marketing approach and processes
- Manual mortgage underwriting experience
- Regulation / Legislation Awareness - Knowledge of the Regulated Financial Services environment and demonstrable understanding of Consumer Duty, responsible lending, and regulatory knowledge
- CeMAP qualified or industry equivalent – desirable but not essential
- A pro-active and customer journey focused approach
- Experience of working to operational excellence metrics
- Able to demonstrate a proactive, hardworking, and flexible approach, and be able to work under own initiative but also a team player.
- Proficient in MS Office, credit risk decision systems
Our Values
Our values are well established and recognised throughout our organisation. They provide a frame of reference for the behaviours expected from our colleagues every day.
We find ways to break old conventions, especially those which cause exclusion or customer harm. We look for these qualities when hiring new talent into the organisation, and they underpin our approach to personal development and performance management for all our people. At the heart of this is the fact we care about our Customers, Our Colleagues and our Communities. We are:
Visionary - We innovate and break old habits, thinking big and pushing boundaries together as one team
Inclusive - We value each other’s differences and work to see people for who they really are
Dynamic - We are flexible and fast, cutting through complexity and never accepting second best
Authentic - We are honest and genuine, what you see is what you get
Benefits
We offer a comprehensive benefits package to support our employees’ professional and personal needs. Further details can be provided upon application.