Commercial Loan Documentation Manager

Description

Job Summary Overview

The Commercial Loan Documentation Manager provides day-to-day operational management and technical leadership for the commercial loan documentation function. The role oversees the preparation, review, and quality control of complex and nonstandard commercial and business loan documentation, ensuring alignment with approved credit structures, internal policies, legal guidance, due diligence requirements, and applicable regulatory standards. This position manages documentation workflow, team performance, service-level expectations, documentation quality, and risk-related escalations while supporting accurate, compliant, and timely loan closings. The role is responsible for employee development, documentation procedures and governance, technical training standards, and operational improvements within the documentation function. As a working manager, the position maintains direct involvement in complex documentation and transaction review to support technical escalations, quality assurance, and pipeline capacity.

Essential Job Functions

• Provides day-to-day operational management and technical leadership for the commercial loan documentation team.
• Establishes and maintains commercial loan documentation standards, technical guidance, controls, and governance to support consistent application across complex and nonstandard transactions.
• Oversees the preparation, review, and validation of complex and nonstandard commercial and business loan documents in LaserPro and/or Conductor (LawyerPro), ensuring alignment with approved credit structures, internal policies, legal guidance, due diligence requirements, and applicable regulatory standards.
• Provides final documentation quality control review and approval of draft loan documents, including loan agreements, promissory notes, guaranties, security agreements, entity resolutions, and related instruments.
• Serves as the senior operational decision-maker for commercial loan documentation matters within assigned authority levels, including issues involving entity authority, collateral documentation, lien perfection, covenants, guaranties, and nonstandard legal provisions.
• Manages documentation workflow, pipeline assignments, workload distribution, and team capacity to support service-level commitments while maintaining documentation quality and compliance.
• Serves as the primary escalation point for documentation issues, nonstandard credit requirements, entity authority concerns, collateral documentation, lien perfection matters, and documentation execution challenges.
• Exercises sound judgment in evaluating documentation risk, determining appropriate escalation paths, and coordinating resolution with leadership, Credit, Commercial Quality Control, Processing and Closing, Servicing, and other internal partners.
• Serves as the primary point of contact for outside counsel on documentation matters, including opening legal matters, facilitating conflict checks, coordinating supporting information, reviewing attorney-prepared documentation, and tracking legal-review activity through resolution.
• Oversees governance of approved nonstandard language, documentation exceptions, attorney-prepared transactions, document-retention practices, and related controls to support consistency, risk management, and audit readiness.
• Identifies documentation risks, legal-review trends, recurring exceptions, and quality concerns and provides recommendations to department leadership regarding controls, procedures, training, and risk mitigation.
• Monitors documentation team performance, quality trends, rework, service-level results, and scorecard expectations, addressing gaps through coaching, performance management, training, and process refinement.
• Provides employee-related management responsibilities, including performance management, employee development, onboarding, cross-training, technical competency development, and succession support for the documentation team.
• Establishes standardized technical training and competency expectations for the commercial loan documentation function.
• Leads the development, maintenance, and implementation of documentation procedures, workflows, job aids, training materials, and quality standards.
• Supports documentation system strategy, template governance, and operational initiatives involving LaserPro, Conductor (LawyerPro), and related documentation workflows.
• Identifies documentation workflow trends, evaluates root causes, recommends solutions, and leads implementation of operational improvements within the documentation function.
• Partners with department leadership on staffing, workload planning, prioritization, risk identification, and business-continuity needs specific to the documentation function.
• Maintains current knowledge of commercial lending documentation requirements, systems, policies, and regulatory expectations and applies that knowledge to team leadership and transaction execution.
• Maintains direct involvement in complex documentation and transaction review to support technical escalation, quality assurance, and documentation pipeline capacity.
• Accountable for meeting individual performance expectations and scorecard metrics associated with the role.
• Promotes a high-quality internal and external experience aligned with the Credit Union’s values.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Requirements

Position Required Qualifications

Minimum Education and Experience

High school diploma or GED required, plus seven to ten (7-10) years of experience supporting commercial loan documentation preparation, attorney-prepared transactions, commercial lending operations, or related banking operational functions. Demonstrated leadership experience with responsibility for workflow management, employee performance, quality oversight, and service-level expectations. Proven experience in a senior commercial documentation, commercial loan administration/closing, CRE legal support, paralegal, or comparable role involving complex commercial transactions may also be considered.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Demonstrated experience managing or leading teams in a commercial loan documentation or commercial lending operations environment.
• Proven advanced experience preparing, reviewing, and approving complex and nonstandard commercial loan documentation, including attorney-prepared transactions.
• Demonstrated expertise in interpreting nonstandard credit structures and developing proposed documentation language, covenants, conditions, guaranty provisions, and other legal terms necessary to accurately reflect unique credit requirements, subject to internal and/or external legal review and approval.
• Strong working knowledge of commercial loan structures, entity authority, collateral types, lien perfection requirements, due diligence, and documentation risk.

Ability to exercise sound judgment, make risk-based documentation decisions within assigned authority levels, manage escalations, and lead a documentation team in a high-volume, deadline-driven environment.Advanced knowledge of commercial loan documentation within a financial institution environment, including credit approvals, entity structures, collateral requirements, and loan documentation. Demonstrated expertise interpreting approved credit structures and ensuring documentation accurately reflects transaction terms, due diligence requirements, legal guidance, and internal standards. Strong understanding of entity authority, collateral documentation, lien perfection requirements, documentation exceptions, and documentation risk. Demonstrated ability to establish documentation standards, manage employee performance and development, direct workflow, resolve escalated issues, and lead operational improvements within a high-volume environment. Excellent analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills with strong attention to detail and accuracy. Ability to collaborate effectively with internal business partners and outside counsel while maintaining accountability for documentation quality and execution. Strong working knowledge of LaserPro, Conductor (LawyerPro), commercial loan workflow systems, core processing systems, and Microsoft Office.

Licenses, Training, and Certifications Required

• Completion of all required annual company training, including computer-based training (CBT) related to compliance, regulatory requirements, information security, and operational procedures.
• Ongoing participation in commercial lending, documentation, systems, leadership, and compliance-related training, as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Paralegal Studies, or related field preferred.
• Prior managerial experience in commercial lending operations or commercial loan documentation.
• SBA experience
• Sageworks experience

Hybrid Work Environment and Physical Demands

• Occasional lifting, 25 pounds or less.
• Sitting and standing for extended periods of time.
• Working on a computer for extended periods of time.

NOTE: The job description is intended to be generic in nature. It is not an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. Requirements listed in the above qualifications and physical requirements are representative of the knowledge, skill, abilities, physical demands, or work environment required or encountered that must be met by an employee to successfully perform each duty and each function of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

Employees who work from home must have business operational internet to complete work tasks and communicate via video call or chat messaging systems in a dedicated workspace.