Team Leader – Underwriting / Mortgage Administration - Leeds

Role:                                                    Team Leader – (Underwriting / Mortgage Administration)

Location:                                             Hybrid, Leeds or Sheffield, 2-3 days on site, 2 days from home

Start Date:                                          January 2027

End Date:                                            6 Months

Daily Rate: Inside IR35:                   Daily Rate breakdown

                                                           Traditional Daily Rate: £200 Per Day

                                                           Equivalent Annual Salary: £39,991 (includes holiday pay)

Payroll provider:                               Rockford Payroll  Info for Contingent Workers – Rockford Pay

The Team Leader – Underwriting / Mortgage Administration is responsible for leading a team of underwriting support staff who follow a decision tree and lending criteria to determine whether mortgage applications can proceed. The role provides day-to-day leadership, coaching, workload management, and quality oversight to support accurate, efficient, and compliant lending decisions and case progression.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, support, and develop a team of underwriting and mortgage administration staff to deliver high-quality service and meet operational targets.
  
• Allocate and monitor workloads to ensure applications, documentation, and case progression are managed efficiently.
  
• Oversee the preparation, checking, and processing of mortgage application documentation and supporting information.
  
• Ensure cases are progressed in line with internal procedures, decision trees, service-level agreements, and regulatory requirements.
  
• Provide guidance on case queries, documentation issues, and process-related escalations.
  
• Review work for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with policy and quality standards.
  
• Coach team members to improve performance, technical knowledge, and customer service skills.
  
• Conduct regular one-to-ones, performance reviews, and team meetings.
  
• Support onboarding and training of new starters within the team.
  
• Identify process improvements and contribute to initiatives that enhance efficiency and customer experience.
  
• Escalate complex cases, risks, or operational issues to management as appropriate.
  
• Prepare reports on team performance, case volumes, turnaround times, and quality metrics.
  

Required Skills and Experience

• Experience in mortgage administration, underwriting support, or lending operations.
  
• Previous supervisory or team leadership experience in a financial services or mortgage environment.
  
• Strong understanding of mortgage processing, documentation requirements, lending workflows, and decision-tree-based lending criteria.
  
• Excellent attention to detail and organisational skills.
  
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
  
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
  
• Experience coaching, motivating, and developing team members.
  
• Good working knowledge of mortgage systems, case management tools, and Microsoft Office applications.
  
• Understanding of compliance, risk, and quality standards within mortgage operations.
  

Key Competencies

• Leadership and people management
  
• Attention to detail
  
• Organisation and prioritisation
  
• Customer focus
  
• Problem-solving
  
• Collaboration
  
• Accountability
  
• Continuous improvement mindset
  

Success Measures

• Team productivity and turnaround times
  
• Accuracy and quality of case processing
  
• Compliance with internal procedures, decision trees, and regulatory requirements
  
• Team development and engagement
  
• Contribution to operational improvements
  

This role will involve 3 weeks training on site at either Leeds or Sheffield