Chief Credit Officer

About Unlock

Unlock's mission is to unleash the power of home equity to enrich people's lives. We do this through a financial solution called a Home Equity Agreement or HEA, an entirely new way to access and utilize home equity. We're not a lender, so there are no interest charges or monthly payments and homeowners with poor credit or high levels of debt can still qualify. We're beyond passionate about helping our customers build greater financial resiliency. We are mission driven, consumer centric and our products are designed for the way homeowners want to live their lives today - with flexibility and control.

About the role

The Chief Credit Officer is responsible for overseeing the entire credit, underwriting, risk, and servicing strategy for Unlock's home equity origination business. This includes sourcing, monitoring, and managing home equity agreements and related securities, developing new products, and playing a key role in investment/credit strategy and policy development. You will own investment performance, oversee the credit and investment process, and make decisions on asset allocation/exposure and risk management across managed portfolios. The Chief Credit Officer will also be an operating manager and will have operational responsibility for the Portfolio Management and Servicing functions and teams.

• You'll report to: Unlock's Chief Capital Officer
• Location: Remote in the US
  
  

What you'll do

• Develop Unlock's credit and investment thesis for home equity agreements as an asset class.
• Communicate and defend the thesis with rigorous analysis of consumer behavior and asset performance drivers.
• Design and oversee/manage Unlock's credit and servicing risk functions while partnering with senior stakeholders towards achieving key company objectives, goals, and strategies.
• Partner with the Chief Capital Officer to broaden the institutional investor base for home equity agreements.
• Develop, implement, and manage all underwriting guidelines/procedures, credit policies, and investor guidelines, including new policy proposals, policy change management/documentation, policy change implementation, and adherence to existing and new financing arrangements (including credit facilities/warehouse lines and securitizations).
• Own investment performance and quality at the asset and portfolio levels.
• Collaborate with the Capital Markets team to engage, educate, negotiate, onboard, and manage new and existing institutional investors, lenders, and securitization partners.
• Manage investor expectations with respect to the risk/return of the portfolio.
• Oversee portfolio monitoring and a growing servicing team to drive asset return and support customer inquiries, subordinations, and payoffs.
• Identify key risks (e.g., credit loss) to the managed portfolios and new origination, as well as opportunities to expand and foster origination growth.
• Enhance our servicing capabilities to maximize recoveries, including proactive mitigation, protective advances, foreclosure bidding, and REO processes.
• Contribute to product development efforts from a credit risk, servicing, underwriting, and capital markets perspective.
• Hire, coach, develop, and manage the Unlock Asset Management ("UAM") team members. Ensure Unlock values are adhered to and consistently demonstrated.
• Partner and communicate with senior management to ensure credit risk and overall origination activities align with the company's financial goals.
• Chair and be a key member of the credit committee, including modification approvals to address/assess complex origination challenges and opportunities.
• Partner with General Counsel to ensure compliance with key legal/regulatory requirements.
• Manage reporting on credit quality, asset performance, potential risks/opportunities for senior management and Board of Directors.
• Manage credit, underwriting, and servicing policies in accordance with new and existing financing arrangements to ensure compliance and minimize financial risk.
• Manage internal and external documentation of key policies and procedures related to credit, underwriting, servicing, and overall credit risk management (including special servicing and other aspects of portfolio risk management).
• Perform all functions according to established policies, procedures, regulatory and accreditation requirements, as well as applicable professional standards.
• Provide all internal/external stakeholders with an excellent service experience.
• Partner with various senior executive stakeholders to develop, implement, and manage risk-based pricing strategies for various home equity products.
  
  

What we're looking for

• 10+ years of experience in residential real estate and/or residential lending
• 5+ years of experience in hiring and managing teams in real estate equity and/or debt: acquisitions, portfolio management, servicing, and/or investment operations and reporting
• Must have a passion for startup culture and innovation
• Must be an effective and impactful leader that inspires confidence in investors and colleagues
• Ability to communicate effectively in small and large group settings
• Strong analytical capabilities and working knowledge of the Microsoft suite of productivity software and the ability to access, manipulate, organize and relay information in a meaningful way
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to work in a fast-paced team environment
  
  

What we offer

• The company offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements: medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, 401K retirement plan with a 4% match, life and AD&D insurance, long term disability, short term disability, flex spending, discretionary time off as well as a monthly technology reimbursement.
  
  

Unlock is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regards to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or other protected status under all applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances.