Manager, Quality Assurance

Zippy was founded with one mission: to make getting a loan for a manufactured home simple, fast, and fully online. We believe modern manufactured homes are affordable, well‑built, eco‑friendly, and stylish, but finding a lender who understands this market can be challenging. That’s why Zippy focuses exclusively on manufactured home loans, offering a seamless, digital experience. Headquartered in Dallas, TX, with an office in Tempe, AZ, Zippy provides home loans and insurance to manufactured home buyers throughout the United States. Our remote‑first team is spread across cities like Dallas, Houston, Knoxville, Omaha, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and several other states and cities. Backed by institutional investors, we offer competitive pay, stock options, and excellent benefits. At Zippy, we pride ourselves on our commitment to finance happiness through the power of home. We are dedicated to enhancing consumers' financial outcomes and tackling the affordable housing crisis through cutting‑edge technology and innovative solutions. Role Overview The Manager, Quality Assurance is responsible for leading the company’s pre‑close and post‑close quality assurance programs across the loan origination lifecycle. This role oversees the people, workflows, and controls required to deliver timely, accurate, and consistent file reviews while identifying risks before they result in borrower, regulatory, operational, or investor impact. This position combines hands‑on quality assurance expertise with strong people leadership. The Manager coaches and develops QA analysts, manages performance and capacity, maintains calibration and review consistency, and ensures findings are supported by policy, procedure, regulatory, or investor requirements. The role serves as the primary point of contact for finding disputes, reassignments, escalations, and cross‑functional QA discussions. The Manager must be a subject matter expert in the end‑to‑end origination process and comfortable conducting detailed research across multiple systems in a highly ambiguous, rapidly changing environment. The role is expected to translate findings and trend data into practical recommendations that reduce repeat issues, streamline procedures, and strengthen quality without creating unnecessary operational friction. Core Responsibilities Team Leadership and Development Lead, coach, and develop a team of QA professionals responsible for pre-close and post-close loan reviews Establish clear expectations, hold regular one‑on‑one meetings, and provide timely, specific, and constructive feedback Manage performance concerns promptly and consistently, including documenting expectations and improvement plans when needed Assess individual and team training needs and deliver or coordinate training, calibration, mentoring, and development opportunities Support employee engagement, retention, succession planning, and readiness for expanded responsibilities Foster a professional, accountable, collaborative, and psychologically safe team environment Quality Oversight and Program Integrity Oversee the execution of pre-close and post-close quality assurance reviews across the full loan origination process Ensure reviews are accurate, consistently scored, completed within established service levels, and supported by clear evidence Maintain strong quality controls by monitoring removal rates, investor findings, repeat findings, and other program‑level measures Conduct regular calibration sessions and targeted review validation to promote consistent interpretation and application of requirements Ensure QA appropriately identifies policy, procedural, compliance, regulatory, documentation, and investor risks Validate that findings are grounded in applicable policy, procedure, law, regulation, investor requirements, or documented business standards Escalate material, systemic, or emerging risks and track agreed corrective actions through resolution Operational Management and Throughput Manage daily work queues, assignments, reassignments, priorities, and team capacity across pre-close and post‑close reviews Monitor pipeline volume, aging, turnaround times, and workload distribution; proactively address bottlenecks and service‑level risk Balance speed and quality so reviews support the origination process without weakening control effectiveness Develop and maintain efficient, repeatable workflows across the multiple systems and tools used for QA research and documentation Use operational data to identify staffing, training, workflow, or technology needs and recommend practical solutions Maintain complete, accurate, and audit‑ready records of reviews, findings, disputes, decisions, and remediation Findings, Disputes, and Cross‑Functional Collaboration Lead weekly meetings with managers across the organization to review QA findings, trends, recurring issues, and remediation progress Serve as the primary escalation point for disputed findings, review reassignments, and questions regarding QA conclusions Evaluate disputes objectively, conduct additional research when needed, and make or facilitate timely, well‑supported decisions Communicate findings and expectations clearly, distinguishing isolated errors from systemic process or control weaknesses Build productive working relationships with Origination, Underwriting, Operations, Compliance, Credit Risk, Technology, and other stakeholders while preserving QA’s independence Translate QA data into concise, actionable insights for managers and senior leadership Origination Expertise and Research Maintain subject matter expertise across the end‑to‑end loan origination process, including application, processing, underwriting, closing, funding, documentation, and post‑close requirements Interpret and apply internal policies, procedures, system requirements, regulatory obligations, and investor guidelines to complex file scenarios Navigate multiple platforms and data sources to reconstruct file activity, validate evidence, and resolve questions or inconsistencies Answer technical and procedural questions from QA analysts and cross‑functional partners with clear reasoning and appropriate supporting authority Remain current on policy, procedure, product, system, regulatory, and investor changes and translate those changes into QA practices and team training Continuous Improvement and Strategic Contribution Analyze QA trends and root causes to identify systemic risks, inefficient procedures, training gaps, and opportunities for automation or control improvement Proactively develop and implement improvements that reduce repeat findings, strengthen outcomes, and increase throughput without sacrificing quality Partner with managers to simplify or clarify procedures and preventive controls while maintaining appropriate quality and risk standards Define success measures for improvement efforts and evaluate whether changes produce the intended results Contribute to QA planning, departmental goals, and broader Risk initiatives Lead the team calmly and effectively through changes in policy, process, systems, organizational priorities, and volume Qualifications 7+ years of progressive experience in mortgage, consumer lending, manufactured housing lending, loan operations, underwriting, quality assurance, quality control, compliance, or a comparable financial services function 3+ years of direct people‑management experience, including coaching, performance management, training, workload planning, and employee development Demonstrated expertise in the end‑to‑end loan origination lifecycle and the ability to evaluate a complete loan file rather than a single functional component Experience overseeing both pre‑close and post‑close quality reviews strongly preferred Proven ability to interpret and apply policies, procedures, regulations, and investor requirements to complex or ambiguous fact patterns Strong investigative and research skills, including the ability to navigate multiple systems, reconcile conflicting information, and document supportable conclusions Demonstrated ability to manage disputes and escalations objectively, communicate difficult conclusions professionally, and build alignment across functions Strong analytical skills and experience using findings, operational metrics, and trend data to identify root causes and drive measurable improvement Excellent written and verbal communication, facilitation, organization, and judgment Ability to operate proactively and independently in a fast‑paced, highly ambiguous environment with evolving processes and priorities Manufactured housing or specialty finance experience preferred Measures of Success QA reviews are timely, accurate, well supported, and consistently applied across reviewers Team capacity and workload are actively managed, with bottlenecks and service‑level risks addressed before they become material Removal rates, investor findings, and repeat findings remain within established thresholds and improve over time Disputes and escalations are resolved promptly, objectively, and with clear documentation QA trends lead to actionable process, training, or control improvements with measurable results Team members receive effective coaching, understand expectations, and demonstrate growth, accountability, and engagement Cross‑functional leaders view QA as an independent, credible, practical, and solutions‑oriented partner Important Applicant Information While many of our interviews are conducted virtually, all applicants should be prepared to potentially meet in person as part of the process. As a participating employer, we will use E‑Verify to confirm employment eligibility. Please note that we are currently only hiring candidates who reside in the following states: Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. Applicants that do not reside in the bolded states will be rejected. Total Rewards Competitive Compensation : We offer a competitive salary with the potential for annual bonuses and variable pay, depending on your skills and experience. Equity for All: As a part of our commitment to shared success, all employees receive equity in the company, allowing you to share in the growth and achievements of Zippy. Remote Work : Enjoy the flexibility of working from home in a dynamic, remote‑first environment. Comprehensive Health Coverage : We provide medical, dental, and vision insurance, along with company‑subsidized benefits like STD, LTD, and life insurance for you and your family. Flexible Spending Accounts : Take advantage of medical & dependent care FSAs to help manage your expenses. #J-18808-Ljbffr