Sr Underwriter

Job title: Senior Underwriter 

Reports to: VP, Transactional Risk 

Department: Legal

Location: Hicksville, NY or Alpharetta, GA or Remote  

Grade: 16

About Priority: 

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. is a leading financial technology company on a mission to deliver a personalized, easy-to-adopt financial toolset that accelerates cash flow and optimizes working capital for businesses. Our vision is to eliminate the barriers to unlocking revenue - empowering businesses to grow faster and operate smarter.

We achieve this through the Priority Commerce Engine, an innovative platform that combines payables, acquiring, and banking and treasury solutions. This unified approach allows businesses to streamline financial operations, reduce unnecessary costs, and uncover new revenue opportunities.

At Priority, we're driven by results. We expect our people to be known for results - bringing expertise, momentum, and relentless focus to every challenge, helping our clients and each other thrive.

About the Role:

As a Senior Underwriter, you will evaluate and manage the risk exposure of large, complex merchant accounts by analyzing financial statements, banking data, processing history, and credit reports. You will apply Card Brand underwriting rules across various processing relationships, including merchants, payment facilitators, and marketplaces, to ensure compliance and sound risk decisions. This role requires performing comprehensive financial reviews, spreading financials, and preparing detailed credit packages for internal and external approval. You will take full ownership of the credit decisioning process, balancing customer needs with organizational risk tolerance. You will also negotiate approval structures such as reserves and ACH delays to mitigate risk while supporting revenue growth. In addition, you will provide training and guidance to junior underwriters and sales partners.

Responsibilities: 

• Own and manage the end-to-end credit and underwriting process for large, complex merchant accounts, making risk-based decisions in the best interest of both the organization and the customer

• Evaluate overall merchant risk exposure by assessing business models, transaction volumes, processing structures, and potential liabilities

• Ensure compliance with Card Brand underwriting rules and company policies across all card processing relationships, including Merchant, Payment Facilitator, and Marketplace models

• Perform comprehensive financial analysis, including full financial reviews and spreading of financial statements, to assess a merchant’s ability to support processing risk

• Analyze credit-related information such as banking data, processing history, and consumer and commercial credit reports to support underwriting decisions

• Prepare detailed and well-supported credit packages for review and approval by internal stakeholders and external partners

• Negotiate approval structures with merchants and partners, including reserves, ACH delays, and other risk-mitigation tools, to balance risk control and revenue growth

• Provide ongoing training, mentorship, and guidance to junior underwriters and merchant sales channels to enhance underwriting knowledge and consistency

What Success Looks Like:

• Success in this role means consistently making sound, well-documented underwriting decisions that effectively balance risk mitigation with business growth. 

• Large and complex merchant accounts are approved and structured in alignment with Card Brand rules, company policies, and the organization’s risk appetite. 

• Financial, credit, and processing analyses are thorough, accurate, and clearly communicated through high-quality credit packages. 

• Risk exposure is proactively identified and mitigated through appropriate approval conditions, negotiations, and monitoring. 

• The Senior Underwrit