Associate Director, Commercial Credit, CMHC

Join a Challenger

Being a traditional bank just isn’t our thing, so we challenge ourselves to get creative in providing innovative banking solutions for Canadians.

How do we get there? With a talented team of inquisitive and agile challengers that break through the status quo. So, if you’re passionate about redefining the future of banking—while having fun—this could be your next big opportunity.

Our company continues to grow, and today we serve more than 800,000 customers across Canada through Equitable Bank, Canada’s Challenger Bank™, and have been around for more than 50 years. Equitable Bank's wholly‑owned subsidiary, Concentra Bank, supports credit unions across Canada that serve more than six million members. Together we have over $142 billion in combined assets under management and administration, with a clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people’s lives. Our customers have named our EQ Bank digital platform (eqbank.ca) one of the top banks in Canada on the Forbes World’s Best Banks list since 2021.

The Work

The Associate Director, Commercial Credit is responsible for managing and supervising a group of underwriters (at different levels of seniority) and administrators to ensure that the department is providing optimum service, working efficiently and effectively as a team, adhering to established policies and underwriting standards, meeting compliance and control requirements, achieving service goals and assisting with the achievement of anticipated department annual financial objectives.

The Associate Director, Commercial Credit is responsible for monitoring the commercial pipeline report, managing the credit flow, approving or recommending commercial mortgage facilities within assigned credit limits and leading and developing an effective team, ensuring that all critical functions meet the company’s lending and regulatory requirements. Additional credit related and administrative duties are also required to support Senior Management and regulatory requirements. The Associate Director is responsible for communicating and co‑operating with external Business Partners, Lending Partners, Clients and Brokers as well as staff within the Credit & Risk Management group and other internal departments.

• Review and analyze all commercial mortgage reviews and proposals (including originations, amendments and/or updates), together with supporting credit related documentation. Attention must be made to ensure that compliance with the company’s established lending guidelines, procedures and regulatory requirements (including AML/ATF requirements) are followed with recommendations submitted for approval to management. The incumbent is responsible to ensure all criteria has been satisfied on underwritten commercial mortgage reviews and outstanding documentation/conditions, if any, are being met in a timely manner. A majority of the reviews are comprised of complicated loans requiring higher levels of approval which include thinking out of the box (as there might not be established procedure addressing it), working on mitigants to safeguard the Bank’s interest and providing recommendations accordingly (35%).
• Lead their team by providing support, guidance and mentoring. The incumbent will be the first point of contact for Senior Management and will be responsible for ensuring that their team adheres to company policy and guidelines as well as regulatory requirements. The incumbent will also be the person responsible for resolving day‑to‑day department challenges, assess individual staff member training needs and ensure that they are met so that the individual is able to perform his/her job effectively (20%).
• Attend New Deal meetings where new loans are presented to the Credit team and will be required to opine on them. This will include heading up the meetings in lieu of the Director if required (20%).
• Responsible for time management of their work flow, as well as that of the department, in order to meet prescribed deadlines. The intention is to have a 24 hour turnaround for a loan submitted for review (15%).
• Communicate with internal contacts (Senior Management, Underwriters, Administrators, and Commercial Funders) and external contacts (Lending Partners, Brokers and Clients) to ensure transactions are processed in a timely and efficient manner in order to deliver superior customer service (10%).

Let’s Talk About You!

• Have a minimum of 10 years’ mortgage experience with 5 years of management experience.
• Post‑secondary education (diploma/degree), preferably in business or finance.
• Demonstrate leadership skills with the ability to set strong examples for subordinates.
• Working knowledge of AML/ATF regulations and Corporate/Legal documentation (both direct and partner‑originated transactions) for commercial real estate in multiple jurisdictions across Canada.
• Proven ability to thrive in a constantly changing environment and to perform well in a high volume, high intensity environment.
• Proven ability to inspire a team to work toward a set of goals and objectives.
• Highly developed verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate to Senior Management and Partners in a clear, concise and professional manner.
• Sound technical knowledge of commercial real estate underwriting, financial statement analysis and factors affecting the commercial mortgage market.
• Effective analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Strong organizational and time‑management skills.
• Ability to handle multiple competing priorities.
• Proficient in MS Office.

Job Complexities/Thinking Challenges

The position requires the incumbent to make sound underwriting decisions as efficiently as possible. The incumbent should be prepared to manage files of greater complexity at all times and shall possess strong cognitive skills, professional judgement and the ability to work independently with minimal supervision to properly assess individual transactions and rely on past experiences to assist in mitigating risk. The incumbent is required to follow corporate policies, procedures and regulatory requirements in order to work through files and rationalize the recommendations or decisions made. Transactions may be presented from multiple external partners, each partner having unique complexities. As such, the incumbent must be able to draw on specific product/document knowledge to assess suitability. In addition to exercising professional judgement, strong problem‑solving skills with respect to AML/ATF risk and related documentation are required as the incumbent will be responsible for preparing and recommending risk mitigation actions to the Business Unit Compliance Officer and/or the Compliance Department. The incumbent will also experience the common day‑to‑day challenges that come with leading and supervising people.

What we offer [For full‑time permanent roles]

• Competitive discretionary bonus
• Market leading RRSP match program
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability benefits
• Employee Share Purchase Plan
• Maternity/Parental top‑up while you care for your little one
• Generous vacation policy and personal days
• Virtual events to connect with your fellow colleagues
• Professional development and comprehensive career development program
• A fulfilling opportunity to join one of the top FinTechs and help create a new kind of banking experience

The incumbent will be working hybrid and in‑office time will be spent working from Equitable Bank’s additional office space located at 2200-25 Ontario Street, Toronto, ON.

Equitable Bank is deeply committed to inclusion. Our organization is stronger and our employees thrive when we honour and celebrate everyone’s diverse experiences and perspectives. In tandem with that commitment, we support and encourage our staff to grow not just in their career path, but personally as well.

We commit to providing a barrier‑free recruitment process and work environment for all applicants. Please let us know of any accommodations needed so that you can bring your best self to the application process and beyond. All candidates considered for hire must successfully pass a criminal background check and credit check to qualify for hire. While we appreciate your interest in applying, an Equitable recruiter will only contact leading candidates whose skills and qualifications closely match the requirements of the position.

We can’t wait to get to know you!