Underwriting & Funding Manager

inKind is looking for an Underwriting & Funding Manager to evaluate restaurant funding opportunities and make disciplined, timely funding decisions. You'll own the review process from initial diligence through final recommendation or approval, helping inKind fund strong restaurant partners while managing risk. This role requires financial judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to understand the business behind the numbers. You should be comfortable making decisions with incomplete information, asking thoughtful questions, and explaining your conclusions clearly.

Responsibilities

Review new funding opportunities and assess applications, financial statements, sales trends, bank activity, existing obligations, and supporting materials; Underwrite restaurant businesses by evaluating operating performance, cash flow, liquidity, ownership experience, and ability to support the proposed funding structure; Determine appropriate funding terms, including amounts, structures, conditions, and risk mitigants; Make funding decisions by approving or declining requests within delegated authority and presenting exceptions or larger transactions to decision-makers; Document judgment through concise underwriting summaries explaining the opportunity, key risks, assumptions, and rationale; Lead diligence by working with restaurant owners and internal teams to resolve questions, verify information, and identify material discrepancies or potential fraud; Coordinate funding readiness by confirming approvals, documentation, and funding conditions are complete before funds are released; Improve the process by refining underwriting standards, approval workflows, and reporting; Learn from performance by partnering with the team monitoring funded restaurants to compare actual results with underwriting assumptions

Requirements

4+ years of experience in commercial underwriting, small business financing, fintech lending, credit analysis, investment analysis, or a related field; Strong financial statement analysis and modeling skills, including evaluating cash flow, liquidity, leverage, repayment capacity, and unit-level economics; Experience independently evaluating transactions, assessing financial and operational risks, and making or recommending funding decisions; Experience building, implementing, or improving underwriting processes, with a focus on automation, operational efficiency, and scalable decision-making; Ability to translate underwriting policies, financial thresholds, risk indicators, and approval requirements into structured business rules and automated workflows; Strong analytical and technical aptitude, with the ability to work with financial datasets, identify patterns, validate information, and support data-driven underwriting decisions; Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills, including financial modeling, scenario analysis, and working with transaction-level data; Familiarity with underwriting systems, financial data platforms, automated decisioning tools, or workflow automation technologies; Ability to partner effectively with Product, Engineering, and Data teams to define requirements, test solutions, and implement improvements; Sound commercial judgment and the ability to balance funding opportunities, speed of execution, and disciplined risk management; Clear written and verbal communication skills, including explaining complex financial findings and technical requirements to financial and nonfinancial stakeholders; Strong organization, attention to detail, and follow-through, with the ability to manage multiple funding reviews and process improvement initiatives

Nice to have

Restaurant, hospitality, or multiunit business underwriting experience; Familiarity with restaurant point-of-sale (POS) data, payment processing systems, seasonality, food and labor costs, and location-level profitability; Experience with alternative financing structures, including revenue-based financing or merchant cash advances; Hands-on experience implementing automated underwriting workflows, rules-based decision engines, risk-scoring models, or automated approval processes; Experience integrating or analyzing financial data from banking platforms, POS systems, payment processors, or third-party data providers; Working knowledge of SQL and experience with Snowflake, Sigma, Tableau, or similar data and business intelligence platforms; Experience using AI, machine learning, or automation tools to improve financial analysis, document processing, risk assessment, or underwriting efficiency; A track record of building or refining underwriting policies, approval frameworks, and risk management processes in a high-growth fintech or lending environment