Redland Search - Professional Recruitment Solutions
Head of Credit
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
A well-established specialist lender is seeking an experienced Head of Credit to lead its credit function and play a key role in shaping the future direction of its lending proposition.
This is a senior leadership opportunity for an experienced credit professional who combines strong technical underwriting expertise with commercial judgement, and who is comfortable operating in a fast-moving specialist lending environment.
The business provides finance to SME trading businesses and property companies, working closely with brokers and introducers to structure and deliver lending solutions.
The Role
As Head of Credit, you will have overall responsibility for the organisation's credit strategy, lending decisions and management of credit risk.
You will lead the credit function while remaining close to the detail of individual lending decisions, ensuring that credit appetite is clearly defined, consistently applied and aligned with the wider commercial strategy.
Key responsibilities will include:
- Leading the loan sanctioning and credit approval process across SME and property-backed lending.
- Setting and continually developing the credit risk framework, policies and appetite.
- Providing clear, commercially balanced credit decisions while maintaining appropriate risk controls.
- Overseeing the management of defaulted and distressed loan portfolios, developing appropriate strategies to protect capital and maximise recoveries.
- Working closely with the senior leadership team to balance growth, risk and portfolio performance.
- Developing and maintaining strong relationships with brokers, introducers and other key lending partners.
- Increasing transparency around credit criteria and decision-making, helping brokers understand how proposals are assessed and what makes a successful application.
- Monitoring portfolio performance, emerging risks and market developments, adapting credit strategy where appropriate.
- Leading, developing and supporting the credit team.
- Contributing to the development of new lending products and propositions from a credit and risk perspective.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
About You:
We are looking for an established senior credit professional with significant experience within specialist lending, property finance, bridging, development finance, SME lending or a closely related environment.
You are likely to have:
- Extensive experience making or overseeing senior lending and credit decisions.
- Strong knowledge of property-backed and/or SME lending.
- A detailed understanding of credit risk, underwriting and portfolio management.
- Experience managing defaulted loans and recovery strategies.
- The commercial judgement to assess complex lending propositions rather than simply applying rigid credit criteria.
- Experience developing or refining credit policies, appetite and risk frameworks.
- The credibility and communication skills to work effectively with brokers, introducers, senior management and internal teams.
- Strong leadership skills, with the ability to develop a high-performing credit function.
- A pragmatic, commercially minded approach, combined with a clear understanding of risk.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Why This Opportunity?
This is an opportunity to join an established specialist lender at an important stage of its development.
The successful candidate will have genuine influence over credit strategy, lending appetite, product development and portfolio performance, rather than simply managing an established set of policies.
For an experienced credit leader who enjoys combining technical credit expertise, commercial decision-making and relationship management, this role offers significant scope to make an impact.
If you are an experienced credit professional looking for a senior role where your judgement can directly influence the growth and direction of a specialist lending business, we would be interested in hearing from you.
All enquiries will be treated in confidence.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London