Remote Credit Risk Underwriter Jobs in Menifee, CA

The Underwriting Manager is responsible for leading and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the mortgage underwriting department, ensuring the delivery of high-quality credit decisions while maintaining compliance with investor, regulatory, and company guidelines. This role provides leadership, coaching, and performance management for the underwriting team, supports strategic business initiatives, and partners with Operations, Sales, Quality Control, and Executive Leadership to drive operational excellence, loan quality, and customer satisfaction.

The Underwriting Manager reports directly to the Regional Underwriting Manager (RUM).

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of approximately 8–12 mortgage underwriters.
• Recruit, hire, onboard, train, and evaluate underwriting staff.
• Establish performance expectations and conduct ongoing coaching and performance reviews.
• Foster a collaborative, customer-focused, and high-performance work environment.
• Manage workload distribution and pipeline capacity to ensure service level commitments are met.

Underwriting Operations

• Direct daily underwriting operations to ensure timely and accurate loan decisions.
• Monitor underwriting pipelines and production metrics to maximize efficiency and productivity.
• Manage and maintain the UW queues to a 24 hour turn time at all times.
• Resolve escalated underwriting scenarios and provide guidance on complex credit decisions.
• Serve as the primary resource for underwriting questions from Sales, Operations, and business partners.
• Review loan quality trends and implement corrective actions to improve performance.

Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure underwriting decisions comply with Agency, Investor, Bank, and regulatory guidelines.
• Maintain current knowledge of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, USDA, Home Equity, and Non-QM lending programs.
• Monitor compliance, quality control findings, and audit results while implementing process improvements.
• Identify emerging risk trends and develop action plans to mitigate operational and credit risk.

Process Improvement & Collaboration

• Partner with Operations leadership to improve workflow efficiency, training, and production capacity.
• Develop, recommend, and implement underwriting policies, procedures, and best practices.
• Collaborate with cross-functional departments to identify root causes of operational issues and drive continuous improvement.
• Lead implementation and communication of process, guideline, and system changes.
• Support strategic initiatives that improve loan quality, operational consistency, and customer experience.

Reporting & Communication

• Prepare production, pipeline, quality, and performance reports for senior leadership.
• Establish and monitor production forecasts and departmental goals.
• Respond promptly to internal and external inquiries within established service level agreements.
• Communicate policy updates, investor changes, and regulatory requirements to the underwriting team.

Qualifications

Required:

• High School Diploma or GED.
• Minimum three (3) years of leadership or supervisory experience in mortgage underwriting.
• Demonstrated expertise in residential mortgage underwriting guidelines and loan manufacturing.
• Thorough knowledge of Agency and regulatory underwriting requirements.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, high-volume lending environment.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and Visio or equivalent).

Preferred

• Five (5) or more years of residential mortgage underwriting experience.
• Experience with Encompass Loan Origination System.
• Experience with automated underwriting systems (DU, LP).
• Knowledge of Non-QM, Home Equity, and Second Mortgage products.
• Experience with Mavent, CoreLogic, Interthinx, FHA Connection, VA systems, and other mortgage technology platforms.
• Previous experience in wholesale mortgage lending.

Core Competencies

• Leadership and Team Development
• Mortgage Credit Risk Analysis
• Regulatory Compliance
• Agency and Investor Guidelines
• Pipeline and Production Management
• Process Improvement
• Performance Management
• Customer Experience
• Strategic Planning
• Operational Excellence
• Project Management
• Communication and Relationship Building

Technical Knowledge

• Fannie Mae Desktop Underwriter (DU)
• Freddie Mac Loan Product Advisor (LPA/LP)
• FHA, VA, and USDA underwriting
• Encompass Loan Origination System
• Mortgage Quality Control and Compliance
• Automated Underwriting Systems
• Microsoft Office Suite

Success Measures

• Consistently meets or exceeds underwriting service level agreements (SLAs).
• Maintains high loan quality and compliance standards.
• Achieves departmental production and quality goals.
• Develops and retains a high-performing underwriting team.
• Successfully implements operational improvements that enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Must comply with all BSA/AML requirements as well as any mandatory changes. The following job functions are not all-inclusive.  The associate will be required to perform other job-related tasks/responsibilities requested by the manager.  Job duties may change as required by needs of company.  Must complete all required industry and compliance training as required by thelender, Inc.

Our Company theLender was created to make a difference. As a group of proven industry leaders who founded one of the largest and fastest growing Wholesale mortgage companies in the United States, we aim to change the stagnant landscape of Wholesale mortgage – one partnership, one loan, and one day at a time.