Principal, Appraisal Underwriting Strategy & Governance

SoFi SoFi · Fintech · Frisco, TX · Risk Management

This role is for a Principal, Appraisal Underwriting Strategy & Governance at SoFi, a fintech company. The primary focus is on defining and governing the enterprise valuation strategy for home loans and commercial properties, moving towards a data-driven, risk-tiered approach using appraisals, evaluations, and AVMs. The role involves owning valuation policy, building surveillance frameworks, managing model risk, and ensuring regulatory compliance. While it involves analytics and models (like HPI and AVMs), the core function is strategy, governance, and policy within a regulated financial environment, not the direct development or deployment of AI/ML models as the primary deliverable.

What you'd actually do

  1. Serve as the final authority on property valuation trends and risks across both Residential and Commercial (CRE/MF) asset classes.
  2. Build and maintain a comprehensive Housing Surveillance Framework.
  3. Define risk tiers and set coverage rules (Appraisal vs. Evaluation vs. AVM) based on exposure, complexity, and surveillance triggers.
  4. Coordinate with Credit Policy, Model Risk, Compliance/Fair Lending, and Originations/Servicing to drive a seamless, compliant valuation process.

Skills

Required

  • 15+ years of related experience in Real Estate Valuation, Housing Economics, or Collateral Risk Management.
  • Deep technical knowledge of HPI modeling and a mastery of both Residential and Commercial property markets.
  • Expert-level understanding of USPAP, Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines, and AVM Quality Control expectations.
  • Ability to build data-driven surveillance frameworks and manage complex model-risk environments.
  • Proven ability to drive results through partnership, moving the organization toward a sophisticated, tech-enabled valuation future.
  • A track record of transforming manual, legacy processes into tech-enabled, automated, and risk-sensitive operating models.

Nice to have

  • Bachelor’s Degree or Higher

What the JD emphasized

  • Expert-level understanding of USPAP, Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines, and AVM Quality Control expectations.
  • Ability to build data-driven surveillance frameworks and manage complex model-risk environments.
  • A track record of transforming manual, legacy processes into tech-enabled, automated, and risk-sensitive operating models.