Senior Private Lending Underwriter & Closing Lead- South Orange County, CA

This is a confidential search conducted on behalf of our client. A well-established, well-capitalized private lending firm is scaling up — average loan sizes are growing from $1.2M–$1.5M into the $2.5M–$5M range, and they need a proven private-lending professional ready to grow with them.

This is a single, integrated role — not a split between underwriting and closing. You'll own each deal from first call to funded loan: sophisticated borrowers, complex ownership structures, premium California real estate — with the authority to make the credit calls and the trust to be right about them.

If you've built your career on judgment, speed, and getting deals done right, this is where that reputation finally pays what it's worth.

What You'll Own

• Underwriting & credit judgment — Analyze borrower/sponsor/guarantor strength, ownership structure, liquidity, source and use of proceeds, repayment ability, and exit strategy. Evaluate collateral, LTV/LTC, lien priority, and cash flow/DSCR. Review appraisals critically — never at face value. Recommend approve, revise, or decline with clear rationale.
• Borrower diligence & deal structuring — Lead borrower/guarantor interviews. Spot the complex stuff (trusts, multiple guarantors, subordinate financing, cross-collateralization) and structure amount, pricing, term, reserves, and covenants to match the risk.
• Documentation & closing — Issue commitments, applications, and disclosures. Coordinate appraisal, title, escrow, insurance, and legal review. Confirm every funding condition before funds release.
• Pipeline leadership & relationships — Lead daily origination meetings. Build real trust with brokers, borrowers, and investors. Serve as a senior resource and mentor to newer team members.
• Compliance — Confirm business-purpose classification on every file and stay sharp on federal and California lending requirements.

• 5–7+ years of progressively responsible experience in private money, hard money, bridge, commercial, or business-purpose mortgage lending, with real hands-on underwriting and closing responsibility on loans of $2.5M+.
• Sharp command of borrower/guarantor and collateral analysis, cash-flow and liquidity review, sources and uses, and exit analysis.
• Deep fluency in loan, credit, and entity documents — title, escrow, insurance, appraisals, promissory notes, deeds of trust, guaranties, and closing procedures.
• Working knowledge of income-property analysis (NOI, DSCR, cap rates, rent rolls) and sophisticated ownership structures (LLCs, LPs, trusts, syndications).
• You operate with precision — deals close clean, and follow-through is never in question.
• Bachelor's degree in finance, real estate, accounting, business, or equivalent hands-on lending experience.

Bonus points: committee presentation experience, established California title/escrow/appraisal/legal relationships, bridge/value-add/construction lending background, or experience mentoring a team.