Empower FCU Purpose: At every stage of life, positively impact members by providing affordable financial services.

Empower FCU Core Values: Fairness, Integrity & Honesty

Empower FCU Strategic Pillars:

• World-Class Employee Experience
• Best-In-Class Member Experience
• Growth for Impact
• Shared Value in the Community

Empower Federal Credit Union offers excellent benefits including...
Medical and Dental Insurance, 401K with Employer Match, Holiday Pay, Paid Time Off and more!

A World-Class Employee Experience: We are at our best when we are developing genuine relationships, looking out for one another, freely and honestly sharing information, and working together. We succeed when we rise above our departments, roles, and individual interests to come together, to move forward together. Each of us plays a crucial role in creating a positive work environment and we encourage all our employees to actively contribute to embracing Empower’s values and supporting those around you.
Be Yourself, Belong with Empower: The strength of Empower is in the unique backgrounds, voices, talents, & experiences of each person. With a culture of belonging, we enable teamwork, spark innovation, and fuel success. 

Please note: All candidates will be subject to a background check to determine employment eligibility. For roles that require an NMLS you may be subject to a credit check.

Role:

The Indirect Lending & Loan Operations Manager provides strategic, technical, and operational leadership for the Credit Union's indirect lending channel. This role drives loan growth, oversees high-volume underwriting and processing operations, manages dealer relationships, ensures system optimization, and maintains strong risk-management controls. The manager leads a high-performing team capable of supporting $1B+ in annual production while serving as the primary administrator for LOS and indirect lending platforms.

The annual salary range for this position is: $98,685.61-$148,028.41.

Location: Our headquarters are based in Syracuse, NY. We work in a Hybrid Model requiring a minimum of 5 days in office per month.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities:

25%    Underwriting Oversight & Risk Management:

- Lead a team of underwriters responsible for evaluating complex loan files in a high-volume, fast-paced environment.

- Review and approve loans exceeding individual underwriter authority or those outside standard guidelines, ensuring sound credit decisions.

- Mentor staff in critical-thinking underwriting, balancing risk tolerance with organizational growth and portfolio performance goals.

- Monitor underwriting quality, consistency, and adherence to policy through regular audits and feedback sessions.

- Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, and Finance to refine lending guidelines, pricing strategies, and risk-mitigation controls.

25%     Strategic Relationship & Market Management:

- Manage and strengthen dealer relationships, ensuring alignment with service expectations, production goals, and compliance standards.

- Identify and recommend new dealer partnerships, market opportunities, and geographic expansion strategies to grow indirect loan volume.

- Serve as the primary liaison with dealer representatives to ensure seamless communication, timely issue resolution, and consistent service delivery.

- Monitor dealer performance metrics and recommend adjustments to pricing, programs, or engagement strategies.

- Collaborate with Marketing and Business Development to support dealer-facing initiatives and promotional campaigns.

20%     Loan Processing Operations:

- Oversee loan processing workflows to ensure timely and accurate verification of income, employment, insurance, and collateral values.

- Coordinate loan closings, funding, and ACH payments to dealers, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely turnaround.

- Manage follow-up processes for pending files, reducing delays and improving speed-to-funding metrics.

- Implement process improvements, automation opportunities, and quality-control measures to enhance operational efficiency.

- Partner with internal departments (Accounting, Titles, Member Services) to ensure smooth post-funding transitions.

15%     Technical Systems Administration:

- Serve as Lead System Administrator for LOS platforms and indirect portals (Dealertrack, RouteOne), ensuring optimal configuration and uptime.

- Maintain and update system users, roles, permissions, interest rates, workflows, automated documents, and decision-engine rules.

- Partner with IT, Compliance, and third-party vendors to implement system enhancements, troubleshoot issues, and ensure regulatory alignment.

- Manage the internal work-ticket queue, resolving technical bottlenecks and workflow disruptions to maintain operational continuity.

- Lead testing, validation, and documentation for system upgrades, new features, and process changes.

10%     Analytics & Project Management:

- Analyze portfolio trends, consumer behavior, dealer performance, and operational KPIs to inform strategic decisions and policy updates.

- Serve as Project Manager for lending initiatives, coordinating cross-functional teams to ensure timely testing, implementation, and documentation.

- Use individual staff performance analytics to provide coaching, development plans, and performance evaluations.

- Prepare and present reports to senior leadership on production trends, risk indicators, operational performance, and market opportunities.

- Lead continuous-improvement initiatives focused on scalability, efficiency, and long-term portfolio health.

5%       Compliance, Audit & Policy Governance:

- Ensure indirect lending operations comply with federal and state regulations, internal policies, and audit requirements.

- Support internal and external audit activities by providing documentation, responding to findings, and implementing corrective actions.

- Contribute to policy reviews, risk assessments, and governance activities to strengthen overall lending controls.

- Perform all other duties as assigned.

Performance Measurements:

See Dayforce (HRIS) Performance Management for Goals upon start in role, and annually.

Knowledge and Skills:

Experience: 5 to 8 years in consumer or indirect lending within a mid-to-large financial institution.

- 3+ years leading underwriting, loan operations, or indirect lending teams.

- Experience managing high-volume production environments ($500M'$1B+ annually).

- Proven success building and maintaining dealer relationships and driving market growth.

- Hands-on experience with LOS platforms (e.g., MeridianLink Consumer) and indirect portals (Dealertrack, RouteOne).

- Strong background in credit risk assessment, portfolio monitoring, and policy interpretation.

- Demonstrated ability to collaborate with IT, Compliance, Risk, and Finance on system and process enhancements.

Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, or related field, or equivalent experience.

Candidates with equivalent formal certifications or professional experience in collections, financial services, or related fields are also encouraged to apply. Empower FCU recognizes and values a variety of educational and professional backgrounds that contribute to success in this role

Interpersonal Skills: Work involves extensive personal contact with others and is of a personal or sensitive nature. Motivating, influencing, and/or training others is key at this level. Outside contacts become important and fostering sound relationships with other entities (companies and/or individuals) becomes necessary and often requires the ability to influence and/or sell ideas or services to others.

Other Skills:

- Advanced analytical capability with the ability to interpret complex data, identify trends, and make data-driven recommendations.

- Technical proficiency with lending systems, workflow automation, and digital lending tools.

- Strong communication and relationship-building skills, especially in dealer-facing environments.

- Leadership and coaching ability to develop high-performing underwriting and processing teams.

- Operational excellence mindset, with a focus on efficiency, accuracy, and continuous improvement.

- Sound judgment and decision-making, particularly in high-risk or exception-based lending scenarios.

- Project management skills, including the ability to lead cross-functional initiatives from concept to implementation.

Physical Requirements: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods at a time, use hands to finger, handle, or feel, and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to walk; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

This Job Description is not a complete statement of all duties and responsibilities comprising the position.

Empower Federal Credit Union (EFCU) and its affiliated companies know employees are our greatest asset. We take pride in our commitment to member service, teamwork, and excellence. We offer employees a work environment designed to encourage personal and professional development. Empower Federal Credit Union is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any legally protected status or characteristic including race, religion, ethnicity, color, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expressions, transgender status, sexual or other reproductive health decisions, marital status, ancestry, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, genetic information/ predisposition or carrier status, status in the uniformed services of the United States (including veteran status) or any other basis protected by applicable national, federal, state, provincial or local law.   Our equal employment opportunity policy statement, the EEO is the Law Poster and Supplement, and Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision reaffirm our commitment.

Empower Federal Credit Union is committed to equal opportunity to qualified persons without regard to basis of race, religion, ethnicity, color, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expressions, transgender status, sexual or other reproductive health decisions, marital status, ancestry, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, genetic information/ predisposition or carrier status, status in the uniformed services of the United States (including veteran status) or any other basis protected by applicable national, federal, state, provincial or local law. Empower Federal Credit Union will make reasonable accommodations for known physical or mental limitations of otherwise qualified employees and applicants with disabilities unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. If you are interested in applying for an employment opportunity and feel you need a reasonable accommodation pursuant to the ADA, please contact us through one of the methods listed below:

a) Fax: 315-455-5423
b) US Mail: 1 Member Way Syracuse, NY 13212
c) Phone: 800-462-5000