Lending Admin Team Lead

Valley Bank•Fairfield, NJ

About The Position

The Lending Admin Team Lead will be responsible for leading and guiding a team of Lending Specialists and Sr. Lending Specialists. This role involves encouraging a collaborative culture, providing training and support, and acting as an escalation contact for operational oversight on loan transaction closing requirements and post-closing customer inquiries. The position also assists in the creation and refinement of processes, controls, standards, and training for the loan transaction lifecycle. The Team Lead will cultivate business relationships, partner on operational metrics and KPIs, manage complex issues requiring independent judgment, assign daily tasks, and handle personnel matters including hiring, training, discipline, and performance evaluations. Additionally, the role involves reviewing and approving group-level reports, ensuring adherence to credit policy, managing past due loans and documentation exceptions, ensuring regulatory compliance, supporting auditors and examiners, responding to group-wide information requests, and assisting with the Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery plan.

Requirements

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Strong leadership skills in a demanding and fast paced environment.
Ability to deal effectively and tactfully with customers and vendors.
Strong working knowledge of MicroSoft Office, Word and Excel required.
Positive attitude, strong work ethic and a desire to work collaboratively across the firm.
High School diploma or GED.
Minimum of 5 years of loan administration experience.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of IBS preferred.
Bachelor's degree with related administrative experience, preferably in a lead role.
Prior supervisory experience.

Responsibilities

Lead and guide a team of Lending Specialists and Sr. Lending Specialists, encouraging a collaborative culture that supports growth and development; provide training and support to staff.
Act as an escalation contact and provide operational oversight on loan transaction closing requirements as well as post closing customer inquiries.
Assist with the creation and continual refinement of processes, controls, standards, and training surrounding the end-to-end lifecycle of a loan transaction.
Cultivate strong business relationships with key stakeholders across the firm.
Partner with colleagues and Lending Specialist Manager to define, implement, and enforce operational metrics & KPIs to ensure service standards are met and communicated to all stakeholders.
Manage complex issues where independent decision making and judgement are required to interpret loan documents, policies, industry standards, and processes.
Assign daily assignments and projects. Ensure staff is completing assignments in a timely manner and meeting all deadlines. Handle personnel matters (i.e., interviewing, hiring, training, discipline, firing). Complete performance evaluations with input from relevant internal stakeholders.
Review and approve all group-level reports, ensuring accuracy of information.
Manages adherence with Credit policy. Responsible for reporting and eliminating past due loans, documentation exceptions and ordering of loan documentation.
Ensure that Lending Specialists and Sr. Lending Specialists in the division meet all regulatory requirements.
Support internal and/or external auditor & examiners, including the gathering of all materials and timely attending to all queries.
Respond to requests for group-wide information and/or tasks from internal stakeholders and partners.
Assist with the Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery plan for the department. Liaison with ISD. Ensure that contingency plans are executed through completion.