The Portfolio Senior Officer plays a key first-line role in supporting the Bank’s commercial credit portfolio by strengthening front-end risk discipline, enhancing ongoing portfolio awareness, and ensuring timely and complete financial information for assigned customer relationships. This position is designed to proactively identify emerging risks, support Relationship Managers (RMs) throughout the stages of the deal, including structuring. The Portfolio Senior Officer will serve as an early-warning risk partner within the business. The role emphasizes judgment, escalation, and coordination rather than transactional credit processing. The Portfolio Senior Officer performs high-level financial reviews upon receipt of borrower information to identify potential weaknesses, adverse trends, or sector-related risks, and promptly escalates such concerns to Credit partners for independent assessment. In addition, the role supports origination through preliminary (“soft-quote”) analyses to assess alignment with the Bank’s risk appetite and identify structural or credit issues before formal Credit involvement. The Portfolio Senior Officer, together with the RM, retains accountability for the ongoing administration of customer relationships, including the timeliness, completeness, and quality of information provided to Credit. The Portfolio Senior Officer operates within clearly defined governance and escalation frameworks to preserve separation of duties, independent credit oversight, and regulatory compliance.
Responsibilities:
Early Financial Review & Risk Triage- Perform high-level reviews of borrower financial information upon receipt to identify:
- Deteriorating performance trends
- Liquidity or leverage pressure
- Industry- or sector-specific risk signals
- Promptly escalate identified concerns to the Relationship Manager and Credit (second line) for further review.
- Document early-warning observations in accordance with established PM protocols.
- Ensure loans are properly risk rated in a timely manner
- Support Relationship Managers (RMs) during early deal structuring and origination.
- Conduct soft-quote / preliminary analyses to:
- Assess alignment with the Bank’s risk appetite
- Identify potential structural or credit weaknesses
- Recommend whether a transaction should proceed to Credit or be declined early
- Assist RMs in preparing preliminary proposals and materials for the deal-screening process.
- Collaborates with the Relationship Manager in the loan approval and closing process to ensure timely and efficient closings.
- Jointly accountable with RMs for the ongoing administration of customer relationships, including:
- Timely receipt of borrower financial statements
- Completeness of required information
- Responsiveness to Credit and Risk information requests
- Timely completion of annual reviews, covenant tests, post-closing items and ticklers.
- Coordinate with the Client Support Unit (CSU) to facilitate the collection of financial and other required information.
- Ensure delays, missing information, or unresponsive clients are escalated appropriately.
- Monitor assigned industries and sectors for:
- Macroeconomic trends
- Emerging risk indicators
- Concentration or portfolio-level issues
- Provide relevant insights to:
- RMs
- Portfolio Management leadership
- Credit and Risk partners
- Monitor portfolio reports including:
- Maturities
- Delinquencies
- Past dues
- Pending annual reviews and covenant testing
- Pending financials and other ticklers
- Identify and escalate portfolio irregularities or adverse trends to Portfolio Management leadership.
- Participate in site visits or inspections, as required, and document observations.
- Maintain working knowledge of the Bank’s credit policies, programs, and risk appetite.
- Ensure activities comply with applicable regulations and internal policies, including BSA/AML, OFAC, and related requirements.
- Support management initiatives and special projects as assigned.
Minimum Education and/or Certifications Requirements:
Bachelor’s degree in business, accounting or finance required. Master’s degree preferred OR 3+ years of commercial & retail portfolio management experience in lieu of education. Formal credit training required.
Minimum Work Experience Requirements:
7+ years of professional experience in lending and/or portfolio management field and/or credit analysis. Knowledgeable of banking products and documentation.
Technical and/or Other Essential Knowledge:
Thorough understanding of the Bank’s credit procedures, programs and policy. Accounting and credit principles. Proficiency in Microsoft Suite is required; experience in SQL is a plus. Salesforce, nCino, FIS IBS experience is a plus. Sound time management and organizational skills required. Well organized and systematic. Must possess strong communication skills.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in business, accounting, or finance
- 3+ years of commercial and retail portfolio management experience may substitute for the education requirement
- Formal credit training
- 7+ years of professional experience in lending, portfolio management, or credit analysis
- Knowledge of banking products and documentation
- Thorough understanding of credit procedures, programs, and policies
- Knowledge of accounting and credit principles
- Proficiency in Microsoft Suite
- Strong communication, organizational, and time-management skills
- Master's degree
- Experience with SQL, Salesforce, nCino, or FIS IBS
What We Do
Amerant Bank is the principal operating subsidiary of Amerant Bancorp, serving individuals and businesses in U.S. markets and select international markets. Its offerings include deposit and credit products, personal and commercial banking, investment, wealth-management, fiduciary and mortgage services, provided through the bank and affiliated subsidiaries. Headquartered in Florida, Amerant operates banking centers and describes its mission as supporting customers and enriching the communities it serves.
