Senior Underwriter - Defence, Shipping & Space

Job summary

The Division

UKEF’s Business Group is at the very heart of what we do as a department. Due to expansion and growth of our business and customer base UK Export Finance (UKEF) is looking to fill a number of Senior Underwriter roles in the Aerospace, Defence, Shipping & Space Division within UKEF’s Business Group. Typically, our support can help UK exporters win, fulfil and get paid for contracts in all sectors. The main activities of the advertised roles are listed below. We are looking for highly motivated individuals who are process driven with demonstrable interpersonal skills who can organise themselves with little or no supervision.

Aerospace, Defence, Shipping & Space (ADSS)

The Aerospace, Defence, Shipping & Space team is one of two divisions within the Business Group dealing primarily with executing medium / long-term export finance transactions. The team deals with all stages of UKEF’s new business lifecycle in these sectors from initial application to the provision of cover/support as well as undertaking some business development activities. ADSS’s work directly supports UKEF’s core mission. It makes a significant direct contribution to our ambition to support the export strategy through support for exporters and their customers in the covered sectors, working with some of the UK’s largest manufacturers and their supply chains.

Job description

About the Role

The Defence, Shipping, and Space team is within the Aerospace and Defence Division of the Business Group and is central to the delivery of UKEF’s commercial activity. The Aerospace and Defence Division is a friendly and supportive team that covers a wide range of high-profile transactions. The department is fully committed to diversity, staff empowerment, well-being, and flexible working.

The team leads on progressing transactions from the enquiry stage to financial close for viable export contracts within the Defence, Shipping, or Space sectors. Over the past year, the team has been working on a variety of high-value, high-profile transactions, such as Ukraine and Poland.

The core element of the Senior Underwriter’s role is, in summary, day to day responsibility for managing a portfolio of transactions towards a timely and successful close and looking after the various moving parts that make up a complex export finance transaction. This role enables the postholder to gain significant commercial and public sector knowledge and skills across a range of subjects.

The role gives an opportunity to be instrumental to the delivery of a portfolio of potentially high profile, high value and complex transactions. You will work on multiple cases, simultaneously, in a highly pressurized, commercially driven, technical, international environment. The ability to respond within commercially driven timescales is particularly important.

The Senior Underwriter must ensure that any export finance support which is provided to the customer meets the needs of the customer and complies with UKEF’s governing Act of Parliament, the Consent to operate by HM Treasury, International Agreements applying to Export Credit Agencies as well as being compliant with UKEF’s own policies and practices.

Main Activities

This includes, but is not limited to:

1. Working in a cross disciplinary team to come up with creative solutions regarding risk and financial structuring and documentation;
2. Building good day to day relationships with senior members of the banking and exporting community;
3. Managing decision making processes relating to new business;
4. Obtaining the necessary internal and cross Government approvals, e.g. by UKEF’s Enterprise Risk and Credit Committee; and
5. With legal and other colleagues negotiating and issuing documents to enable support to be made available by any UKEF insurance product or loan guarantees to banks or via a direct lending solution.

The role often involves significant analysis of complex and non-standard issues to enable timely decision making, seeking advice as necessary from professional advisers and colleagues; being able to interpret and act on advice; knowing when to refer upwards and ensuring the proper recording of decisions made by relevant members of the team.

It also involves producing specific and detailed authoritative advice for senior decision makers, obtaining relevant legal and other advice as required, in order to fully meet the needs of senior decision makers and exercising your own judgement as appropriate. Seeing the bigger picture in relation to decisions being made or recommended in the context of UKEF’s objectives and the wider world will also be key. The successful candidate will demonstrate excellent judgement, with a clear ability to act as an informed and intelligent customer across a wide range of disciplines including credit, legal pricing, and international relations.

There will be opportunity for marketing representation both in the UK and overseas and to help build/maintain important commercial relationships.

Training and Development is a key part of the process, but you will also be expected to seek out and take development opportunities and be keen to expand your own knowledge base.

There may be opportunities to manage staff; setting objectives, delegating work, coaching, training and development and managing performance.

This list is not exhaustive, and you may be required to carry out additional duties according to business needs.

Person specification

UK Export Finance is looking for motivated individuals with a desire to learn about the business. Successful candidates will be provided not only with functional training to enable them to do well in their role, but also with personal development to help them to achieve their career ambitions. Please note that the person specification below outlines at which stage(s) you will be assessed on how you meet the criteria for the role(s) including:-

A = assessed at application stage I = assessed at interview stage T = assessed by test stage P = assessed at presentation stage

Essential

Qualifications

• Degree level education, ideally legal, business or finance related qualifications, or relevant and proven work experience. (A)

Knowledge

• Understanding of international finance techniques used in export finance or similar techniques with a suitable read across. (A, I, P)
• Capacity to evolve/develop learning about main finance and risk structures used in export finance/project finance. (I)
• To be able to quickly build a full understanding of the financial environment that UKEF operates within and to understand the wider UKEF and external picture. (I)

Skills/Ability

• Ability to communicate effectively (oral and written) to be credible with a wide range of senior stakeholders. (A, I, P)
• Ability to effectively draft case related documents e.g. credit submissions, case related policy papers and submissions to senior management and external parties. (A, I, P)
• Numeracy skills and analytical ability, to effectively review a range of issues. (A, I)
• Ability to understand complex, financial, legal and policy issues. (I)
• Ability to problem-solve and to think through a range of policy and customer propositions. (I)
• Ability to provide professional advice and to deal with customers at senior levels creatively when difficult or unusual problems are presented. (A, I)
• Ability to analyse drafting and to identify issues in finance documentation. (A, I, P)
• Ability to work without close supervision, exercise autonomy sensibly and to ensure that deadlines are met. (A, I)
• Ability to work effectively within, and manage, cross- departmental teams. (A, I)
• Able to proficiently use Microsoft Office products - Word, Excel and PowerPoint. (P)

Experience

• Commercial process management experience: managing transactions from application to delivery. (A, I)
• Experience of managing commercial teams to deliver outcomes. (A, I)
• Explaining and/or advocating complex transactions, cases, proposals or propositions to senior internal stakeholders and/or external customers. (A, I, P)

Qualifications

Degree level education, ideally legal, business or finance related qualifications, or relevant and proven work experience. (A)

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Written case study to be presented at interview

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £48,750, UK Export Finance contributes £14,122 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Ability, Experience and Technical skills.

Please ensure that you read through the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert, before applying.

All applications will be sifted against our essential criteria outlined in the personal specification. In addition to this, applicants will also be asked to complete an on-line ability test, this must also be completed prior to the deadline for your application.

• Qualification - Degree level education, ideally legal, business or finance related qualifications, or relevant and proven work experience. (A)
• On-line ability test - Numerical (this must be completed by 12:00pm midday on Monday 13 April 2026
• Behaviour statement - Delivering at Pace (250 word statement)
• Statement of suitability - you should fully articulate in 750 words how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification within the Information Pack.

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:

1. Experience - Application and Statement of Suitability
2. Behaviour - Delivering at Pace (250 word statement)

In the event of a large response, an initial sift will be carried out on the following essential criteria:

• Understanding of international finance techniques used in export finance or similar techniques with a suitable read across. (A,I,P)
• Behaviour - Delivering at Pace (250 word statement)

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial interview, to be held onsite at 1 Horse Guards Road; this will include the following assessment:

1. Behaviours / Experience- a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all two behaviours highlighted in Appendix 1.
2. Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria:
   1. Written case study to be presented at interview

Details of interview panel members will be e-mailed to all successful candidates who are invited for interview.

Timetable

Please note that the interview dates are indicative.

Closing deadline for test

12:00pm midday on Monday 13 April 2026

Closing date for applications

23:55 on Wednesday 15 April 2026

Notification of outcome of application

w/c 27 April 2026

Interviews in Westminster, London or via MS Teams

w/c 4 & 11 May 2026

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Recruitment Team
• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Further information

Should you have a complaint or wish to raise any concerns regarding the recruitment process, please e-mail your complaint to the Head of Pay and Resourcing (UKEF) at Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk and include “Complaint” in the subject heading. Should you remain dissatisfied following UKEF’s investigation then you can refer your complaint to the Commission - http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/making-complaint.

Attachments

UKEF - Senior Underwriter DSS Opens in new window (pdf, 2092kB)