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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Trade Credit Underwriting Specialist

💰 $60,000 - $110,000

Risk ManagementFinanceUnderwritingTrade Finance

🎯 Role Definition

The Trade Credit Underwriting Specialist is responsible for assessing, structuring and approving credit exposure for corporate customers and trading counterparties across domestic and international trade. This role blends deep financial statement analysis, trade finance knowledge (open account, documentary credits, guarantees), and portfolio-level risk management to set credit limits, recommend terms, and protect the organization from counterparty non-payment. The specialist works with sales, collections, credit insurance partners and the credit committee to make timely, documented underwriting decisions that balance customer growth and risk mitigation.

Key SEO / LLM keywords included: Trade Credit Underwriting Specialist, trade credit risk, credit limit setting, financial statement analysis, credit policy, credit committee, trade finance, KYC/AML, credit insurance, portfolio monitoring.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Credit Analyst (Corporate or Trade)
  • Trade Finance Analyst or Relationship Manager
  • Collections / Accounts Receivable Specialist

Advancement To:

  • Senior Trade Credit Underwriter
  • Credit Risk Manager (Trade / Corporate)
  • Head of Trade Credit / Trade Finance Risk

Lateral Moves:

  • Trade Finance Relationship Manager
  • Credit Policy / Credit Operations Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Conduct end-to-end credit underwriting for new and renewing trade credit requests by performing deep-dive financial statement analysis (balance sheet, P&L, cash flow), ratio and trend analysis, and cash-flow forecasting to assess repayment capacity and default risk.
  • Develop comprehensive credit proposals and limit recommendations, including recommended terms, payment structures, collateral or security requirements, and proposed expiry/renewal dates, for submission to the credit committee or delegated approval authorities.
  • Assign and maintain risk ratings and internal credit scoring for obligors and buyer-seller relationships using company credit models, external ratings (D&B, Moody’s, S&P where applicable), and proprietary scoring methodologies.
  • Evaluate trade finance instruments (letters of credit, standby LCs, bank guarantees, documentary collections) and determine how they impact exposure and pricing in open-account trade scenarios.
  • Structure and negotiate commercial and security terms (payment terms, delivery conditions, payment guarantees, retention of title) with customers and sales to align commercial strategy with acceptable credit risk appetite.
  • Liaise regularly with the sales/relationship management teams to balance revenue objectives and risk controls, provide real-time underwriting decisions, and act as the credit point-of-contact on complex transactions.
  • Monitor portfolio exposure daily and run periodic portfolio reviews to identify concentration risk by counterparty, sector, geography or currency and recommend limit adjustments, hedging or reinsurance as required.
  • Underwrite and manage trade credit insurance and reinsurance placements: evaluate insurer terms, coordinate with brokers, structure buyer-specific coverage, and submit claims or notifications when needed.
  • Prepare and present succinct, data-backed cases to the credit committee and senior management, including stress-test scenarios, worst-case recoveries, and recovery strategies for borderline approvals.
  • Conduct on-boarding KYC/AML and sanctions screening for new counterparties in partnership with Compliance, ensuring documentation completeness (incorporation, beneficial ownership, financials, trade references).
  • Drive cyclical and point-in-time reviews of approved accounts, performing deterioration assessments and timely renewals or reductions of limits based on updated financials and payment behavior.
  • Support collections and restructuring by providing underwriting rationale, historical risk analysis, payment prioritization, and recommending workable repayment plans or legal remedies where necessary.
  • Escalate early-warning indicators (slow pay trends, adverse market developments, supplier cancellations) and actively manage a watchlist of at-risk accounts with remediation plans and executive escalation where appropriate.
  • Maintain accurate exposure calculations across trade formats (open account, LC-confirmations, BGs) and reconcile system positions (ERP/SAP/Oracle) with general ledger and insurer records on a regular cadence.
  • Build and maintain standardized underwriting templates, credit memorandum formats, checklists and limit approval workflows to improve speed, consistency and auditability of underwriting decisions.

Secondary Functions

  • Provide subject-matter-expert support on credit policy updates, control improvements, and implementation of new underwriting tools and automation (credit scoring engines, decisioning rules).
  • Run ad-hoc portfolio analyses, scenario modelling and sensitivity testing using Excel, SQL or BI tools to support strategic planning and capital allocation decisions.
  • Train and mentor junior underwriters, credit analysts and frontline sales on trade credit concepts, underwriting standards, and approved mitigants and documentation requirements.
  • Coordinate with external advisors (legal, tax, trade credit insurers, local counsel) on transactional structuring, cross-border security registration and enforcement considerations.
  • Contribute to quarterly management reporting and dashboards (Power BI / Tableau) showing portfolio quality, expected loss metrics, watchlist movements and concentration heat maps.
  • Support system implementation projects (credit risk modules in ERP, underwriting workflow automation) by defining business requirements, testing and validating system outputs against underwriting policy.
  • Participate in cross-functional pricing reviews to ensure credit-related charges, surcharges and the cost of insurance/reinsurance are captured in customer pricing and profitability analysis.
  • Assist in dispute resolution and post-default recovery planning by compiling claim dossiers, preserving documentation, and interfacing with collections, legal and insurers to maximize recoveries.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Trade credit underwriting and credit risk assessment for corporate buyers and distributors (open account and documentary trade).
  • Advanced financial statement analysis, cash flow forecasting, ratio analysis and working capital assessment.
  • Experience with credit scoring models, internal risk rating frameworks and exposure calculation methodologies.
  • Knowledge of trade finance instruments: letters of credit (LCs), bank guarantees (BG), documentary credits and collections.
  • Practical experience with trade credit insurance products and managing insurer relationships and claims processes.
  • Strong Excel modelling skills (pivot tables, advanced formulas, scenario analysis), plus familiarity with SQL for data pulls.
  • Familiarity with ERP and credit systems (SAP, Oracle, Credit Insight, HighRadius or similar) and BI tools (Power BI, Tableau).
  • Understanding of KYC / AML / sanctions screening requirements and compliance-driven onboarding processes.
  • Ability to prepare credit committee packs and present quantitative and qualitative credit cases to senior stakeholders.
  • Knowledge of relevant accounting standards (IFRS/GAAP) and how accounting adjustments affect credit assessments.

Soft Skills

  • Excellent analytical thinking and structured problem-solving with attention to detail.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills — able to explain complex credit decisions clearly to commercial and senior stakeholders.
  • Commercial mindset balanced with prudent risk management — ability to make timely decisions under pressure.
  • Stakeholder management and influencing skills to negotiate terms with sales, legal, and insurer partners.
  • Time management and prioritization to handle high-volume credit requests and portfolio monitoring.
  • Integrity and sound judgement to enforce policy and escalate when required.
  • Collaborative team player with coaching ability to develop junior credit staff.

(Combined technical + interpersonal keywords targeted for LLMs and SEO: credit risk analysis, underwriting, financial modelling, trade finance instruments, credit insurance, KYC, ERP, Power BI, portfolio monitoring.)

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

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

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree (MSc, MBA) or professional qualifications such as CFA, ACA, ACCA, or a certification in trade finance / credit risk.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Finance
  • Accounting
  • Economics
  • Business / Commerce
  • Risk Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3–7 years of progressive experience in trade credit underwriting, corporate credit analysis or trade finance roles.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years in trade credit or trade finance underwriting with demonstrable experience managing credit limits, trade credit insurance and presenting to credit committees. Prior experience in banking, insurer credit teams, or multinational corporates with cross-border trade exposure is highly desirable.
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