Consumer Lending Center Manager (Spanish Bilingual Required)

The Consumer Lending Center Manager I is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Lending Center, ensuring member satisfaction, loan growth, and regulatory compliance. This role leads Lending Specialists and supports strategic initiatives through coaching, operational oversight, and collaboration with cross-functional teams. They will have leadership responsibility for improving consumer loan sales effectiveness in the Consumer Lending area and cultivating a strong relationship with the Retail Division. The Manager I plays a key role in developing lending practices, improving service delivery, and driving performance aligned with organizational goals.

Leadership Expectations

• Responsible for inclusive excellence, essential leadership duties, and the development of team and self while continuously striving to achieve UWCU’s goals, strategies & critical measures.
• Personal Responsibility and Accountability – Build trust with the team inspiring growth and development while striving to make a positive impact on the business.
• Effective Communication – Communicate inclusively and transparently, aligning work in a manner that reinforces UWCU’s vision, mission, core values and goals. Uses social and emotional intelligence to navigate conflict, strengthen relationships and solve complex problems.
• Focus on Teamwork – Encourage others to authentically bring their true self and skills to work, aligning them with the strategic goals of the team and organization. Recognize and reward individual and team efforts reinforcing the positive impacts to the team and organization.
• High-Performance Mindset – Committed to operational excellence and improvement in the areas of compliance, organizational processes, and employee experience. Consistently meets or exceeds milestones and deadlines.
• Business Acumen – Is a student of our business by understanding emerging industry trends competitor knowledge and how own functional area contributes to the organization. Uses strategic plan, critical measures, and data to recommend change and to execute plans to achieve organization effectiveness and strategic priorities.
• Inclusive Excellence – Foster a collaborative and innovative team. Set the tone and model behaviors that create an environment where others feel valued, respected, a sense of belonging, and the ability to positively contribute. Creates equitable access to development and career growth. 
• Recruitment and Retention – Recruit and retain top talent. Develop diverse talent pipelines, aligning with UWCU’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Consistently utilizes coaching and development as an engagement, retention, and inclusion strategy.
• Change Leadership – Views change as a necessary constant and positions it in a way that creates engagement and capitalizes on opportunities for individual and team growth and development. 
• Coach Approach – approaches people leadership from a place of curiosity and growth mindset, providing continuous feedback focused on employee development. Invites feedback from all directions; recognizing growth and development are a daily process.

Achievement in Balanced Scorecard Results

• Lead Lending Specialists to achieve department goals in coaching, sales, and member satisfaction. 
• Evaluate performance data to establish behavioral norms and identify areas for improvement.
• Participate in strategic planning and goal setting to align team efforts with organizational priorities. 
• Utilize business analytics to identify opportunities for improvement and innovation. 

Operational Excellence

• Approve escalated loan decisions beyond the authority of Lending Specialists and Assistant Manager. 
• Maintain service standards by anticipating changes in volume levels, adjusting resources as needed, and fostering staff engagement through collaboration and active queue support.
• Evaluate staffing needs and ensure team members have the skills and tools to perform effectively. 
• Provide guidance and feedback to staff on lending methods and policy interpretation.  
• Leverage system expertise, data analytics, and AI to recommend innovative process improvements that enhance efficiency and member experience.
• Support underwriting operations as needed by providing rotational coverage, including indirect loan decisioning during evenings and weekends.
• Review underwriting decisions and delinquency reports to identify trends and training needs. 
• Periodically review and provide feedback to update underwriting guidelines, policies, and procedures. 
• Support regulatory audits and examinations. 

Collaboration & Member Experience

• Partner with the Lending Center Underwriting Manager and other Lending Center Management to calibrate staff performance and ensure consistent decision making across channels.
• Collaborate with internal partners such as MSS, MSC and Card Programs to ensure a unified approach.
• Assist in creation of training programs and lead them for onboarding and ongoing development of lending staff.
• Regularly conduct quality assurance reviews of staff interactions with members. 
• Resolve member escalations with empathy and efficiency. 
• Ensure compliance with federal and state regulations across all lending activities.
• Serve on committees and projects as needed. 

Education & Experience: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Finance, Marketing and/or related field required. 
• 4-5 years Consumer Lending Underwriting required
• 4-5 years of management experience in consumer lending and/or retail bank environment required. 

Skills:

• Demonstrated leadership skills to motivate and develop staff. 
• Experience in utilizing business analytics to determine membership needs and sales opportunities. 
• Expert knowledge of financial products and services with emphasis on Indirect Lending products and services.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects and competing priorities. 
• Project management skills, demonstrated ability to analyze systems, problem solve, make and implement recommendations for improving efficiency.
• Technologically fluent with Microsoft 365 applications and adept at learning new digital tools to support productivity and collaboration.

Why work for UW Credit Union?

Join one of Wisconsin’s premier financial institutions, a National Top Workplace and multi-year recipient of Madison Magazine’s Best Places to Work, Wisconsin State Journal’s Top Workplaces, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Top Workplaces to receive:

• 21.5 days of annual time off (accrued per pay period)
• 2 weeks paid caregiver leave
• 2.5 weeks paid new child parental leave
• 2 days paid volunteer time
• 10 paid holidays (including your birthday!)
• 401k company match of up to 5%, plus approximately 4% discretionary match
• Variable bonus reward
• Competitive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans, including domestic partner eligibility
• Employee Assistance Program
• And more!

All employees must possess valid work authorization to work for UWCU on the date of hire.  UWCU does not provide immigration sponsorship or support for employment authorization to include, but not limited to, sponsorship or support for H-1B, F-1 OPT, TN, or other visa category.