Associate Lending Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Position Summary: The Director of Mortgage and Home Equity Lending is responsible for leading the Credit Union's residential mortgage and home equity lending functions in alignment with the Credit Union's mission, strategic plan, member service standards, and commitment to improving members' financial well-being. This role oversees strategy, production, operations, compliance, portfolio performance, and the member experience across the full lending lifecycle, including origination, processing, underwriting coordination, closing, post-closing, quality control, and ongoing process improvement.

All job positions at 7 17 Credit Union may be assigned further duties with or without notice, verbally or in writing. Essential duties and responsibilities include the following.

Primary Duties:

• Develop and execute mortgage and home equity lending strategies that support responsible loan growth, member financial well-being, portfolio quality, profitability, service excellence, and risk management objectives.
• Lead and manage mortgage and home equity lending teams, including production, processing, underwriting coordination, closing, post-closing, servicing handoffs, and support functions.
• Establish goals, monitor performance, and provide coaching, training, and accountability to ensure consistent achievement of lending objectives and Credit Union service standards.
• Oversee the end-to-end loan process to ensure timely, accurate, compliant, and member-focused service delivery. Initiate action deemed necessary for resolving member problems.
• Maintain strong knowledge of residential mortgage, home equity loan, and home equity line of credit products, pricing, investor guidelines, secondary market requirements, portfolio lending practices, and credit union lending policies.
• Partner with compliance, risk, legal, audit, collections, operations, branch/member service, and marketing teams to ensure adherence to applicable federal and state lending regulations, NCUA guidance, fair lending, Truth in Lending, RESPA, HMDA, ECOA, ATR/QM, SAFE Act/NMLS, flood, appraisal, privacy, UDAAP, and other regulatory requirements.
• Review, develop, and recommend updates to lending policies, procedures, workflows, controls, underwriting standards, and technology utilization to enhance efficiency, quality, compliance, and the member experience.
• Monitor loan pipeline, production trends, approval rates, turn times, delinquency indicators, exceptions, quality control findings, member complaints, and other key performance metrics.
• Support product development, pricing recommendations, promotional strategies, and market initiatives to grow mortgage and home equity volume responsibly while meeting the needs of the Credit Union's field of membership.
• Build and maintain relationships with members, internal stakeholders, external vendors, real estate professionals, community partners, investors, and other business partners as appropriate.
• Ensure proper documentation, file quality, internal controls, audit readiness, and examination readiness across mortgage and home equity lending operations.
• Prepare reports and presentations for executive leadership and assigned committees regarding production, portfolio performance, compliance, operational performance, market trends, risks, and strategic recommendations.
• Ensure that the First Vice President of Retail Lending and/or Senior Vice President, Chief Lending Officer are informed of problematic situations in a timely manner.
• Responsible for lending technology used in the Mortgage and Home Equity Department.
• Maintain and update lending documents, including mapping and implementation within various lending systems.
• Prepare proposed department budget of review by upper management.

This position manages the following jobs: Supervisor, Mortgage and Home Equity Lending, Real Estate Underwriters, processors, real estate closers and others as deemed appropriate.

Internal and External Contacts: Other Employees, Members, Community Leaders, Corporate Management

Confidentiality Requirements: Must keep members' transactions and other Credit Union business in strictest confidence.

Travel Demands: Must be able to travel as necessary.

Prerequisite Education:

1.High school diploma or equivalent

2. Associate's degree in related field

3. Bachelor's degree in business, finance, accounting, economics, or a related field

4. Other: Equivalent mortgage lending leadership experience may be considered.

Prerequisite Experience:

• Minimum of 7-10 years of progressive mortgage lending, home equity lending, consumer lending, or financial services experience, preferably within a credit union or community financial institution.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of management or leadership experience in a lending environment.
• Strong understanding of mortgage and home equity loan origination, processing, underwriting, closing, post-closing, documentation, quality control, servicing transition processes, and portfolio monitoring.
• Demonstrated knowledge of lending regulations, NCUA expectations, compliance management systems, fair lending standards, member complaint response, and risk management practices.
• Experience with loan origination systems, mortgage technology platforms, reporting tools, and process automation preferred.

Required knowledge, skills and abilities once in the job:

• Strategic leadership and business planning
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
• Ability to balance loan growth, member needs, portfolio quality, and regulatory expectations
• Team development, coaching and performance management of Credit Union staff and management resulting in a productive, results oriented climate.

Certifications, licenses required once in the job: Bondable, State and Federal registration to comply with the Safe Act.

Physical, Mental or Visual Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to: stand, walk, sit, use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls, reach with hands and arms, talk or hear.

This job regularly requires the employee to lift _1__ to _20_ pounds __1_ times per day.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include, close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, the ability to adjust and focus.

Working Conditions: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.