Loans are one of the most important parts of a bank's operations. A good portfolio of loans can help a financial institution make a lot of profit, but giving out too many risky loans can cause a bank to lose serious money. It's the job of the senior credit manager to take charge of the bank's credit policy and manage its portfolio.
The senior credit manager spends a lot of time thinking about risk. They are responsible for managing risk by assessing if a borrower is trustworthy and improving company sales. They also need to have an in-depth knowledge of banking regulations such as FDIC rules, so the bank doesn't get in trouble. The senior credit manager also needs to be excellent at communicating with others as they manage team members and are in constant contact with clients.
The road to the senior credit manager position is long, often involving several years of banking experience and an advanced degree such as an MBA. The grind doesn't stop once the position of the senior credit manager is achieved either. Senior credit managers can expect to work long hours and even weekends. However, the payoff is excellent-the average salary is $144,775.
Senior Credit Manager Overview
Senior Credit Manager Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior credit manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $69.36 an hour? That's $144,265 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 16% and produce 104,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Senior Credit Manager Do
There are certain skills that many senior credit managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and detail oriented.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a senior credit manager, we found that a lot of resumes listed 19.2% of senior credit managers included risk management, while 11.9% of resumes included credit risk, and 7.8% of resumes included financial statements. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the senior credit manager job title. But what industry to start with? Most senior credit managers actually find jobs in the finance and manufacturing industries.
How To Become a Senior Credit Manager
If you're interested in becoming a senior credit manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 59.8% of senior credit managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 26.0% of senior credit managers have master's degrees. Even though most senior credit managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a senior credit manager. When we researched the most common majors for a senior credit manager, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on senior credit manager resumes include high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a senior credit manager. In fact, many senior credit manager jobs require experience in a role such as credit manager. Meanwhile, many senior credit managers also have previous career experience in roles such as credit analyst or senior credit analyst.
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Senior Credit Manager Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a senior credit manager can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as credit director, progress to a title such as vice president and then eventually end up with the title commercial lending vice president.
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Average Salary for a Senior Credit Manager
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Federal Reserve Bank Credit Management, Senior Manager Credit Management, Senior Manager | Federal Reserve Bank Federal Reserve Bank | 12/12/2020 12/12/2020 | $124,50012/12/2020 $124,500 |
Smith Hanley Associates Senior Manager of Credit Risk Senior Manager of Credit Risk | Smith Hanley Associates Smith Hanley Associates | 11/23/2020 11/23/2020 | $100,00011/23/2020 $100,000 |
Smith Hanley Associates Senior Credit Manager Senior Credit Manager | Smith Hanley Associates Smith Hanley Associates | 01/24/2020 01/24/2020 | $110,00001/24/2020 $110,000 |
Smith Hanley Associates Senior Credit Manager Senior Credit Manager | Smith Hanley Associates Smith Hanley Associates | 12/19/2019 12/19/2019 | $110,00012/19/2019 $110,000 |
NRG Energy, Inc. SR. Manager, Credit SR. Manager, Credit | NRG Energy, Inc. NRG Energy, Inc. | 08/08/2019 08/08/2019 | $135,00008/08/2019 $135,000 |
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Top Colleges for Senior Credit Managers
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
4. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
5. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
6. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
7. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
8. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
9. SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY • Public
10. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Top Skills For a Senior Credit Manager
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.2% of senior credit managers listed risk management on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
- Risk Management, 19.2%
- Credit Risk, 11.9%
- Financial Statements, 7.8%
- Credit Analysis, 5.5%
- Loan Portfolio, 5.1%
- Other Skills, 50.5% See All Senior Credit Manager Skills
Best States For a Senior Credit Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior credit manager. The best states for people in this position are New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Senior credit managers make the most in New York with an average salary of $163,797. Whereas in New Jersey and Connecticut, they would average $148,461 and $143,077, respectively. While senior credit managers would only make an average of $139,195 in Pennsylvania, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
$163,797
Avg. Salary
2. District of Columbia
$151,939
Avg. Salary
3. New Jersey
$148,461
Avg. Salary
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