Underwriting Manager

Updraft. Helping you make changes that pay off.

Updraft is an award winning, FCA-authorised, high-growth fintech based in London. Our vision is to revolutionise the way people spend and think about money, by automating the day to day decisions involved in managing money and mainstream borrowings like credit cards, overdrafts and other loans.

• A 360 degree spending view across all your financial accounts (using Open banking)
• A free credit report with tips and guidance to help improve your credit score
• Native AI led personalised financial planning to help users manage money, pay off their debts and improve their credit scores
• Intelligent lending products to help reduce cost of credit

We have built scale and are getting well recognised in the UK fintech ecosystem.

• 800k+ users of the mobile app that has helped users swap c £500 m of costly credit-card debt for smarter credit, putting hundreds of thousands on a path to better financial health
• The product is highly rated by our customers. We are rated 4.8 on Trustpilot, 4.8 on the Play Store, and 4.4 on the iOS Store
• We are selected for Technation Future Fifty 2025 - a program that recognizes and supports successful and innovative scaleups to IPOs - 30% of UK unicorns have come out of this program.
• Updraft once again featured on the Sifted 100 UK startups - among only 25 companies to have made the list over both years 2024 and 2025

We are looking for exceptional talent to join us on our next stage of growth with a compelling proposition - purpose you can feel, impact you can measure, and ownership you'll actually hold. Expect a hybrid, London-hub culture where cross-functional squads tackle real-world problems with cutting-edge tech; generous learning budgets and wellness benefits; and the freedom to experiment, ship, and see your work reflected in customers' financial freedom. At Updraft, you'll help build a fairer credit system.

The Role

The role will lead Updraft’s Underwriting team. The role will be responsible for all of the procedures within Underwriting, constantly improving them to optimise speed of decision with business outcome. They will also be responsible for Fraud, both at the application stage and post-application where a customer has potentially been a victim of fraud.

We’re looking for someone who can take ownership of these areas and drive significant process improvement through automation and AI development whilst also improving overall business performance. The successful candidate will be able to set the overall strategy and identify relevant automation use cases through appropriate leadership and collaboration whilst being hands-on and having enough technical knowledge to work with Engineering to deliver on the changes.

The position is ideal for someone with experience in Underwriting within consumer lending, particularly within fast-paced, technology-driven financial services environments.

You will be reporting to the COO.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the Underwriting policy and procedures, making continual improvements to ensure they align to new business campaigns and application types
• Review cases where a customer has been a victim of fraud to determine the appropriate outcome
• Provide regular feedback to the Credit Risk team on quality of referrals and opportunity for improvement
• Deliver fast-paced change through automation and AI to improve process efficiency and effectiveness
• Lead a team of human and AI agents to deliver against Underwriting targets
• Personally review referrals, when necessary, to ensure the team remains within SLA
• Present key MI to the leadership team on a regular basis, alongside plans of how to continually improve performance
• Work closely with Data Science, Engineering, Compliance, and other customer facing teams to ensure decisions support both customer outcomes and regulatory standards.

Requirements

• Experience: Strong background in Underwriting within Consumer Lending
• Start-Up Culture: Familiarity with start-up culture and comfort with fast-paced, evolving environments
• AI & Automation: Proven track record of improving efficiency through use of AI and automation
• Leadership: Proven experience in leading teams and managing cross-functional initiatives
• Communication: Strong interpersonal skills to collaborate with stakeholders and provide updates to the leadership team effectively
• Previous experience with consumer finance, particularly in credit cards, personal loans, or buy-now-pay-later products

Benefits

• Flexible hybrid working

• Pension and Medical plan
• Opportunities for career growth within a high-growth fintech