Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Business Banking Team Member

🎯 Role Definition

The Business Banking Team Member is a client-facing banking professional responsible for managing and growing a portfolio of small- and mid-sized business clients by delivering tailored deposit, payment, treasury, and lending solutions. This role blends relationship management, credit support, risk and compliance adherence, and sales execution. The ideal candidate demonstrates strong commercial lending fundamentals, financial statement analysis, consultative selling, and operational execution to drive revenue and deepen client penetration while ensuring regulatory and internal policy compliance.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Personal/retail banking associate with small business exposure
Commercial banking analyst or credit analyst
Sales or client service role supporting small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers

Advancement To:

Business Banking Officer / Relationship Manager
Senior Commercial Banking Officer
Commercial Credit Underwriter or Portfolio Manager
Regional Business Banking Manager or Commercial Sales Leader

Lateral Moves:

Treasury & Cash Management Specialist
SBA/Commercial Loan Operations
Risk & Compliance Analyst (BSA/AML)
Branch Leadership with a business-banking focus

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Build, manage and grow a diversified portfolio of small- and medium-sized business clients by proactively identifying sales opportunities for deposit, lending, treasury and payment solutions; consistently achieve or exceed assigned production and cross-sell targets.
Conduct detailed commercial credit assessments and prepare well-documented underwriting packages, including income and cash flow analysis, financial statement interpretation, collateral evaluation, and risk grading in accordance with bank lending policies.
Originate and assist in structuring credit facilities (term loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate, equipment financings) tailored to client business needs while ensuring appropriate pricing, covenants, and collateral documentation.
Support end-to-end loan origination activities: gather client documentation, complete credit applications, coordinate credit approvals, work with legal and loan operations to ensure timely loan closings and funding.
Serve as the primary point of contact for clients on day-to-day banking needs; manage deposit account relationships, new account openings, signatory changes, and transactional problem resolution to deliver excellent client service.
Drive adoption of cash management and treasury products (ACH, wire services, remote deposit capture, merchant services) by assessing client payment flows and demonstrating ROI and efficiency improvements.
Conduct comprehensive KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) due diligence for onboarding and periodic reviews, ensuring all regulatory and bank policy requirements are met and documented.
Monitor credit portfolio performance by tracking covenant compliance, conducting periodic reviews, identifying early warning signs, and recommending remediation plans or workout actions as needed.
Maintain accurate and up-to-date client relationship management records (CRM) including pipeline tracking, activity logs, sales forecasts and opportunity updates to support forecasting and senior management reporting.
Collaborate with internal partners — credit, underwriting, operations, legal, treasury, and specialist product teams — to deliver integrated solutions and expedite client requests while minimizing operational friction.
Prepare persuasive client proposals, term sheets and presentations that clearly articulate product value, pricing rationale and risk mitigants to facilitate credit committee approval and client acceptance.
Lead or participate in client meetings, site visits and financial reviews to understand business operations, industry dynamics and strategic plans that inform credit decisions and cross-sell opportunities.
Analyze client industry trends, competitive landscape and macroeconomic indicators to advise clients on risk mitigation, working capital strategies and growth financing alternatives.
Manage remediation of operational exceptions, funding issues and documentation deficiencies by coordinating cross-functional teams to ensure regulatory readiness and audit defensibility.
Execute targeted prospecting and outreach strategies — including referrals, community engagement, and digital marketing channels — to grow pipeline and expand the bank’s local market presence.
Negotiate commercial terms, pricing, and fee structures with clients while balancing revenue objectives and risk appetite; ensure transparent disclosure and adherence to bank policies.
Provide training and mentorship to junior team members and partners on credit fundamentals, product features, client communication and bank procedures to raise team capability.
Support portfolio stress testing and scenario analysis initiatives by supplying client-level data, assumptions and narrative to help quantify potential impacts and contingency plans.
Coordinate with loan servicing and collections teams to manage delinquency remediation, restructuring requests and forebearance discussions in a compliant and client-centric manner.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of relevant regulations (e.g., BSA, AML, UCC, consumer protection where applicable) and internal policy changes; promptly implement process or documentation updates.

Secondary Functions

Assist with special projects such as branch-to-business conversions, product launches, pricing reviews, or digital onboarding optimizations to improve client experience and operational efficiency.
Support periodic portfolio analytics and reporting for district/regional leadership including KPI dashboards, production variance analysis and pipeline velocity reviews.
Provide subject-matter input into credit policy updates, workflow improvements and system enhancements to streamline underwriting and approval cycles.
Participate in community outreach, industry events and chamber of commerce activities to build brand presence and generate referral partnerships.
Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives by identifying recurring operational pain points and proposing pragmatic solutions to reduce turnaround times and error rates.
Act as a back-up for higher-level relationship managers during absences by covering client meetings, approvals under delegated authority and ongoing servicing responsibilities.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Commercial credit analysis and underwriting, including ability to prepare clear credit memos and risk ratings.
Financial statement analysis (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow) and cash flow forecasting for business clients.
Knowledge of deposit products, treasury services, payment rails (ACH, wires, merchant acquiring) and related implementation requirements.
Familiarity with KYC, AML/BSA requirements and client onboarding documentation standards.
Proficiency with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) and loan origination/servicing platforms; ability to keep accurate pipeline and activity records.
Advanced Excel skills: financial modeling, scenario analysis, pivot tables and data visualization for portfolio reporting.
Understanding of loan documentation, UCC filing processes, collateral perfection and closing mechanics.
Experience with pricing and fee structures for commercial products, including spread calculation and margin management.
Working knowledge of regulatory and compliance frameworks relevant to commercial/small business banking.
Ability to use digital banking platforms and client portals to onboard and service business customers efficiently.

Soft Skills

Strong consultative sales skills and a client-first mindset with the ability to cross-sell strategically and ethically.
Excellent verbal and written communication; able to present complex credit and product information clearly to clients and internal stakeholders.
High attention to detail and disciplined documentation habits to ensure audit-ready files and regulatory compliance.
Strong problem-solving and decision-making under uncertainty with a pragmatic, risk-aware approach.
Relationship-building aptitude: networking, community engagement and internal collaboration to unlock opportunities.
Time management and prioritization skills to manage multiple accounts, deadlines and underwriting tasks concurrently.
Negotiation and influencing skills to secure client commitments while protecting the bank’s risk profile.
Adaptability to changing market conditions, product updates and internal process improvements.
Team orientation with the ability to mentor junior colleagues and work across functional teams.
Professional integrity and sound judgement when handling confidential client and bank information.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, or related field (or equivalent work experience).

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s degree plus one or more relevant certifications (e.g., Commercial Lending Certificate, Certified Treasury Professional, or equivalent).
Coursework or certification in credit analysis, small business lending, or risk management is a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Accounting
Business Administration
Economics
Banking & Financial Services

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

1–5 years of experience in retail banking, small business/ commercial banking, credit analysis, or related client-facing financial services roles.

Preferred:

3+ years’ experience specifically supporting small and medium business clients or in a commercial lending/relationship management role with demonstrated production results, underwriting experience, and familiarity with treasury/cash management products.