Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Credit Officer

🎯 Role Definition

A Credit Officer evaluates, authorizes, and monitors credit exposures across retail, SME, and commercial lending portfolios. This role combines financial analysis, risk assessment, policy compliance, and client engagement to make well‑informed lending decisions that protect the institution’s capital while enabling profitable growth. The ideal candidate has strong financial statement analysis skills, practical underwriting experience, and an ability to translate risk appetite into consistent credit decisions.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Credit Analyst / Junior Credit Analyst
Loan Officer or Relationship Officer (Retail/SME)
Underwriting Associate or Credit Risk Analyst

Advancement To:

Senior Credit Officer / Senior Underwriter
Credit Manager / Head of Credit
Portfolio Manager / Head of Commercial Lending
Credit Risk Manager or Director of Risk

Lateral Moves:

Relationship Manager / Business Development (Lending)
Collections & Recoveries Manager
Compliance / AML / KYC Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead end-to-end credit underwriting for new and renewing facilities by conducting thorough financial statement analysis, cash flow forecasting, and sensitivity testing to determine creditworthiness and appropriate loan structuring for retail, SME, and commercial clients.
Prepare and present clear, evidence-based credit proposals and facility term sheets to the credit committee, including recommended limits, covenants, pricing, collateral requirements, and mitigating controls.
Perform detailed risk assessments using quantitative and qualitative techniques — assign and document risk ratings, probability of default (PD), loss given default (LGD) assumptions, and expected credit loss (ECL) considerations in accordance with internal policy and regulatory frameworks (e.g., IFRS 9 / CECL).
Review and verify borrower business plans, management quality, industry dynamics, and macroeconomic sensitivities to evaluate long-term repayment capacity and concentration risks.
Structure and negotiate loan covenants, security packages, guarantees, and inter-creditor terms to protect the bank’s interests while maintaining commercial viability for the client.
Monitor portfolio performance on an ongoing basis by tracking covenant compliance, repayment behaviour, collateral values, and early warning indicators to identify deteriorating credits and recommend timely remediation or workout strategies.
Execute periodic credit reviews and renewals for existing facilities, updating financial models, risk ratings, and credit documentation to reflect current borrower performance and market conditions.
Ensure accurate and compliant credit documentation — coordinate with legal and operations teams to complete loan agreements, security documentation, perfection of collateral, and conditions precedent before drawdown.
Maintain credit files and records in the bank’s loan management system, ensuring auditability, traceability of decisions, and adherence to retention and documentation standards.
Support portfolio stress testing and scenario analysis to evaluate vulnerability to interest rate shifts, commodity price movements, and macroeconomic shocks; provide actionable insights to senior management.
Conduct borrower site visits, management meetings, and reference checks to validate information, assess business operations, and build effective borrower relationships that inform risk assessment.
Enforce regulatory and internal compliance requirements including KYC, AML, sanctions screening, consumer protection guidelines, and internal lending limits; escalate compliance exceptions promptly.
Work with relationship managers to translate business opportunities into structured lending solutions, balancing client service with prudent risk management and cross-sell of complementary banking products.
Implement and maintain consistent credit policies and procedures by contributing to policy reviews, participating in committee deliberations, and training front-line staff on underwriting standards.
Lead credit remediation and recovery planning for non-performing assets: develop workout plans, negotiate restructuring options, and coordinate with legal and collections teams to maximize recoveries.
Analyze and report portfolio metrics (NPL ratios, provisioning coverage, concentration risk, vintage analysis) to credit risk, finance, and senior management to support strategic decision-making.
Use advanced Excel modeling, credit scoring tools, and lending platforms to build financial models, automate repetitive analysis, and improve underwriting efficiency and quality.
Provide mentoring and guidance to junior credit analysts and relationship officers, reviewing their credit memos, models, and risk assessments to ensure consistent standards and development of the team.
Participate in new product underwriting reviews and support the launch of lending products by assessing risk-return profiles, target segments, and required control frameworks.
Liaise with internal stakeholders—legal, operations, compliance, treasury, and accounting—to ensure timely loan disbursement, accurate accounting treatment, and alignment with liquidity and capital management requirements.
Maintain up-to-date market and sector knowledge (real estate, construction, trade, manufacturing, agriculture, technology) and incorporate industry-specific risk factors into credit decisioning.

Secondary Functions

Support management reporting by producing ad hoc portfolio insights, trend analysis, and slide decks for senior leadership and audit committees.
Assist with credit policy and framework updates, helping to translate regulatory changes into operational processes and training materials for credit staff.
Participate in continuous improvement initiatives to streamline credit workflows, reduce turnaround time, and leverage automation or third-party data sources.
Collaborate with collections and restructuring teams on early intervention for stressed accounts and formal workout execution.
Serve as a subject-matter resource for internal and external audits, regulatory reviews, and due diligence processes related to credit files.
Conduct competitive intelligence and benchmarking to refine pricing strategies and risk-adjusted return expectations for different borrower segments.
Support credit stress testing and capital planning exercises by providing scenario inputs and borrower-level granularity as required.
Contribute to building digital credit capabilities by evaluating credit scoring models, alternative data sources, and lending decision automation opportunities.
Provide periodic training and calibration sessions for frontline staff to ensure consistent application of credit policy and risk appetite.
Participate in client meetings for complex transactions, joint credit committees, or syndication negotiations as a representative of the credit function.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced financial statement analysis and cash flow modeling for corporate, SME, and retail credit assessments.
Commercial underwriting experience including structuring loans, setting covenants, and securing collateral.
Credit risk rating frameworks and expected credit loss (ECL) methodologies (IFRS 9 / CECL knowledge).
Proficiency in Excel (advanced formulas, scenario modeling, pivot tables) and experience with loan origination/portfolio systems (e.g., Fiserv, Temenos, nCino, Moody’s Analytics).
Ability to prepare high-quality credit proposals, term sheets, and credit committee presentations.
Knowledge of regulatory requirements and banking standards including KYC/AML, sanctions screening, and consumer protection laws.
Experience with portfolio monitoring tools, early warning systems, and NPL management / workout strategies.
Familiarity with industry-specific risk factors (real estate valuation, working capital cycles, trade finance instruments).
Strong documentation skills — drafting loan agreements, security documentation, and ensuring enforceability of collateral.
Basic understanding of capital, liquidity, and provisioning implications of credit decisions.

Soft Skills

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail and high-quality deliverables.
Clear, persuasive written and verbal communication tailored to senior stakeholders and credit committees.
Sound judgment and decisive decision-making under uncertainty and time pressure.
Effective stakeholder management and negotiation skills for interacting with relationship managers, clients, legal, and operations.
Integrity, ethical conduct, and commitment to regulatory compliance.
Commercial awareness and ability to balance client needs with risk appetite and profitability targets.
Time management and prioritization to handle multiple credit cases and portfolio reviews concurrently.
Coaching and mentoring mindset to develop junior staff and promote consistent underwriting standards.
Adaptability and a continuous improvement mindset to implement process and system changes.
Resilience and persistence when managing distressed credits or lengthy restructuring negotiations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, or related discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree (MBA, MSc Finance) or professional qualifications such as CFA, ACCA, CPA, or certification in credit risk management.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Accounting
Economics
Business Administration
Risk Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

2–5 years for mid-level Credit Officer roles; 5–10+ years for senior or specialty underwriting roles.

Preferred:

Demonstrated experience in commercial or SME lending with documented track record of underwriting, portfolio monitoring, and handling non-performing loans.
Experience working in a bank, financial institution, or lending platform with exposure to credit committees, regulatory reporting, and credit policy development.
Prior exposure to industry-specific lending (real estate, trade, manufacturing, agriculture) is a plus.