VICE PRESIDENT, AGRIBUSINESS UNDERWRITING
Are you ready to help shape the future of agribusiness lending? We’re seeking a dynamic and experienced underwriter to join our team as VP, Agribusiness Underwriting. This is more than a credit role; it’s a chance to influence the financial success of rural America’s most innovative agricultural enterprises.
About Us: At FCS Financial, we are dedicated to positively impacting our customers and communities. As a member of the Farm Credit System, we offer a supportive work environment where your contributions truly matter.
About the Role: As a key member of our credit team, the VP, Agribusiness Underwriting will lead the analysis and structuring of complex agribusiness and commercial lending opportunities, including multi-lender transactions.
This is more than a traditional underwriting role—you will collaborate closely with relationship managers, legal counsel, and senior leadership to deliver strategic, risk-mitigated credit solutions that drive responsible growth across diverse agricultural sectors.
What We Offer:
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Competitive Salary: Based on experience $79,000 - $140,000 with outstanding incentive opportunities linked to Association performance.
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Growth Opportunities: We are committed to your personal and professional development.
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Comprehensive Benefits: A highly competitive benefits package designed to support your health, financial well-being, and work-life balance.
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Flexible Work Environment: FCS Financial preferred locations include Jefferson City, O’Fallon, Harrisonville, Macon, Columbia, Hannibal or Springfield. There is opportunity for a Hybrid or Flex Work Schedule after an initial training period. Note that all FCS Financial locations with available space will be considered, the ones mentioned above are preferred.
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Collaborative Culture:Work alongside a supportive, experienced team committed to your success.
What You’ll Do:
- Analyze complex agribusiness loan requests and develop detailed financial forecasts
- Assess borrower creditworthiness using industry benchmarks and sound lending principles
- Structure credit facilities that effectively balance risk and growth
- Prepare comprehensive credit narratives, including loan recommendations, conditions, and classifications
- Monitor borrower performance and compliance with financial covenants; recommend corrective actions as needed
- Participate in customer meetings to gather operational insights and communicate lending requirements
- Partner with relationship managers to align credit decisions with portfolio growth objectives
- Support internal credit committees with recommendations and documentation reviews
- Identify and collect required financial information to support loan origination and servicing
What You Bring:
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics or related field
- Experience:5+ year’s experience in agribusiness lending or underwriting
- Skills: Exceptional communication, negotiation, and decision-making skills.
This position is open until filled.
This position is classified as Exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Department: Credit
Reports To: Vice President Team Leader Credit; Commercial & Agribusiness Lending
Supervises: None
Job Functions*
Loan Request Analysis
- Assesses creditworthiness of agribusiness borrowers by:
- Develops and evaluates long and/or short-term financial projections based on customer financial data
- Analyzes capital, capacity, collateral, character, conditions and management ability of the borrower
- Compares the borrowers’ overall financial position to industry and core lending standards and enterprise guidelines
- Identifies potential risks of the proposed loan and contingencies and develops loan structure that mitigates risk.
- Writes credit narratives interpreting and supporting results of credit and management assessment
- Determines loan classification, probability of default, and loss given default ratings
- Approves, modifies and/or denies credit applications and servicing actions within delegated credit authority and as Loan Committee member. Recommends approval or denial of loans above delegated credit authority
- Determines or recommends the structure and loan conditions to support approvals/recommendations of approval
- Engages internal and 3rd party legal counsel to develop, obtain, and review the appropriate loan documentation as needed
- Prepare, review, approve servicing actions
Account Monitoring and Covenant Compliance Reporting
- Determines borrower compliance with financial and loan covenants
- Recommends covenant enforcement, waiver, or nonmonetary loan default
- Writes narrative reports to Senior and Executive Management on the effectiveness of account monitoring identifying deficiencies affecting credit administration and lending risk.
- Initiates actions to address non-compliance
Conducts perpetual evaluations and assessment of risk
Credit Loan Committee
- Serves on the Credit Loan Committee
- Conditionally approves loan requests and forwards to remaining Committee members
- Communicates with senior Credit staff, Credit Loan Committee and Executive Loan Committee for loan approval
Agricultural Enterprise Expertise
- Researches, evaluates trends, and quantifies risk profiles for enterprises including; swine, poultry, crops, cattle, dairy, and service related companies
- Shares industry knowledge with Association credit and market facing staff
- Reviews front-end guidance and lending procedures to improve processes and outcomes
- Represents Association at lending meetings and industry symposiums
Relationship Management
- Participates in customer meetings to negotiate, communicate, and educate customers on lending requirements and reporting expectations
- Provides trend data on customer balance sheet, earnings, and repayment capacity quantifying the impact of business operations
- Observe and review inspections when requested by relationship managers
- Engage customers on site to observe and obtain knowledge of their operations
- Other duties as assigned to meet the needs of the organization.
* Essential Functions for this position consist of all items listed under any category that make up 5% or more of the job duties. This job description is subject to change without notice.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, or a related field
- 5 years related experience
- Or an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to perform the essential functions of the job
Required Knowledge and Skills
- Expert knowledge of the agriculture industry and the impact of current events on agricultural operations and credit
- Expert knowledge of financial ratios
- Expert knowledge of Association lending procedures and policies
- Skill in developing loan covenants
- Expertise in loan structuring and negotiating loan terms and conditions
- Expertise in reading and interpreting tax returns, profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flows and similar financial documents
- Expertise in understanding relationship between financial statements and operations
- Expertise in listening and conveying awareness of a customer's problem or issue to find resolution
- Working knowledge of hedging and risk management techniques
- Oral and written communication skills, sufficient to exchange information effectively with peers, supervisors, senior management, industry leaders and customers
- Skill in negotiating agreements to achieve the best outcome for the organization
- Skill in processing complex, detailed forms, and documents in an accurate and thorough manner
- Skill in applying processes and procedures to factual data to come to a logical decision
- Skill in utilizing Word, Excel, and Outlook to increase efficiency and/or effectiveness
- Responsible to appropriately protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of the Association’s systems and data and clients’ data
We are an Equal Employment/Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at
[email protected] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this e-mail address.
For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please click here.
