Lender Development - Implementation Specialist

Caribou Financial • Chicago, IL

1d • Remote

About The Position

At Caribou, we care about giving people financial freedom so they can focus on what’s most important to them. Today, less than two percent of Americans refinance their auto loans despite drastic increases in the cost of new and used cars. We see huge potential to help folks reduce their monthly auto expenses, as well as increase the predictability of those expenses over time. We do this by building technology to pair customers with community banks and credit unions, and ushering them through the process quickly. On average, our drivers save $159/month on their car loans while protecting their investment long term.
Caribou is led by leaders from the technology, automotive, and finance industries. We’re proud to be backed by a great team of investors, including QED Investors, Goldman Sachs, Moderne Ventures, Accomplice, Link Ventures, Motley Fool Ventures and others.
About the Role
As an Implementation Specialist you will be instrumental in driving the successful technical onboarding and launch of our new lender partners. You will be the internal project leader, ensuring a smooth, high-quality implementation experience from contract signing to go-live. This role requires strong project management skills, meticulous attention to detail, and a collaborative approach to quickly and effectively enable our partners.

Requirements

• 2+ years of professional experience in a project management, implementation, client onboarding, or technical support role, preferably within the credit union, banking, FinTech, or financial services industry.
• Proven experience managing complex projects with external stakeholders, adhering to tight deadlines, and maintaining clear communication across cross-functional teams.
• Strong understanding of the technical aspects of system implementation, API integration, and data migration is highly desirable.
• Exceptional detail-orientation and organizational skills with a proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical information to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment with a bias for action.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with consumer auto loans or related financial products is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the End-to-End Implementation Process: Serve as the primary internal project manager for all new lender onboarding projects, from kick-off to post-launch hand-off.
• Manage Project Timelines and Deliverables: Develop and maintain comprehensive project plans, oversee implementation timelines, and manage key deliverables to ensure lender launches are executed on time and with high quality.
• Facilitate Cross-Functional Alignment: Coordinate and align internal stakeholders (including Sales, Product, Engineering, and Operations) to execute on implementation tasks, manage dependencies, and troubleshoot integration issues proactively.
• Configure and Prepare Lender Data: Accurately maintain and configure lender information within internal systems, including rates, programs, documentation, and operational parameters, ensuring data integrity for launch.
• Own Documentation and Knowledge Transfer: Develop and maintain internal and external documentation, including integration workflows, configuration guides, and troubleshooting steps, to ensure a smooth transition to ongoing operations.
• Identify and Mitigate Risks: Proactively identify potential risks, roadblocks, and issues during the implementation lifecycle and develop and execute effective mitigation strategies.
• Gather and Translate Feedback: Collect and document lender feedback during the onboarding process, translating recurring issues and opportunities into clear, actionable product or process improvement recommendations for internal teams.
• Support Pre-Launch Testing: Coordinate and participate in User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and system validation to ensure the successful and accurate integration of the lender's systems with our platform.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation: $67k - $84k
• Eligible for annual performance-based incentive
• Equity options
• 401k savings program
• Generous paid time off including: Flexible Time Off (FTO) for all employees and 100% paid parental leave for all parents.
• Robust wellness benefits including company-paid plans for health, dental, vision, mental health, disability and basic life insurance.
• Optional benefits to suit your individual circumstances such as HSAs, FSAs, supplemental life and medical insurance, and pet insurance.
• Up to $1,000 per year for eligible professional development expenses.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed