Chief Credit Officer

Job description:

The Chief Credit Officer will serve as a key member of the Executive Leadership Team and will be responsible for establishing and maintaining the organizations credit philosophy, underwriting standards, credit culture, and portfolio-risk management practices.

This executive will provide strategic leadership for credit administration while partnering closely with the CEO, President, Chief Lending Officer, executive leadership, and Board of Directors. The CCO will help ensure strong asset quality, regulatory readiness, disciplined growth, and consistent credit decision-making across commercial lending, equipment finance and leasing, SBA, and fintech-related business lines.

The ideal candidate will bring exceptional commercial credit judgment, strong executive presence, and the ability to balance prudent risk management with the entrepreneurial mindset required to support a growing specialty lending platform.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Leadership

• Serve as a member of the Executive Leadership Team
• Partner with senior leadership to develop long-term growth strategies
• Help define and advance the organizations overall credit philosophy and strategic direction
• Present portfolio performance, credit trends, risk assessments, and recommendations to the Board of Directors
• Promote a culture of accountability, sound judgment, transparency, and exceptional client service
• Serve as a trusted advisor to lending, operations, finance, compliance, and executive leadership

Credit Administration

• Develop, implement, and continually refine credit policies, procedures, and underwriting standards
• Establish and maintain the organizations credit parameters while supporting responsible business growth
• Oversee commercial credit underwriting, approval, documentation, and monitoring processes
• Review and approve complex commercial credit relationships
• Ensure consistency and quality across commercial lending, equipment finance and leasing, SBA, and other specialty lending activities
• Direct loan grading, risk-rating, credit review, and portfolio-management processes
• Monitor credit concentrations, industry exposure, geographic risk, collateral quality, and emerging trends
• Ensure underwriting practices appropriately address the unique characteristics of commercial equipment loans and leases, including collateral valuation, useful life, residual values, liquidation considerations, and concentration risk

Portfolio Risk Management

• Monitor overall portfolio performance and asset-quality trends
• Identify emerging risks and develop strategies to minimize credit losses
• Oversee criticized and classified asset management
• Establish appropriate risk-mitigation strategies and escalation processes
• Ensure sound allowance and loan-loss reserve methodologies
• Oversee concentration monitoring, stress testing, portfolio segmentation, and risk reporting
• Partner with lending leadership to address developing concerns proactively
• Balance portfolio growth with long-term credit quality and risk-adjusted returns

Regulatory, Governance, and Compliance

• Maintain compliance with applicable banking regulations and supervisory expectations
• Lead or support interactions with state and federal banking regulators
• Ensure strong governance, documentation, controls, and audit readiness throughout the credit function
• Oversee internal and external credit reviews
• Respond effectively to examination findings and implement corrective actions when necessary
• Maintain consistently high standards for credit files, approval documentation, reporting, and policy adherence

Leadership and Team Development

• Recruit, lead, develop, and mentor high-performing credit professionals
• Build succession plans and strengthen the organizations credit bench
• Establish clear expectations, accountability, and performance standards
• Promote collaboration among credit, lending, operations, compliance, finance, and risk teams
• Encourage timely, thoughtful credit decisions while maintaining appropriate risk discipline
• Build a credit organization capable of supporting continued growth and evolving business needs

Qualifications:

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Finance, Business, Accounting, Economics, or a related field; MBA preferred
• At least 15 years of progressive commercial banking or specialty finance experience
• Extensive experience leading commercial credit administration
• Prior experience as a Chief Credit Officer, Deputy Chief Credit Officer, Chief Risk Officer, or senior credit executive preferred
• Demonstrated experience managing complex commercial loan and lease portfolios
• Strong knowledge of:
  • Commercial and industrial lending
  • Commercial real estate
  • Commercial equipment finance and leasing
  • SBA lending
  • Commercial loan and lease portfolio management
  • Credit policy and underwriting standards
  • Enterprise risk management
  • Loan grading and risk-rating systems
  • Banking regulations, examinations, and regulatory expectations
• Experience presenting to executive leadership and Boards of Directors
• Demonstrated ability to support growth while preserving asset quality and credit discipline

Preferred Experience

Experience with one or more of the following is highly desirable:

• National commercial lending platforms
• Commercial equipment finance and leasing
• Vendor finance or indirect equipment programs
• Specialty commercial lending
• SBA lending
• Embedded banking or fintech partnerships
• Multi-state lending operations
• High-growth financial institutions
• Privately owned or entrepreneurial financial organizations
• Technology-enabled credit and underwriting platforms

Leadership Competencies

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Exceptional commercial credit judgment
• Strategic thinking combined with practical decision-making
• Strong executive presence and communication skills
• High integrity, sound ethics, and professional credibility
• Ability to make timely, well-reasoned credit decisions
• Collaborative and approachable leadership style
• Ability to build trust with regulators, lenders, executives, and Board members
• Comfort operating in a growing organization where decisions have visible impact
• Ability to balance client responsiveness with disciplined risk management

Measures of Success

Success in this role will be measured by:

• Strong and sustainable portfolio credit quality
• Effective management of credit and concentration risk
• Consistent underwriting and approval practices
• Strong regulatory examination and audit results
• Timely identification and resolution of emerging risks
• Thoughtful support of commercial lending and equipment-finance growth
• Development of a high-performing, respected credit team
• Strong partnership with lending and executive leadership
• Preservation of a disciplined, relationship-focused credit culture

Why is This a Great Opportunity:

This is a high-impact executive opportunity for a credit leader who wants more than a traditional oversight role. The Chief Credit Officer will have meaningful influence over credit philosophy, portfolio strategy, equipment-finance growth, risk management, talent development, and the organizations broader strategic direction.

The successful candidate will join an entrepreneurial financial institution that combines relationship-driven service with the sophistication of a growing national commercial lending and equipment-finance platform.

This is a high-impact executive opportunity for a credit leader who wants more than a traditional oversight role. The Chief Credit Officer will have meaningful influence over credit philosophy, portfolio strategy, equipment-finance growth, risk management, talent development, and the organizations broader strategic direction.

The successful candidate will join an entrepreneurial financial institution that combines relationship-driven service with the sophistication of a growing national commercial lending and equipment-finance platform.