Senior Manager, Whole Loan Trading & First-Line Model Governance

OhioX; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 172,000 - 238,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k match

Equity grants

ESPP

Health coverage

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Upstart is seeking a Senior Manager for Whole Loan Trading & First-Line Model Governance in a remote role within the United States. You will lead a small team to oversee asset quality, loan salability, and model governance across multiple secured lending channels, coordinating with Capital Markets, Credit Risk, and partners to maintain risk within appetite.

The role emphasizes end-to-end responsibility, governance, and reporting, with close collaboration across Legal, Compliance, and Operations

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in business-line credit risk, loan quality, asset-backed or secured lending operations, or first-line model governance.
• Experience with loan salability, Capital Markets or investor delivery, repurchase or put-back risk, bank partner audits, collateral documentation review.
• Experience monitoring portfolio performance and asset quality indicators across multiple origination channels.
• Experience with first-line model oversight, production model monitoring, model implementation governance, or escalation processes.
• Experience partnering with Capital Markets, investors, bank partners, or funding teams to evaluate loan eligibility and mitigate exposure.
• Experience leading analysts, managing a review function, or owning cross-functional programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead the secured lending asset quality and loan salability function across channels, setting review methodology and governance for a small team.
• Monitor portfolio-level salability risk, track trends, and escalate issues before they affect loan sale execution.
• Track asset quality indicators such as defaults, delinquency, loss severity, prepayment, and fair lending patterns.
• Evaluate origination and channel quality across secured lending programs, including collateral documentation and lien perfection.
• Own first-line model implementation and performance oversight for secured lending models, including monitoring and change impact.
• Translate findings into remediation plans and escalate risks before they affect outcomes.

Skills

Credit risk

Loan quality

Asset-backed lending

First-line governance

Model governance

Capital Markets liaison

Team leadership

Education

CRCM / FRM or equivalent

Job description

About Upstart

At Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.

As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 3,000 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress.

We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City (opening Summer 2026), you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.

If you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you.

The Team

Upstart’s Secured Lending organization is building the first-line risk and control infrastructure that will support the next stage of growth across home equity line of credit, auto direct, and auto indirect dealer products. The team helps ensure secured lending products operate with clear governance, durable controls, high-quality execution, and readiness for bank partner and regulatory review.

Whole Loan Trading & First-Line Model Governance is responsible for monitoring portfolio-wide trends across loan salability, asset quality, and model performance. This function looks across the portfolio over time — tracking performance against investor and bank partner thresholds, interpreting model execution patterns, identifying systemic risk, and escalating findings before they become repurchase events, partner concerns, or examination issues.

As the Senior Manager, Whole Loan Trading & First-Line Model Governance at Upstart, you will own this function end-to-end, reporting directly to the Head of Secured Lending. You will lead a small team of analysts and partner closely with Credit Risk, Capital Markets, Model Risk Management, Product, Engineering, Compliance, Legal, Operations, and bank partners to establish the methodology, monitoring cadence, governance materials, and reporting routines that keep Upstart’s secured lending portfolio within risk appetite and exam-ready.

How you'll make an impact

• Lead the secured lending asset quality and loan salability function across home equity line of credit, auto direct, and auto indirect dealer channels, setting the review methodology, operating cadence, reporting standards, and escalation routines for a small team of asset quality analysts.
• Monitor portfolio-level salability risk across secured lending channels — tracking eligibility adherence trends, defect patterns, collateral documentation quality, and exception concentrations; elevate repurchase and put-back risk to Capital Markets and bank partners before they affect loan sale execution or partner commitments.
• Monitor asset quality and portfolio performance indicators tied to salability, including early payment defaults, delinquency, loss severity, prepayment, non-performing loan trends, exception patterns, and threshold breaches.
• Evaluate origination and channel quality across secured lending programs, including collateral documentation completeness, lien perfection, override trends, pricing consistency, dealer or partner performance, concentration risk, and potential fair lending exposure.
• Own first-line model implementation and performance oversight for secured lending models, including production model monitoring, threshold tracking, version control, use-case boundaries, model inventory updates, change impact assessment, and escalation of performance degradation or out-of-bounds behavior.
• Translate loan review findings, portfolio trends, and model performance signals into action by identifying root causes, defining remediation plans, tracking issue closure, and escalating risks before they affect loan sale execution, partner commitments, or regulatory readiness.

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in business-line credit risk, loan quality, asset-backed or secured lending operations, or first-line model governance supporting secured or asset-backed consumer lending products.
• Experience with loan-level quality review, loan salability oversight, Capital Markets or investor delivery, repurchase or put-back risk, bank partner audits, collateral documentation review, or pre-sale quality control in a regulated lending environment.
• Experience monitoring portfolio performance and asset quality indicators across multiple origination channels, including early payment default, delinquency, prepayment, loss severity, non-performing loan trends, credit policy exceptions, threshold breaches, or channel-level pricing and fair lending patterns.
• Experience with first-line model oversight, production model monitoring, model implementation governance, model inventory documentation, or model performance escalation processes.
• Experience partnering with Capital Markets, investors, bank partners, or funding teams to evaluate loan eligibility, resolve delivery exceptions, interpret investor requirements, and mitigate repurchase, put-back, or make-whole exposure.
• Experience leading analysts, managing a review function, or owning cross-functional loan salability, asset quality, credit, or first-line model governance programs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with auto indirect or dealer channel lending dynamics, including pricing discretion, dealer markup, and fair lending considerations relevant to indirect origination channels; ability to partner with fair lending oversight functions to interpret and elevate channel-level findings.
• Knowledge of secured lending and secondary-market quality expectations, including exposure to first mortgage or asset-backed lending frameworks such as investor eligibility standards, collateral documentation, lien perfection, representations and warranties, defect remediation, trailing performance thresholds, and repurchase or make-whole risk.
• Knowledge of consumer lending and fair lending requirements relevant to secured products, including Equal Credit Opportunity Act/Regulation B, Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices, Fair Credit Reporting Act, TILA/Regulation Z, dealer markup oversight, adverse action, or credit decisioning controls.
• Ability to evaluate production model execution, validation outputs, fair lending review outputs, underwriting accuracy, pricing consistency, and performance trends against approved thresholds.
• Skilled in producing exam-ready policy documents, governance materials, issue tracking, executive summaries, and bank partner reporting.
• Risk or compliance certification, such as Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager, Financial Risk Manager, or equivalent credential.

Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote

Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our "digital first" philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).

United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range

$172,100 — $238,300 USD

What you'll love

At Upstart, our benefits are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here’s what you can expect:

• Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
• Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada)
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)
• Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.
• Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)
• Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security
• Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements
• Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country)
• Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
• Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only)
• Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you
• Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from
• Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
• Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City

For roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec.

Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Just as we are dedicated to improving access to affordable credit for all, we are committed to inclusive and fair hiring practices.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email [e-mail]

https://www.upstart.com/candidate_privacy_policy