Lending Operations Associate Manchester 2023

We have an exciting opportunity to join OakNorth Bank as a Lending Operations Associate! This is a full-time, permanent, office-based position in Manchester reporting to our Lending Operations Manager. This is a new role to the bank, giving the individual the opportunity to shape the way we do things in this space as the function grows.

Responsibilities

• The key responsibility of this role is to support the origination and in-life management of OakNorth Digital Lending products
• Interaction with and coordination of both internal and external stakeholders to ensure loans are executed with speed, accuracy and control
• Act as the first point of contact for customers as their loan progresses through the lending journey, assisting them with ad hoc queries about their loan. This will be through a combination of inbound and outbound customer calls, emails and through live chat features
• When appropriate, escalate calls to resolve complex issues, gathering sufficient information to enable colleagues to support through to resolution
• Validation and implementation of minimum standards post submission of an application by customers and brokers
• Processing and review of key customer and property searches to ensure satisfaction to lend
• Oversight of the lending pipeline, communicating key performance metrics to internal stakeholders through structured reporting
• Oversight of arrears management, ensuring customers are appropriately supported in the event they miss loan payments
• Providing customer support with a friendly, timely and helpful manner
• Focussing on delivering excellent customer service within a fast-paced environment
• Proactively developing personal product knowledge and customer support skills, including regular communication with colleagues to share information and best practice
• Contributing to ad-hoc duties and projects as determined from time to time by members of the management team
• Working cross functionally with all other relevant business departments by communicating valuable customer feedback and keeping them informed of customer issues and successes
• Actively developing and enhancing processes to prepare for growth and scale of the product and the support the team provides
• Actively minimising the risk to the business and the customer by focussing on process controls.

Required experience

• Previous experience within a lending role and working with customers
• Excellent interpersonal skills, energetic and friendly
• Strong communication skills
• Detail oriented mindset with strong organisational skills
• Resilience and the ability to work under pressure, and to pressing deadlines/SLAs
• Previous customer service experience is ideal
• Undergraduate degree or above is preferred but not essential

Benefits 

• Equity. We want people to have a stake in the business so that all our interests are aligned.
• 25 days holiday
• Personalized benefits – opt-in to what matters to you
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• Wellbeing and social events
• Support causes that matter to you – Volunteering time off
• Salary sacrifice schemes (Cycle to work, nursery, gym)

About Us

We’re OakNorth Bank and we embolden entrepreneurs to realise their ambitions, understand their markets, and apply data intelligence to everyday decisions to scale successfully at pace.

Banking should be barrier-free. It’s a belief at our very core, inspired by our entrepreneurial spirit, driven by the unmet financial needs of millions, and delivered by our data-driven tools.

And for those who love helping businesses thrive? Our savings accounts help diversify the high street and create new jobs, all while earning savers some of the highest interest on the market.

But we go beyond finance, to empower our people, encourage professional growth and create an environment where everyone can thrive. We strive to create an inclusive and diverse workplace where people can be themselves and succeed.

Our story

OakNorth Bank was built on the foundations of frustrations with old-school banking. In 2005, when our founders tried to get capital for their data analytics company, the computer said ‘no’. Unfortunately, all major banks in the UK were using the same computer – and it was broken.

Why was it so difficult for a profitable business with impressive cashflow, retained clients, and clear commercial success to get a loan?

The industry was backward-looking and too focused on historic financials, rather than future potential.

So, what if there was a bank, founded by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs? One that offered a dramatically better borrowing experience for businesses?

No more what ifs, OakNorth Bank exists.