Associate Director – Commercial Lending

Keegan Adams Recruitment; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Keegan Adams Recruitment seeks an Associate Director – Commercial Lending for Sydney or Melbourne. You will be the senior credit specialist across commercial property lending, applying sound credit judgement and owning decisions.

Reporting to the Head of Risk, you will assess complex transactions, structure deals, and contribute to credit policy while helping grow the lending team in a fast-moving fintech lender.

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of commercial credit experience.
• Strong exposure to commercial property lending.
• Experience with delegated lending authority.
• Experience with complex borrower structures including trusts, companies and SMSFs.
• Exposure to larger commercial property transactions (ideally $10m+).

Responsibilities

• End-to-end assessment and decisioning of complex commercial property lending transactions.
• Structuring and approving higher-value deals under delegated lending authority.
• Assessing borrower structures, serviceability, security and overall credit risk.
• Working closely with brokers and the sales team on deal structure and conditions.
• Acting as a senior escalation point across more complex transactions.
• Providing input into commercial credit policy and ongoing risk settings.
• Helping uplift capability across the broader credit function.
• Longer term, supporting the growth of the commercial lending team as volumes and deal sizes increase.

Skills

Commercial credit experience

Property lending exposure

Delegated lending authority

Complex borrower structures (trusts, M

Job description

Associate Director – Commercial Lending | Sydney or Melbourne

Our client is an established Australian fintech lender that has grown significantly in recent years, earning industry recognition and a strong reputation among its lending partners. The business combines the pace and flexibility of a specialist lender with a considered approach to credit, supported by technology that makes the lending process more efficient.

Having built a solid foundation in property finance, the firm is entering its next phase of growth. It is investing in its commercial lending capability and broadening the range of transactions it can support.

This is an opportunity for a senior commercial credit professional to join at a meaningful stage of growth. The role offers the chance to apply sound credit judgement to a developing portfolio, contribute to lending policy and processes, and help shape how the commercial offering grows within an established specialist lender.

The Opportunity

This is a genuine Associate Director-level opportunity with scope to make an impact from day one. Reporting into the Head of Risk, you’ll be the senior credit specialist across commercial property lending — assessing and decisioning your own consistent flow of transactions, while also helping establish the credit capability, frameworks and foundations required as the portfolio grows.

The role will include:

• End-to-end assessment and decisioning of complex commercial property lending transactions
• Structuring and approving higher-value deals under delegated lending authority
• Assessing borrower structures, serviceability, security and overall credit risk
• Working closely with brokers and the sales team on deal structure and conditions
• Acting as a senior escalation point across more complex transactions
• Providing input into commercial credit policy and ongoing risk settings
• Helping uplift capability across the broader credit function
• Longer term, supporting the growth of the commercial lending team as volumes and deal sizes increase

Importantly, this is not a purely strategic or people leadership position. You’ll remain close to the deals and be expected to analyse and own credit decisions yourself, while having substantially more influence over how the function develops> than you would typically find in a larger institution.

The business is currently seeing approximately $50m in commercial applications each month, with ambitions to progressively move further into larger and more complex property transactions. Construction lending experience would be valuable as the offering evolves, but isn’t essential from day one.

We’re particularly interested in speaking with candidates who bring:

• 7–10+ years’ commercial credit experience
• Strong commercial property lending exposure
• Proven delegated lending authority and confidence owning credit decisions
• Experience with complex borrower structures including trusts, companies and SMSFs
• Exposure to larger commercial property transactions, ideally $10m+
• A pragmatic, commercially minded approach suited to a fast-moving lending environment

Location:

Sydney or Melbourne

Salary:

Circa $180k–$230k + super, with flexibility above this for particularly strong commercial property and credit policy experience.

For someone who enjoys being close to the detail but wants the opportunity to shape a commercial credit function rather than simply operate within one, this is a particularly interesting next step. Please reach out directly for a confidential discussion.