Director of Business Development and Borrower Experience

  • Job Title: Director of Business Development and Borrower Experience
  • Location: Hybrid
  • Reporting To: Chief Executive
  • Salary: Competitive
  • Contract: Full-time Permanent
  • Date Closes: Tue 12 Mar 2024
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Role Purpose

The Director of Business Development and Borrower Experience is a newly created role at Charity Bank and will be responsible for optimising the performance of the Impact Lending Department’s team of Relationship Managers (RM’s) and the supporting Lending Services and Portfolio Management teams. They will also lead and direct on initiatives in support of continuous improvement of the borrower experience as Charity Bank’s most important selling point.

Working very closely with the Director of Impact Lending, they will be co-responsible for the overall performance of Charity Bank’s lending business and for developing the bank’s forward-looking lending strategy, including new market entry opportunities and the development of new lending programmes and products designed to meet the needs of the bank’s target market of UK charities and social enterprises, whilst achieving the bank’s business and social impact objectives. Together with the Director of Impact Lending and the wider team of RM’s, they will foster relationships with business introducers and other strategic partners and identify and facilitate new lending business opportunities for new and existing borrowers.

No matter what your role is at Charity Bank, you will be making an essential contribution to the positive social value creation that is the very reason for Charity Bank’s existence.

Our vision is for a society that fosters vibrant communities and a healthy planet, giving every individual the opportunity to thrive. Charity Bank is ‘of the sector and for the sector’, 100% owned by charities and social purpose investors and dedicated to supporting UK charities and social enterprises.

Key Accountabilities

Performance management of the Relationship Manager team

  • Principal liaison between the RM team in the field and head office departments and executive management
  • Effectively communicating to direct reports and team members the key developments, policies, practices, and risk appetites emanating from head office
  • Championing the RM’s and their borrowers at head office with respect to policies and procedures, lending processes and product design, as well as credit approval
  • Works closely with the Director of Credit and the Credit team to assess and manage risk and ensure that appropriate risk management is effectively balanced against socially impactful lending opportunities and business development objectives
  • Engenders collegial and efficient internal working relationships across the end-to-end borrower journey (Impact Lending, Credit and Lending Services)
  • Co-responsible with the Director of Impact Lending for the setting and achievement of annual lending targets (approvals and disbursements, lending margins, interest and fee income) as well as social impact KPI’s
  • Line management of Relationship Managers outside of London and the South of England
  • Responsible for overseeing lending pipeline and workflow management across their team, ensuring that the team’s resources are optimised, with aggregate objectives overriding individual targets

Staff and Leadership Development

  • Responsible for the organisational structure and ongoing development of teams under management: Relationship Managers, Lending Services team, and Portfolio Management Unit
  • This may include recommending reorganisation of the structure and reporting lines of teams under their management, as well as delegating certain responsibilities and tasks to team members if deemed desirable and appropriate
  • Includes development and implementation of succession plans for key relationship managers
  • Oversees the development and implementation of a strategic workforce plan for teams under management to maximise the current and future workforce’s effectiveness in light of strategic business priorities
  • Builds the next generation of leaders and contributes to company-level goals for talent development, diversity, and inclusion

Business development

  • Identifies and implements opportunities to support the bank’s continued growth (product development, regional and sector expansion, strategic partnerships, funding)
  • Develops contacts, networks and lending opportunities, models and replicates best practices in business development across the RM team
  • Works closely with the Director of Marketing to ensure that marketing efforts are aligned with the Impact Lending team’s lending objectives and target markets
  • Works closely with the Director of Savings to support deposit raising efforts and incorporate these into the business targets of the RM’s
  • Ideally, the Director of Business Development and Borrower Experience brings to the bank existing relationships and networks that could be further developed and converted into new lending opportunities for the bank

Continuous improvement of borrower experience

  • Responsible for ensuring continuous process improvement across the end-to-end borrower journey by working closely with Credit and Lending Services as well as the IT and Projects teams to constantly identify and implement opportunities to streamline and automate processes in order to improve internal efficiencies and the borrower experience
  • As and when appropriate, identifying and engaging third-party advisors and utilising technological applications to support the continuous process improvement and borrower experience effort
  • Maximising the efficiency of the Lending Services function as a critical component of the borrower journey; including identifying opportunities to simplify, streamline and automate documentation and processes, and improve the transparency of the loan closing process from the point of view of the borrower. At the same time, recognising and making the most of the department’s key service delivery role
  • Optimising use of the Portfolio Management Unit as a centre of expertise for the ongoing monitoring and support of borrower financial stability, as well as a means of ensuring borrower satisfaction and potential follow-on business
  • Acts as the primary liaison for the lending business for the ongoing development of the bank’s utilisation of Salesforce as its principal CRM tool

Skills and Experience

Essential

  • A minimum of 5 years of professional experience operating at a senior level in Charity or SME loans business development
  • Transaction track record and detailed understanding of commercial and residential property loan structuring, credit risk assessment and legal documentation
  • Proven track record of being able to work independently with minimum support and ability to supervise and mentor others
  • Record of successfully managing remote-based teams
  • Ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organisation
  • Proven skills in credit and financial analysis
  • Practical knowledge of the end-to-end borrower journey, CRM systems, and other loan business management tools and practices
  • Professional training in commercial lending and/or higher education in a business discipline

Desirable

  • Existing networks in the UK charity and social enterprise space that can be further developed and converted into new lending opportunities for the bank
  • Understanding of the needs of and issues facing social sector loan applicants
  • Experience of syndicated loan transactions and legal documentation
  • Experience of lending process design and improvement
  • Understanding of relevant regulatory frameworks and practices

Special Aptitudes

  • Ability to develop strategic initiatives and oversee the development of long-term plans and proposals to support business objectives
  • Ability to challenge, convince and manage multiple stakeholders
  • Ability to effectively drive business, culture and change in a dynamic and complex operating environment
  • Strong business acumen; understands the key financial drivers and dynamics related to growth and revenue goals
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Good networking skills
  • Ability to formulate and allocate budgets

Disposition

  • Team player and inspirational leader, adept at motivating and passing ownership on to teams and individual co- workers
  • Excellent inter-personal skills
  • Excited by the opportunity to work for a values-based organisation
  • Enthusiasm to promote the mission and values of Charity Bank
  • Supports the principles of equality of opportunity and values diversity and difference

Thinking Style

  • Pragmatic and practical
  • Tenacious and solutions-focused
  • Leads by example
  • A high degree of personal integrity: engenders trust and authority with staff, peers and stakeholders
  • Flexible in style and approach, able to adapt to new situations and/or changing priorities requiring new skills

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Charity Bank, we want our team to reflect the diverse communities, organisations and people that we work with. We are committed to being an inclusive employer and great place to work and we strongly encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply.

We have implemented policies to support this aim and are proud to offer flexible working practices and a caring culture. If you need any reasonable adjustments for any part of the recruitment process and/or working environment, please let us know, in confidence, so we can discuss these with you.

How To Apply

The closing date for applications is 12th March 2024.

Please submit your CV below if you are interested in this opportunity.

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