Senior HELOC Underwriter, Specialized Credit Decisioning & Strategy

About Upstart

Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart’s AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates across races, ages, and genders, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than 80% of borrowers are approved instantly, with zero documentation to upload.

Upstart is a digital-first company, which means that most Upstarters live and work anywhere in the United States. However, we also have offices in San Mateo, California;
Columbus, Ohio;
Austin, Texas; and New York City, NY (opening Summer 2026).

Most Upstarters join us because they connect with our mission of enabling access to effortless credit based on true risk. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Upstart, we’d love to hear from you!

The Exception & Escalation Underwriting team partners closely with Home Lending Underwriting, Processing Operations, and Closing to resolve complex HELOC scenarios that fall outside standard decision paths. This function provides second-level credit decision support, applies documented exception authority, and drives fast, defensible resolutions for time-sensitive escalations. The team also plays a key role in improving operational consistency by partnering with Credit Policy, Quality, Legal & Compliance, and Closing/Title to ensure exception decisions are executable through clear-to-close and funding.

• Own exceptions & escalations: Independently resolve complex HELOC exception and escalation cases (income/asset nuance, liens, layered risk, occupancy/property considerations) within delegated authority and policy intent.
• Underwriting-to-close partnership: Partner directly with Closing/Title to resolve closing blockers by making timely decisions within authority—and when needed, partnering with Underwriting leadership and Legal & Compliance to reach policy-aligned resolutions that keep files on track for on-time funding.
• Audit-ready documentation: Deliver clear, defensible rationale and executable conditions (complete notes, evidence, and requirements) that reduce downstream churn and withstand QA/audit scrutiny.
• Data-driven improvement: Analyze exception/escalation and closing outcomes to identify recurring friction points (rework drivers, cycle-time bottlenecks, defect themes) and translate insights into process, policy, or workflow recommendations.
• Enablement & consistency: Contribute to calibration, edge-case guidance, and playbooks that improve decision consistency and reduce repeat escalations.

• 5+ years residential mortgage underwriting experience with independent credit decision ownership
• Direct Exceptions & Escalations underwriting experience (e.g., escalation desk/queue, second-level review, exception authority role)
• HELOC underwriting experience, including lien position/lien documentation, CLTV/HCLTV, property/occupancy, and income/asset evaluation
• Proven experience partnering with Closing/Title to set executable conditions and resolve underwriting-to-close issues through clear-to-close and/or funding
• Strong written documentation skills (clear rationale, conditions, supporting evidence) appropriate for QA/audit review
• Demonstrated data analytics capability to evaluate trends, quantify impact, and make process improvement recommendations (e.g., Excel/Sheets analysis, dashboards, root-cause analysis)

• Experience partnering with Legal & Compliance on policy interpretation and exception decisions
• Proficiency with SQL and/or BI tools (e.g., Looker/Tableau) and comfort working with operational datasets
• Experience contributing to workflow improvements (playbooks, decision trees, control enhancements, system triggers) that reduce rework or cycle time
• Familiarity with digital mortgage workflows and case management/LOS tooling
• Underwriting Experience with independent credit decisioning at a Fintech company

Remote

The team operates on the East/West coast time…