VP, Consumer Lending

Korn Ferry; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 300,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Korn Ferry seeks a seasoned Vice President, Consumer Lending to lead strategy, growth, and risk management across Direct, Indirect, and Consumer Lending Sales. The role will optimize operations, drive digital enablement, and elevate portfolio performance while maintaining strong governance and enterprise value.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years of leadership in regulated lending, expertise across lending channels, and a proven track record of transforming lending operations for sustainable,

Qualifications

• Ten or more years of progressive leadership in consumer lending or regulated lending environments.
• Experience across two or more areas: direct lending, indirect auto lending, consumer sales, credit strategy, lending operations, digital originations, or portfolio management.
• Accountability for a material consumer lending portfolio with growth, pricing, credit quality, and risk.
• Proven success in leading high-volume, fast-paced lending operations.
• Deep knowledge of consumer credit, underwriting, pricing, portfolio analytics, fairness in lending, and regulatory compliance.
• Documented success transforming concepts to implemented improvements with measurable benefits.
• Experience selecting or optimizing loan origination platforms and analytics tools; familiarity with MeridianLink, Zest AI, Valera/Fiserv, Simitar is a plus.
• Strong experience presenting complex business, financial, and risk issues to senior leadership and governance bodies.
• Proven ability to recruit and develop senior leaders and managers.
• Master’s degree or MBA preferred; bachelor’s degree or equivalent required.
• Credit union background preferred; regulated-lender executives considered with hands-on, resource-conscious approach.

Responsibilities

• Set and drive the strategy, growth, and sales performance for Consumer Lending.
• Lead credit execution, portfolio management, and risk controls across Direct and Indirect channels.
• Oversee operational transformation and automation initiatives to improve productivity and experience.
• Represent Consumer Lending in executive forums and governance discussions.
• Build capabilities for sustainable, risk-adjusted growth and enterprise value.

Skills

Leadership tenure

Breadth of scope

Business ownership

High-volume operations

Credit expertise

Transformation & optimization

Technology fluency

Executive influence

Talent leadership

Education (MBA)

Sector background (credit unions / LDI

Education

Master’s degree or MBA preferred

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

MeridianLink

Zest AI

Valera/Fiserv

Simitar

Job description

The Vice President, Consumer Lending is the enterprise leader accountable for the strategy, growth, sales performance, credit execution, operational transformation, and continued optimization of our clients’ Direct, Indirect, and Consumer Lending Sales businesses. The leader will protect and extend a strong operating foundation while building the capabilities required for sustainable, risk-adjusted growth, a differentiated member experience, disciplined portfolio performance, and measurable enterprise value.

This is a planned succession and optimization mandate, not a turnaround assignment. The incoming executive will inherit a strong, well-established operation with significant process improvements already delivered and recent audit results showing no findings. The opportunity is to preserve that momentum while leading continued optimization, digital enablement, portfolio improvement, product and channel expansion, and responsible growth.

Leadership Context

The Vice President will report to the Chief Lending Officer for the position. The role is expected to operate as a true business leader: setting direction, owning recommendations, leading through managers, representing Consumer Lending in executive and governance forums, and stepping into operational detail when circumstances require.

The position also offers meaningful development runway. The successful leader should be capable of representing the Chief Lending Officer when needed and could, over time, emerge as potential successor talent. Success will require credibility at both ends of the leadership spectrum: confident executive presence in pricing, finance, risk, and ALCO-related discussions, paired with the willingness and technical fluency to engage directly in day-to-day lending operations.

The Candidate

Experience and Professional Qualifications

• Leadership tenure: Ten or more years of progressively responsible leadership in consumer lending, banking, credit unions, fintech, or another regulated lending environment.
• Breadth of scope: Significant leadership experience across at least two of the following: direct consumer lending, indirect auto lending, consumer sales, credit strategy, lending operations, digital originations, or portfolio management.
• Business ownership: Demonstrated accountability for a material consumer lending portfolio, including growth, pricing, credit quality, economics, operations, and risk.
• High-volume operations: Success leading complex, fast-paced lending environments with substantial application and production throughput.
• Credit expertise: Deep knowledge of consumer credit, underwriting, pricing, portfolio analytics, fair lending, regulatory compliance, and first-line risk ownership.
• Transformation and optimization: Documented success leading material transformation from concept through implementation and benefit realization, with measurable improvements in several of the following: growth, conversion, turnaround time, automation, productivity, member or customer experience, credit quality, fraud performance, or operating cost.
• Technology fluency: Experience selecting, implementing, or materially optimizing loan-origination platforms, decision engines, analytics, automation, and digital origination capabilities. Familiarity with MeridianLink, Zest AI, Valera/Fiserv, Simitar, or comparable platforms is advantageous but not required.
• Executive influence: Strong experience presenting complex business, financial, operating, pricing, and risk issues to senior leadership, Boards, pricing committees, ALCO, or other governance groups.
• Talent leadership: Proven ability to recruit, develop, challenge, and retain managers, senior leaders, and high-performing teams.
• Education: Master’s degree or MBA preferred. A bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant executive experience is required.
• Sector background: Credit union experience is preferred. Bank or other regulated-lender executives will be considered when they demonstrate genuine operational depth and the ability to lead effectively in a hands‑on, resource-conscious environment.

The role is based in the New York City market and operates in a flex-hybrid model. Regular in-office presence is a firm requirement, typically one to two days per week, with scheduling flexibility coordinated across the leadership team. The leader must be within a reasonable commute and able to provide on-site management coverage when needed.