Head of Mortgage Lending

Job Summary

The Head of Mortgage is responsible for the overall strategy, performance, and growth of UFCU’s mortgage business. This role provides leadership across origination and operations, while partnering closely with the Secondary Market team to align execution with financial performance and market strategy.
Reporting to the Chief Lending Officer, this leader works closely with executive leadership to drive sustainable growth, expand UFCU’s mortgage presence across the state of Texas, and position UFCU as a lender of choice. The role balances strategic vision with operational execution, building a scalable, high-performing mortgage organization aligned with UFCU’s purpose, values, and commitment to member experience.

Essential Functions

Strategic Planning and Execution

• Partner with the Chief Lending Officer to define and execute UFCU’s mortgage strategy, including growth, market expansion across Texas, member experience, and operational excellence
• Serve as the mortgage subject matter expert in enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, providing data-driven insights aligned with organizational goals
• Establish business goals, success metrics, and performance indicators for Mortgage Lending and communicate them across the organization
• Identify, evaluate, and implement new products, enhancements, and technology solutions to strengthen UFCU’s mortgage offering
• Monitor industry trends, regulatory changes, and market conditions, translating insights into actionable strategies.
• Strategically position UFCU as a mortgage lender of choice through product differentiation.

Mortgage Production & Growth Leadership

• Own and drive overall mortgage production performance, ensuring alignment between enterprise growth objectives, market opportunities, and operational capacity.
• Partner closely with the Sr. Manager of Mortgage Production to translate production goals into executable strategies, performance metrics, and accountability across mortgage channels.
• Establish and monitor key production indicators including volume, conversion rates, pipeline health, pull-through, and loan officer productivity.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Technology, Retail, and Secondary Market teams to align lead generation strategies, pricing, capacity planning, and product mix.
• Balance production growth with operational excellence, regulatory compliance, risk management, and consistent, high-quality member experience.
• Leverage data, market intelligence, and competitive insights to inform production strategy and respond to changing market conditions.
• Identify opportunities to improve speed-to-close, scalability, and efficiency through process improvement, technology optimization, and workforce planning.

Secondary Market Partnership

• Partner closely with the Secondary Market team to align production strategy with pricing, investor requirements, and market conditions
• Collaborate on pipeline management, loan sales strategy, and overall mortgage financial performance
• Ensure alignment between origination, operations, and secondary market execution to optimize business outcomes and member experience
• Maintain a strong understanding of secondary market dynamics, including pricing and investor expectations

Team Leadership

• Provide leadership oversight for the Mortgage Lending team, including hiring, onboarding, coaching, engagement, performance management, and talent development.
• Build and sustain a high-performing, collaborative leadership team aligned with UFCU’s guiding principles and leadership standards.
• Establish clear performance expectations and ensure accountability through ongoing feedback, coaching, and formal evaluations.
• Develop and maintain succession plans for critical mortgage leadership and operational roles.
• Strengthen cross-functional relationships to improve collaboration, influence outcomes, and elevate the member experience.

Budget/Expense Development and Management

• Participate in the establishment of the annual budget with identification of planned expenses, staffing, projects, and other resources needed for new or enhanced programs and services.
• Ensure effective control of results. Take action to guarantee achievement of objectives that fall within designated budgets.

Compliance

• Adhere to all organizational policies, procedures, and business ethics codes.
• Complete required regulatory training as assigned.
• Maintain strict adherence and compliance to all laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, and internal controls specific to the role, including but not limited to the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering, USA Patriot Act, OFAC, and Fair Lending regulations.
• Stay current on existing regulations and pro-actively monitor and communicate developing regulations that may impact UFCU.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

Knowledge

• Expert knowledge of mortgage lending, including strategies, concepts, and practices.
• Expert knowledge of agency and government loan programs including (FNMA/FHLMC, and FHA/VA).
• Strong knowledge of federally insured financial institutions, laws, regulations, and NCUA rules and regulations.
• Technical proficiency with a high-level knowledge of computer systems including Encompass, and Microsoft Office applications including Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams.

Skills

• Excellent written, verbal, active listening, collaborative, and interpersonal communication skills with a high level of diplomacy in directing production staff and member service.
• Strong presentation skills, with the ability to work cross-functionally.
• Strong motivation and management skills required to lead an experienced mortgage operations team, geared to meet production goals and provide exemplary member service.
• Critical decision-making skills and sound judgment to address and resolve issues.
• Effective time management skills including the ability to prioritize responsibilities, delegate, and organize work tasks.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Proven project management and strategic skills, including budget management and analysis.
• Combination of technical knowledge, business acumen, and organizational leadership skills.

Abilities

• Ability to work in fast-paced environment with high attention to detail.
• Adaptable to a productive team environment where knowledge is shared and feedback and coaching are welcomed.
• Strong and frequent leadership of process improvement methodology.
• Ability to consistently evaluate decisions in terms of impact to the business.
• Demonstrated creative problem solving ability and intellectual curiosity.
• Ability to research online and find, access, and interpret regulatory requirements.
• Demonstrated thought partner and strategic thinker to advance and support organizational goals.
• Ability and eagerness to align with and positively support organizational culture.

Core Competencies

• Executive Leadership & Presence
  • Demonstrated executive presence with the ability to influence senior leadership and key stakeholders
  • Ability to represent mortgage strategy at the enterprise level
  • Strong communication and presentation skills
• Delivering Member Obsession
  • Puts themselves in the Member’s shoes
  • Looks for friction points
  • Makes it personalized and easy
• Delivering Performance Excellence
  • Breaks work down
  • Creates accountability
  • Brings others along
  • Follows up

• Delivering Innovation
  • Inspires curiosity
  • Challenges current thinking
  • Champions experimentation
• Delivering Empowered Leadership
  • Develops direction
  • Builds team trust
  • Identifies opportunities to share responsibility
  • Informs the team
  • Supports the team

Experience

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field. Four (4) years of relevant experience may be substituted for a degree.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressive experience leading a large Mortgage Operations Team of 50 employees or greater within a complex organization with increasing management responsibilities.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of demonstrated strategic management and supervisory leadership experience developing and leading teams with direct reporting relationships.
• Current knowledge of Federal, State, and NCUA regulations and statutes pertaining to real estate lending, typically acquired through experience in mortgage underwriting, production, and operations.
• Comprehensive knowledge of mortgage products, services, and industry trends.
• Demonstrated history of creating and maintaining high-performing, high-integrity mortgage operations team.
• Meet the requirements of the S.A.F.E. Act to be registered in the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (NMLS).
• Experience leading through senior-level leaders (e.g., managers of managers), with the ability to align production, operations, and member experience outcomes.
• Must be bondable.

Preferred Requirements

• Master’s of Business Administration degree.
• Credit union or other financial institution experience.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of credit union/financial institution experience.
• Minimum of five (5) years of mortgage operations experience at a senior management level.
• MBA or related advanced degree

Physical Demands

The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee, with or without accommodation, in order to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Frequent

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision and ability to adjust focus.
• Employee will make extensive use of the telephone and virtual communications platforms requiring the ability to effectively and accurately explain complex information.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. 

• This position is required to frequently work at UFCU Plaza in Austin, Texas.
• This position may involve periodic stressful conditions.
• May occasionally require an adjusted work schedule, overtime, and evening/weekend hours.
• May occasionally move from one work location/branch to another.
• Public contact position, requiring appropriate professional appearance.
• Frequent computer use at a workstation of up to two hours at a time.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

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