Director, Lease Operations

CoBank•St. Louis Park, MN

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Provides strategic leadership, management oversight, and technical guidance to the Lease Operations department. Ensures the effective and efficient operation of all lease processing-related functions. Provides strategic and tactical guidance, leadership, development and specialized expertise to all lease operations associates. Responsible for task and initiative prioritization, resource and capacity management, team quality assurance, customer service, esclations, service level agreement adherence, and department projects as assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant discipline required
15 years of experience in banking or financial services, ideally in commercial lending or leasing, required
10 years of experience supervising direct reprots, preferably in banking or financial services industry. required
Advanced knowledge of the commercial loan and lease processes, and the ability to provide advice, interpret policies, and apply and adapt processes and procedures to meet customer needs.
Advanced knowledge of operational systems and financial servicing activities.
Demonstrated competence in identifying risk areas and proactively determining and applying appropriate mitigation strategies.
Excellent business acumen, analytical problem solving and decision-making skills, with the ability to apply creative and innovative solutions and focus on results, while meeting the needs of the customer and the business.
Knowledge of product management and implementation techniques, process reengineering, and change management.
Ability to design and implement process improvements and best practices.
Demonstrated management, leadership, mentoring and team-building skills.
Proven experience managing, training, developing, and motivating associates, with the ability to instill accountability for efficiency, accuracy and customer satisfaction.
Excellent customer service skills and strong customer focus, with the ability to effectively promote services and represent the division to internal and external customers.
Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to exercise influence cross-functionally, work collaboratively and build and maintain effective working relationships with all levels of associates and management across the bank, and with internal and external customers.
Excellent organizational and time management skills, as well as high attention to detail.
Ability to manage and schedule workload and projects in order to navigate peaks, prioritize competing commitments, and complete assignments in accordance with established deadlines.
Excellent verbal, written communication and presentation skills.
Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word and Excel) and applicable business software applications, including databases, queries and reporting.

Nice To Haves

Strong knowledge of CoBank’s customers, products, financial business processes, and the Farm Credit System preferred.

Responsibilities

Provides leadership to all lease operations functions and teams, and serves as the department leader (40+ FTE). The management team is comprised of Managers and Supervisors.
Works closely with the Lease Operations VP and Enterprise Leader, as well as lease operations managers and supervisors, to manage people and processes across Lease Ops. Works with the Lease Operations VP and Enterprise Leader to establish and advance a positive culture and work environment for all associates.
Develops and maintains strong partnerships with risk, credit, sales leadership and teams, enabling cross-functional alignment and strategy realization.
Possesses a cross-functional understanding of processes and issues across all transaction teams, as well as upstream and downstream constituencies and processes.
Establishes and ensures adherence to processes, procedures, and controls. Provides oversight and strategy for quality assurance and regular monitoring of compliance with key controls, operational, ICFR and SOC related.
Identifies and facilitates opportunities for process improvement and automation across all teams, and promotes a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Proactively supports department workflow, and oversees deployment and cross-functional sharing of resources across all teams as workloads, nature of work and transactional volumes warrant. Is responsible for staffing models, budget and contract labor required to support department processes.
Provides strategic and tactical guidance for the end-to-end lease life cycle to include lease processing, documentation, booking, funding, title, insurance and other various lease administration activities.
Proactively identifies areas of risk in Lease Operations, and suggests strategies for elimination or mitigation of such risks. Coordinates with Internal Control and Operational Risk along with the Lease Operations Process & Controls Manager to document and mitigate any known control issues/failues or losses.
Assists with development of reporting and metrics, including key performance indicators and service level agreements. Uses metrics and analytics to, among other things, manage performance, monitor efficiency and deploy resources.
Serves as primary escalation point for issues identified by internal and external customers, and regularly coordinates with internal customers to manage volume, proactively identify potential issues and assess satisfaction.
Acts as a key contact and relationship owner for relevant vendors and/or service providers.
Proactively works to manage impact and effect of technological enhancements on people and processes.
Manages the training and development needs of the team, and regularly coordinates training and development opportunities to meet identified needs.
In coordination with specialized resources within the bank, leads change management initiatives within Loan Operations and acts as a change agent across all of Operaitons.
Provides mentorship and serves as a resource to managers, supervisors and associates in Loan Operations.
As a people manager at CoBank, you will be expected to manage and lead associates. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, associate performance management, talent strategy, workforce planning, change management, conflict resolution, and relationship management. You will drive and be accountable for the team’s development, alignment with the division’s objectives, as well as with CoBank’s strategy and mission.

Benefits

Time-Off Packages, 20 days of vacation, 10 paid sick days and 11 paid holidays
Competitive Compensation & Incentive
Hybrid work model: flexible arrangements for most positions
Benefits Packages, including Medical, Dental and Vision coverage, Disability, AD&D, and Life Insurance
Robust associate training and development with CoBank University
Tuition reimbursement for higher education
Outstanding 401k: up to 6% matching and additional 3% non-elective contribution & Student Loan Match
Community Impact: United Way Angel Day, Volunteer Day and Associate Directed Contribution
Associate Resource Groups: creating a culture of respect and inclusion
Recognize a fellow associate through our GEM awards