Underwriting Associate

📌 Job Title: Underwriting AssociateCompany: Columbia CreekLocation: Remote (U.S. market knowledge required)Employment Type: Full-Time 🏢 About Columbia CreekColumbia Creek is a privately held real estate investment firm focused on acquiring and repositioning distressed or mismanaged retail assets throughout the United States. Our specialty is single-floor strip malls and free-standing retail centers — from $3M local properties to $40M redevelopment projects. We operate as a lean, fast-moving team executing high-leverage strategies to unlock value through repositioning and hands-on asset management. 🎯 About the RoleWe’re hiring an Underwriting Associate to act as the “first responder” on new property leads. Your job is to quickly (within 1 h) evaluate raw retail opportunities and turn them into investable business cases. You'll assess the potential upside, pressure-test assumptions, and help us make buy decisions — fast.This is napkin underwriting with real impact: based on your analysis, we decide whether to make an offer. You’ll also support deeper second-round reviews and follow-up diligence for deals we pursue. 🔍 ResponsibilitiesUnderwrite property leads daily across U.S. markets, with a focus on WashingtonQuickly turn around high-level investment analyses: check zoning, pull lease comps, assess value-add potentialBuild and maintain financial models (cash-flow, sensitivity, DCR, IRR, equity multiple, waterfall)Call brokers, qualify leads, and clarify assumptionsConduct market and HBU analysis: rent/sales comps, zoning/FAR, demographic trends, parking requirementsDraft concise IC memos and lender packages that clearly defend the business plan and risk profileSupport deeper diligence for deals that move to the next phase 🧠 Requirements1–3 years of hands-on underwriting experience (real estate or investment banking) for the U.S. marketDirect exposure to U.S. retail real estate, especially strip malls or value-add repositioningBachelor's degree in Finance, Real Estate, Economics, Engineering, or a related fieldProficient in Excel and Google Sheets (including nested formulas, Power Query or VBA a plus)Demonstrated ability to model ground-up or heavy-value-add projects (IRR, equity multiple, waterfall).Comfortable interpreting zoning codes, reading architectural drawings, and discussing site layout plansClear written and verbal communication; able to distill a 50-tab model into a five-slide pitch.Sharp, fast, and organized — you don’t wait for instruction, you take initiative ⏰ Working HoursThe Managing Partners are based in Seattle (PST), and we need someone who can reliably overlap with our core working hours. Required availability: 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM PST (Monday to Friday). The remaining 2 hours are flexible. We value responsiveness during working sessions and give you autonomy for deep focus the rest of the time. 💼 What We Offer Full-time job (8 working hours per day, Monday-Friday). Please note that we will not consider candidates planning to combine several jobs.Direct Impact – Your underwriting will directly influence multimillion-dollar investment decisions. You’ll be a key part of a lean, entrepreneurial team—not a cog in a corporate machine.Speed & Autonomy – We move fast and value independent thinking.Salary will be discussed during the interview. Paid in USD.Quick selection process. 🧭 Selection ProcessInitial Interview with Hire5's Recruiter;Submit a Past Underwriting Sample - you’ll be asked to share a previous underwriting report you personally prepared for a value-add retail acquisition in the U.S.First Interview with the Managing Partners (30 minutes) - a focused conversation to assess alignment and dive deeper into your approach to underwriting and retail assets.Second Interview with the Managing Partners (45 minutes) - a detailed discussion covering your experience, strategic thinking, and expectations.Final Stage: test assignment. You’ll produce a fresh underwriting report on Elliot Plaza — a mismanaged 68 KSF strip mall in Seattle.