The Director, Lending Operations will be a critical addition to the executive management team, joining the organization at a formative stage within a rapidly scaling, highly specialized private debt fund. This role represents a true ground‑floor opportunity for an experienced professional eager to help design, operationalize, and steward bespoke lending structures in a complex legal, tax, and regulatory environment.

The role is inherently intellectually rigorous and best suited for senior legal, tax, or structured finance professionals who enjoy solving complex, non‑standard problems. The Director will play a central role in building the operational and legal architecture that underpins innovative charitable lending instruments, balancing creativity with disciplined risk management. Success in the role requires comfort navigating ambiguity, structuring novel solutions, and establishing repeatable processes as the platform scales.

This is a highly autonomous role requiring a genuine “founder’s mentality”—a hands‑on producer who can originate and execute transactions while also thinking like a fiduciary and risk manager. The Director will serve as a senior originator (lending sales representative) and lending operations executive, leading loan origination and execution while overseeing covenant compliance, collateral structures, regulatory matters, and lifecycle loan management.

The Director will work in close partnership with the Founder and Managing Director and collaborate across legal, finance, and external advisory partners. The role demands strong technical acumen, sound judgment, and the ability to build trusted relationships with borrowers, charitable stakeholders, lenders, and professional advisors. Given the seasonal nature of transaction volume, the role also requires resilience, adaptability, and the capacity to manage workload spikes while maintaining precision and responsiveness.

As a senior leader, the Director will contribute to shaping fund strategy, strengthening internal controls, refining governance practices, and supporting the long‑term scalability and credibility of the platform. Hiring for this role will follow an iterative assessment and interview process, with a strong emphasis on cultural alignment, demonstrated judgment, and the ability to thrive in a mission‑driven, high‑accountability environment.

Loan Origination & Structuring

Serve as a senior originator (lending sales representative) for the Fund’s charitable gift‑financing platform, sourcing, structuring, and closing complex asset‑backed lending transactions.

Design bespoke loan structures that align rigorously with tax law, charitable‑giving rules, insurance mechanics, and the Fund’s legal and regulatory parameters.

Engage directly with high ordinary‑income donors, converting complex tax and philanthropic concepts into executable lending solutions.

Partner closely with the Founder and CEO on pipeline development, deal prioritization, pricing considerations, and execution—particularly during the concentrated Q4 origination season.

Underwriting, Due Diligence & Risk Mitigation

Own the underwriting and risk‑assessment process for each transaction, including deep‑dive diligence on borrower entities, financial capacity, and transaction intent.

Ensure the philanthropic intent of the borrowers—which is critical to the proper operation of the Program Related Investment fund—is properly captured and documented.

Validate insurable interest and policy mechanics, ensuring enforceability and integrity of paid‑up permanent life insurance death‑benefit collateral.

Ensure proper risk‑mitigation features, including covenants, remedies, and guarantees (e.g., bad‑boy guarantees), reflecting the Fund’s fiduciary obligations to its investors.

Exercise disciplined judgment in balancing speed, creativity, and risk control in a non‑standard lending environment.

Loan Execution & Documentation

Lead end‑to‑end transaction execution, including term sheets, loan documentation, covenant frameworks, and collateral assignments.

Coordinate with borrowers, insurance professionals, auditors, and counterparties to ensure accurate, compliant, and timely closings.

Ensure transaction structures and documentation remain consistent with the Fund’s status under the Philanthropy Protection Act of 1995 and Regulation D requirements.

Servicing, Covenant & Collateral Monitoring

Maintain primary responsibility for ongoing loan servicing, explicitly recognizing that origination is only half the job.

Monitor borrower compliance with covenants, insurance policy status, assignments, and post‑close obligations throughout the life of each loan.

Administer amendments, waivers, renewals, and enforcement actions with rigor and documentation discipline.

Conduct periodic forensic loan reviews to support audits, board reporting, and portfolio oversight.

Regulatory, Governance & Compliance Support

Support the Fund’s regulatory posture as a pooled charitable investment fund, including Form D filings and applicable state securities requirements.

Operate with autonomy but will also be cognizant to maintain alignment with organizational governance practices, including proactive and regular senior executive communication, appropriate escalation of key matters, and disciplined execution of final leadership decisions.

Partner with the charity parent, outside professionals, and CPAs to maintain governance standards, internal controls, and audit readiness.

Serve as an internal resource on regulatory considerations related to charitable gift financing and structured lending.

Process Improvement & Scaling Infrastructure

Build out, improve and formalize CRM and LOS systems, workflow automations, and loan‑fulfillment processes to support growing origination volume and seasonal surges.

Develop scalable operational playbooks that preserve institutional‑grade controls within a lean, fast‑moving environment.

Identify control gaps, inefficiencies, or emerging risks and implement practical solutions.

Core Technical & Professional Background

Advanced professional training and judgment commensurate with complex structured lending, tax‑driven transactions, and legal documentation (e.g., JD, MBA, CPA, or equivalent experience in structured finance, tax, or specialty lending environments).

Demonstrated strength in covenant administration and collateral management, with exceptional attention to detail and documentation discipline.

Proven ability to make timely, well‑reasoned decisions under uncertainty, balancing creativity and risk mitigation without analysis paralysis.

Experience working alongside fund leadership, external counsel, auditors, and fiduciaries, with comfort operating in regulated or quasi‑regulated environments.

Commercial & Client‑Facing Capability

Strong commercial acumen and confidence engaging high‑earning, sophisticated clients on complex financial, tax, and philanthropic topics.

Ability to build trust and rapport with donors and borrowers typically ranging from ages 35–75, including executives, professional partners, and other high‑income individuals.

Skill translating technical concepts into clear, actionable explanations that support confident borrower decision‑making.

Intellectual Curiosity & Learning Orientation

Voracious learner with deep intellectual curiosity around tax planning, insurance structures, charitable giving vehicles, and corporate/legal frameworks.

Enjoys solving non‑standard problems and continuously refining understanding as laws, structures, and practices evolve.

Comfortable owning subject‑matter expertise while remaining open to feedback, iteration, and improvement.

Entrepreneurial Mindset & Operating Resilience

Thrives in startup or early‑stage growth environments, demonstrating an entrepreneurial spirit without short‑term restlessness.

Comfortable building processes while simultaneously executing transactions in a lean organization.

Capacity to handle a highly seasonal workload, including periods of sustained intensity, without compromising quality, judgment, or professionalism.

Rapid Integration & Deal Execution Ability to quickly integrate into the Fund’s sales and fulfillment cadence, closing multiple loans across both renewals and new originations within the first operating cycles. Demonstrates confidence moving from pipeline engagement to documentation, closing, and post‑close administration without extended ramp time.

Process Fluency & Operational Discipline Working familiarity with CRM systems, workflow automations, and loan‑fulfillment processes, with the ability to refine and improve them to support increasing origination volume—particularly during the Q4 surge. Comfortable balancing speed with repeatability and control.

Audit & Forensic Review Competence Experience supporting forensic loan reviews, audits, and diligence requests, including the ability to trace decisions, documentation, covenant compliance, and collateral status through the full loan lifecycle. Maintains documentation discipline appropriate for fiduciary, charitable, and regulatory scrutiny.

Cycle Mastery & Long‑Term Operating Cadence Capacity to master the full year‑over‑year operating rhythm of a highly seasonal lending business. After multiple cycles, demonstrates ownership of the complete cadence—from origination surges through Q1 reviews, audits, and portfolio normalization.

Incentive & Performance Maturity Comfort operating within a highly performance‑linked compensation structure, including material upside with significant deferred and perpetual components tied to long‑term performance and forfeiture mechanics. Understands and values alignment with multi‑year outcomes over short‑term optimization.

An advanced graduate degree is strongly preferred, such as a Juris Doctor (JD), Master of Business Administration (MBA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), or a comparable graduate‑level qualification that supports sophisticated legal, tax, financial, or structured‑lending work.

Equivalent combinations of education and experience will be considered for candidates demonstrating exceptional judgment in complex lending environments.

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Korn Ferry shall provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified candidates, and will refer candidates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected basis. Artificial Intelligence tools may be used in connection with the recruitment process for this position.