Head of Lending Products

The Onset Group; Sydney; On-site; AUD 250,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Superannuation

STI (Short-Term Incentive)

LTIP

Job summary

The Onset Group is seeking a Head of Product for SME Lending & Credit in Sydney. The role leads the portfolio strategy, pricing and product development for unsecured SME lending, reporting to the CEO and Executive Leadership Team.

Ideal candidates have deep experience in unsecured SME lending, with a strong grasp of lending economics, portfolio management and commercial decision-making. This is a senior executive role shaping the future growth and investment priorities of the business.

Qualifications

• Experience in unsecured SME lending portfolios and leading product strategy.
• Strong analytical mindset with focus on portfolio economics and risk-adjusted returns.
• Proven ability to drive growth through product leadership and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Own long-term product strategy for SME lending portfolio.
• Identify market dynamics, competition and growth opportunities.
• Lead capital allocation, pricing, and portfolio optimisation.
• Collaborate with Credit, Risk, Technology, Operations and Commercial teams to bring products to market.

Skills

Unsecured SME lending

Lending strategy

Portfolio management

Product leadership

Pricing & analytics

Job description

Head of Product | SME Lending & Credit | Sydney | $250K–$300K + Super + STI + LTIP

We're partnering with a well-established international non-bank lender to appoint its first Head of Product. This is a pivotal executive hire with the mandate to shape the future of an established SME lending portfolio and identify where the business should invest, compete and grow next.

We're looking for a commercially driven lending leader with deep experience in unsecured SME credit. You may have come through Product, Credit, Lending Strategy or Portfolio Management, but you'll understand the Australian SME lending market intimately and have strong views on where the market is heading, where customer needs are changing and where new opportunities exist.

You’ll combine this market understanding with a strong grasp of lending economics. You'll understand the relationship between pricing, credit appetite, customer acquisition, utilisation, losses, funding costs and risk-adjusted returns — and know how to use these levers to drive profitable growth.

If you've built, launched or commercially managed products across working capital, cashflow lending, merchant cash advance, revolving credit, business lines of credit or other unsecured SME lending products, this is an opportunity to influence far more than a roadmap.

You’ll work directly with the CEO and Executive Leadership Team to determine where the business should deploy capital, how the lending portfolio evolves, which customer segments and markets to pursue, and which new products can create the next wave of growth.

What You'll Be Responsible For…

This is a genuine portfolio leadership role where you'll become the custodian of the business's lending products.

You’ll Lead Decisions Around

• Long-term lending product strategy and portfolio direction
• Identifying changing market dynamics, competitor activity and new growth opportunities
• Investment and capital allocation priorities across the lending portfolio
• New lending products, customer segments and market opportunities
• Product pricing, credit appetite, commercial performance and portfolio optimisation
• Using portfolio data and customer insight to identify opportunities for profitable growth
• Balancing growth with credit risk, funding economics and risk-adjusted returns
• Product lifecycle decisions, including where to invest, optimise, simplify or retire products
• Working across Credit, Risk, Technology, Operations and Commercial teams to take new products to market
• Building stronger Product capability, governance and commercial decision-making across the organisation

We're keen to speak with people who have experience in:

• Unsecured B2B / SME lending
• Working capital and cashflow lending
• Merchant cash advance
• Revolving credit and business lines of credit
• Credit strategy, decisioning and risk appetite
• Developing and successfully launching new lending products
• Lending economics, pricing and portfolio management
• Growing lending portfolios while maintaining appropriate risk-adjusted returns
• Commercial ownership of lending products within regulated environments

You’ll likely have built your career within a non-bank lender, specialist SME lender or fintech where unsecured business lending is a core product. You'll know the competitive landscape and be equally comfortable discussing market opportunities and customer propositions as you are pricing, credit performance, portfolio economics and commercial returns.

Hands‑on experience developing or commercially managing unsecured lending products for SMEs is essential. Broader lending experience is valuable, but we’re particularly interested in people who have operated deeply within unsecured SME credit and can demonstrate how their decisions have contributed to portfolio growth and profitability.

A strong analytical background in areas such as economics, mathematics, statistics, actuarial studies, quantitative finance or credit risk would be highly regarded.

Why this role?

This is an opportunity to step into a genuine executive leadership position with a direct seat at the table.

You’ll partner closely with the CEO, influence major investment and capital allocation decisions, and have the mandate to determine where the business competes, where it grows and what it builds next.