Portfolio Jobs

About Allica Bank

Allica is the UK’s fastest growing company - and the fastest-growing financial technology (Fintech) firm ever. Our purpose is to help established SMEs, one of the last major underserved opportunities in Fintech.

Established SMEs are the backbone of local communities - representing over a third of our economy - yet have been largely neglected both by traditional high street banks and modern fintech providers.

Department Description

Having already achieved significant success in the commercial mortgage and asset finance markets, Allica is focused on growing lending capabilities to enable further support to the SMEs we serve. A major contributor to that is unsecured lending.

This is a new product to our lending suite and will enable us to support the growth ambitions of SMEs in new areas where speed and flexibility matter. The aim is to help customers finance specific non-asset-backed spending through unsecured loans. We’ll leverage existing origination channels - brokers and direct relationships - to drive business, with specialist underwriting capabilities through this role to provide decisioning support, balancing speed and credit quality assessment. This role will play a pivotal part in successful delivery of our unsecured product, embedding this funding solution for SMEs.

The role will use our proprietary, self-built underwriting platform to combine data-driven insights with sound judgement to support informed, rapid decision making.

Principal Accountabilities

• You will actively manage submissions to maintain market-leading, SLA-adherent, response times

• Ensure decisions align with the bank’s risk appetite and delegated lending authorities, growing the unsecured portfolio safely and sustainably

• Provide clear, well rationalised decisions so the distribution team can have sensible discussions with brokers and customers, easily understanding the outcome

• Underwrite unsecured lending transactions submitted to Allica, this is the core of the role

• Use market knowledge and data (e.g. CRA reports, financial statements, bank statements, broker proposal) to drive strong outcomes for individual transactions and to inform appetite changes that support risk management and growth in the unsecured space

• Be an advocate for the product with colleagues throughout the bank

• Escalate exceptions and exposures beyond individual mandate to senior underwriters or Credit Committee

• Comply with all mandatory policies and develop and adhere to operational procedures to maintain a strong internal control environment and meet regulatory requirements

Personal Attributes & Experience

• A belief in the opportunity to build an improved unsecured lending solution for SMEs with a hands-on, innovative approach. Initiative and resilience are key

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build and maintain strong working relationships

• In-depth understanding of SME unsecured lending

• Experienced unsecured lending underwriter with strong decision-making skills

• Demonstrable experience of fast, accurate underwriting across a range of SME customers

• Ability to interpret detailed financial information (including balance sheet and cash forecasting), assess funding requirements and determine serviceability evidence

• Strong organisation and attention to detail.

• Experience recommending and delivering product/appetite changes to support portfolio growth

• Familiarity with scorecards/decision engines, open‑banking data, and automation of “flow” transactions

Working at Allica Bank

At Allica Bank we want to ensure our employees have the right tools and environment in which to succeed in their role and in support of our customers.

Our employees are at the heart of everything we do, so our benefits are designed with you in mind:

• Full onboarding support and continued development opportunities

• Options for flexible working

• Regular social activities

• Pension contributions

• Discretionary bonus scheme

• Private health cover

• Life assurance

• Family friendly policies including enhanced Maternity & Paternity leave

Don’t tick every box?

Don’t worry if you don’t have all the skills or requirements listed on the job description. If you think you’ll be a good fit, we’d still love to hear from you!

Flexible working

We know the ‘9-to-5’ isn’t right for everyone. That’s why Allica Bank is fully committed to flexible and hybrid working. Please let us know what is best for you and, if we can, we will do our best to accommodate.

Diversity

We’re a diverse bunch here at Allica, with all kinds of experiences, backgrounds and lifestyles. Our openness and differences make us stronger, and we want everybody to feel comfortable bringing as much of themselves to work with them as they like.