Chief Lending Officer

New Edge Associates a Talent Acquisition Firm; Miami (FL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

New Edge Associates a Talent Acquisition Firm in Miami seeks a Chief Lending Officer to lead lending strategy, drive loan production, and grow the portfolio while maintaining strong credit quality.

This senior leadership role reports to the President/CEO and oversees lending professionals, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and credit policies across foreign national residential mortgages, CRE, and C&I lending.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business Administration, Economics, or a related field.
• 10–15 years of progressive commercial lending experience.
• At least 5 years of senior lending leadership with direct team management.
• Proven success meeting loan production and portfolio growth targets.
• Strong expertise in commercial real estate underwriting and loan structuring.
• Experience with foreign national residential mortgage lending.
• C&I lending experience to oversee small business and commercial lending portfolios.
• Strong credit analysis and underwriting knowledge with loan committee exposure.
• Proven business development, relationship management, and community networking skills.
• Ability to coach, evaluate, and develop lending professionals.

Responsibilities

• Establish and manage loan production goals aligned with annual budgets and strategic lending objectives.
• Personally generate loan volume through senior-level client relationships and complex lending transactions.
• Monitor loan pipelines, closing rates, portfolio growth, and lender performance with corrective actions as needed.
• Lead, mentor, and develop lending professionals across experience levels.
• Build and maintain referral relationships with real estate brokers, attorneys, CPAs, developers, and community organizations.
• Oversee the loan portfolio with emphasis on foreign national residential mortgages and CRE.
• Review loan packages from origination through closing for accuracy and compliance with underwriting standards.
• Evaluate credit requests, collateral adequacy, borrower risk, and regulatory considerations.
• Prepare and present credit requests to the Loan Committee with clear recommendations.
• Administer and enforce credit policies and update them as appropriate.
• Prepare loan production reports, pipeline updates, portfolio composition, growth metrics, and trend analysis for senior management and the Board.
• Identify new lending opportunities and recommend strategies for sustainable portfolio growth with credit discipline.
• Ensure compliance with banking regulations including BSA/AML for foreign national lending.

Skills

Loan production leadership

Business development

Relationship management

Executive reporting

Coaching and development

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business Administration, Economics, or related field

MBA or advanced degree

Tools

Loan origination systems

Reporting tools

Job description

The Chief Lending Officer (CLO) is responsible for leading lending strategy, driving loan production and portfolio growth, maintaining strong credit quality, and developing a high-performing lending team. Reporting directly to the President/CEO, this senior leadership role oversees lending professionals and is accountable for achieving production goals while ensuring lending activities align with the institution’s strategic objectives, credit policies, and regulatory requirements.

The portfolio focuses primarily on foreign national residential mortgage lending and commercial real estate (CRE), with additional responsibility for commercial and industrial (C&I) lending.

Job Responsibilities

• Establish and manage individual and team loan production goals aligned with annual budgets and strategic lending objectives.
• Personally generate loan volume through business development, senior-level client relationships, and complex or high-value lending transactions.
• Monitor loan pipelines, closing rates, portfolio growth, and lender performance, implementing corrective actions when targets are not being met.
• Lead, mentor, and develop lending professionals across experience levels, fostering accountability and strong performance.
• Build and maintain referral relationships with real estate brokers, attorneys, CPAs, developers, and community organizations.
• Oversee the loan portfolio, with particular emphasis on foreign national residential mortgages and commercial real estate.
• Review loan packages from origination through closing to ensure accuracy, completeness, appropriate loan structure, and compliance with underwriting standards.
• Evaluate credit requests, collateral adequacy, borrower risk, and regulatory considerations within assigned lending authority.
• Prepare and present credit requests to the Loan Committee, providing clear recommendations and supporting analysis.
• Administer and enforce credit policies, ensuring consistent underwriting practices and recommending policy updates when appropriate.
• Prepare and present loan production reports, pipeline updates, portfolio composition, growth metrics, and trend analysis to senior management and the Board Loan Committee.
• Identify new lending opportunities and recommend strategies for sustainable portfolio growth while maintaining appropriate credit discipline.
• Ensure compliance with applicable banking regulations, including BSA/AML considerations related to foreign national lending.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business Administration, Economics, or a related field required.
• 10–15 years of progressive commercial lending experience at a community bank or comparable financial institution.
• At least 5 years of senior lending leadership experience with direct team management responsibilities.
• Demonstrated success meeting or exceeding loan production and portfolio growth targets.
• Strong expertise in commercial real estate underwriting and loan structuring.
• Experience with foreign national residential mortgage lending.
• C&I lending experience sufficient to oversee and guide small business and commercial lending portfolios.
• Strong credit analysis and underwriting knowledge, including experience presenting to loan committees and boards of directors.
• Proven business development, relationship management, and community networking skills.
• Demonstrated ability to coach, evaluate, and develop lending professionals.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including executive-level reporting.
• Familiarity with banking regulations and BSA/AML requirements.
• Proficiency with loan origination systems and reporting tools.
• Graduate banking school designation preferred; an MBA or other advanced degree is a plus.