Mortgage Underwriting Policy SME

Overview

Serve as the subject-matter authority for U.S. residential mortgage underwriting policies and guidelines across Product, Engineering, AI, and Operations for the JazzX Mortgage Application.

What you'll do

• Serve as the Policy Owner / Mortgage Underwriting SME for the JazzX Mortgage Application.
• Interpret and apply U.S. residential mortgage underwriting guidelines and policies to complex underwriting scenarios.
• Review underwriting decisions, AUS findings, exceptions, compensating factors, conditions, and overrides.
• Apply Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines and, where applicable, FHA, VA, and USDA requirements.
• Provide clear and well-documented rationale for underwriting decisions and policy interpretations.
• Stay current with changes to mortgage underwriting guidelines, investor requirements, and industry practices.
• Review and validate AI-generated underwriting decisions and recommendations against applicable mortgage guidelines.
• Compare automated underwriting outputs with expected manual underwriting decisions and identify discrepancies.
• Analyze root causes of policy or decisioning gaps and recommend corrective actions.
• Support the development of validation and QA frameworks for AI-assisted underwriting.
• Ensure automated underwriting decisions are accurate, explainable, traceable, and policy-compliant.
• Translate complex mortgage underwriting policies and guidelines into clear, actionable business rules.
• Work with Product, Engineering, and AI/Data Science teams to convert underwriting requirements into AI decision logic.
• Define policy exceptions, fallback logic, conditions, acceptance criteria, and decision requirements.
• Help establish audit trails and documentation for automated underwriting decisions.
• Review product requirements, test cases, and releases from an underwriting-policy perspective.
• Apply knowledge of end-to-end mortgage workflows across Loan Officers, Processors, Underwriters, Closers, Post-Close QC, Servicing, and Investor/Secondary Market functions.
• Identify workflow gaps, handoff issues, data dependencies, and opportunities to reduce rework.
• Work with LOS/integration teams to map relevant loan data and fields to underwriting rules and conditions.
• Leverage experience with Encompass and similar mortgage technology platforms to support product requirements.
• Participate in discussions with U.S.-based clients and stakeholders to understand their underwriting requirements.
• Explain underwriting policies, decisions, exceptions, and interpretations to client stakeholders.
• Support client-specific mortgage applications and underwriting requirements.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Operations teams to align client requirements and product capabilities.
• Create and maintain underwriting playbooks, policy documentation, decision frameworks, and reference materials.
• Train Product, Engineering, AI, and Operations teams on mortgage underwriting policies and workflows.
• Serve as the primary domain reviewer for underwriting-related product specifications, test plans, and release readiness.

What you'll need

• 10+ years of hands-on U.S. residential mortgage underwriting experience, preferably in senior, specialist, or policy-focused roles.
• Deep and current knowledge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac underwriting guidelines.
• Strong understanding of residential mortgage underwriting policies, guidelines, workflows, and decision-making.
• Experience interpreting AUS findings, underwriting conditions, exceptions, compensating factors, and overrides.
• Strong experience handling complex underwriting scenarios and applying appropriate policy interpretation.
• Hands-on experience with Encompass or other major mortgage LOS platforms.
• Ability to translate complex underwriting policies into clear, actionable business rules and decision logic.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a validation-oriented mindset.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with Product, Engineering, AI/Data Science, Operations, and U.S.-based clients/stakeholders.

Nice to have

• Experience with FHA, VA, and USDA underwriting guidelines.
• Experience with government-backed mortgage programs.
• Experience in underwriting automation, AI-assisted underwriting, or underwriting QA/validation.
• Experience with post-close QC or secondary-market/investor requirements.
• Experience working with mortgage lenders, servicers, investors, or mortgage technology companies.
• Experience translating underwriting policies into technology/product requirements.
• Prior experience working directly with U.S.-based mortgage clients or stakeholders.

Details

• Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
• Works directly with U.S.-based clients and stakeholders.