Head of Lending Operations

About MA Financial Group:

MA Financial Group is a global alternative asset manager specialising in private credit, real estate and hospitality. We lend to property, corporate and specialty finance sectors and provide corporate advice.

We invest and manage $9.9 billion on behalf of our clients, have $128 billion in managed loans and have advised on over $120 billion in advisory and equity capital market transactions (as at September 2024).

We have a team of more than 800 working in Australia, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Philippines and the United States.

MA Financial is a place of opportunity and unlimited potential. It's a place that empowers you to think, collaborate, and help create something truly valuable.

What will you be doing:

The
Head of Lending Operations
is a key role responsible for overseeing end-to-end lending assessment operations. You will lead a high-performing team of 20+ credit specialists, including assessors, underwriters and a credit support team based in Manila. You will ensure operational excellence, consistent decisioning standards, and strong service levels, while driving continuous improvement in processes, technology, and team capability. As a holder of the organisation's highest Delegated Lending Authority (DLA), you will set the benchmark for credit quality, risk discipline and customer outcomes.

Key responsibilities include:

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, coach, and develop a lending operations team of 20+ across Australia and Manila, including underwriters, assessors and credit support.
• Set clear performance expectations and build a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Oversee recruitment, workforce planning and development pathways.

Credit Quality & Decisioning

• Hold the highest DLA authority and oversee complex or high-risk credit decisions.
• Ensure consistent application of credit policy, lending appetite and regulatory requirements.
• Provide guidance on complex scenarios and articulate lending appetite clearly to internal teams and brokers.
• Ensure adherence to lending policy, NCCP and Responsible Lending expectations, AML/CTF requirements, and MA Money risk frameworks.
• Act as an active member of the Credit Council: present credit trends, operational insights exceptions and emerging risks; contribute to strategic discussions on credit quality, portfolio performance and market conditions.
• Oversee audit readiness and embed a robust risk-aware culture across the team.

Operational Excellence & Workflow Management

• Oversee daily workflow allocation, pipeline management and resource planning to maintain consistent SLAs.
• Champion initiatives to streamline assessment processes and uplift lending technology, automation and decisioning tools.
• Identify opportunities for digitisation, process simplification, and systems optimisation.
• Identify bottlenecks and proactively implement solutions to improve turnaround times and operational efficiency.
• Build and optimise frameworks for quality control, risk oversight and disciplined assessment practices.

Stakeholder & Business Partner Engagement

• Work closely with Sales, Pricing, Treasury and key internal stakeholders to support scenarios, communicate appetite, and jointly solve broker and customer needs.
• Represent the lending operations function in cross-functional initiatives, product design, IT changes and policy reviews.
• Maintain strong relationships with external partners such as service providers and funders as required.

W
hat we are looking for in you:

• Significant experience in mortgage lending leadership, ideally within a non-bank or specialist lending environment.
• Deep technical expertise across credit assessment and lending operations.
• Strong understanding of NCCP, Responsible Lending, AML/CTF, Privacy, and broader regulatory obligations.
• Demonstrated capability leading large operational teams across multiple locations.
• Proven ability to improve processes, drive operational uplift and leverage technology to enhance efficiency and decision quality.
• Skilled communicator able to articulate lending appetite clearly and confidently with internal stakeholders and brokers.
• Commercial mindset with strong problem-solving ability and a commitment to excellent customer outcomes.
• Highly organised, methodical and capable of thriving in a fast-paced growth environment.
• Collaborative leadership style with a passion for developing people and building high-performing teams.
• A results-driven approach and a "hands-on" attitude to getting things done.