Commercial Real Estate Underwriter

Do you want to see the impact your work really makes? With us, you can. You’ll be joining a team at the heart of YBS Commercial Mortgages, where underwriters at the next stage of their career are supported to strengthen judgement, broaden exposure and build towards more senior responsibility. If you’re an experienced Commercial Underwriter looking to take the next step in your career, broaden your exposure to more complex lending, and start building greater leadership responsibility, this role could be right for you.

About the role

This role is designed for experienced Commercial Underwriters who are ready to broaden their scope, build confidence in more complex lending, and develop towards greater responsibility over time. This role presents a strong development opportunity for an experienced Commercial Real Estate Underwriter who is ready to take the next step. You’ll progressively underwrite higher‑value and more complex cases within your mandate, supported by senior colleagues as you continue to build confidence, judgement and technical depth.

As part of your development, you’ll have the opportunity to support and, over time, present cases outside mandate to Credit Committee, gaining valuable exposure to senior decision‑making and governance. You’ll assess and approve a range of commercial mortgage transactions, with a focus on commercial investment, corporate buy‑to‑let and owner‑occupied lending. There will be the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing evolution of lending policy and propositions to ensure risks are clearly understood and well managed.

Alongside underwriting, the role provides real opportunity for personal development. As you develop in the role, you’ll have opportunities to build leadership capability by supporting and coaching less‑experienced underwriters, with guidance from senior colleagues. You’ll work closely with the Lead Underwriter, gaining exposure to escalation handling, complex decision‑making and strategic risk initiatives as part of your longer‑term development. You’ll have appropriate autonomy within your mandate, while working closely with relationship management, portfolio management and senior underwriters to provide clear, independent risk insight. In addition to new lending, you’ll support in‑life credit matters, working collaboratively to manage risk across the existing portfolio.

Please note: Most of the team are based in Leeds, however we operate on a hybrid basis. You can be based anywhere in the UK, with an expectation of some travel as required.

About you

You’ll have experience underwriting corporate buy‑to‑let and commercial investment transactions. You’ll already be operating with a delegated lending mandate, enabling you to demonstrate sound judgement and experience at this level, and be motivated to build on this through broader and more complex cases over time. In addition, you’ll bring:

• Great attention to detail and sound credit judgement.
• Experience underwriting complex cases, with the ability to cut through complexity and make clear, well‑reasoned decisions.
• Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to challenge constructively.

This role is well suited to an underwriter who sees this as a step‑up opportunity and is keen to grow towards more senior accountability over time, rather than someone already operating at a senior underwriting level. If you’re already operating with a lending mandate and looking to stretch yourself further, this role offers the right balance of challenge and support. You’ll work on increasingly complex commercial cases, gain exposure to senior‑level decision‑making, and develop leadership capability over time — all while being backed by a strong risk culture and a clear development pathway.

About our Benefits

We offer lots of fantastic rewards that you can make the most of in and out of work, including:

• Holiday. You’ll get 25 days plus Bank Holidays, as well as the option to buy up to a further 5 days.
• Bonus. At YBS we work collaboratively and share in our success together, so when we reach our goals we all rewarded with an on target bonus of 7% of eligible pay (with the opportunity to earn up to a maximum 15%).
• Pension. We know how important it is to save towards the future, that’s why we’ll contribute up to 11% into your YBS pension.
• Healthcare. Health and wellbeing are an important part of life at YBS, when you join us you’ll have access to a range of health benefits to suit your life including private medical insurance, dental and healthcare plans.
• My Benefits. When you join YBS you’ll have access to our self‑service benefits portal, where you can access a range of retail, hospitality and health discounts.