Sr. Director, Mortgage Products and Strategy

What you’ll do: 

The Senior Director, Mortgage Products and Strategy will lead key strategic initiatives, product management, and housing finance industry engagement for the Mortgage Partnership Finance (MPF) Program, a secondary market channel used by FHLBank Member institutions.  This leadership role will partner closely with internal stakeholders and external sellers, investors, and industry participants to drive execution of the vision and mission of the MPF Program’s core business and broader housing leadership initiatives.  This role requires a strategic thinker with excellent leadership, communication, and organizational skills with deep mortgage industry knowledge, hands on experience with mortgage origination and secondary markets, in-depth expertise in mortgage products and investor guidelines, and familiarity with credit risk management and pricing. The individual will oversee the teams dedicated to strategic initiatives, product management, and housing finance industry engagement, guiding them towards achieving key performance goals.  The ideal candidate will have experience within or exposure to the primary and secondary investor sides of the industry, and will be a strong collaborator with a focus on execution as the MPF Program evolves in size and scope. 

How you’ll make an impact: 

• Mortgage Product Management: You will work on behalf of, and in collaboration with, MPF Program stakeholders, customers, and investors to oversee competitive and mutually beneficial products offering whole loan funding, servicing execution options, mortgage insurance and credit risk transfer structures, and FHLBank balance sheet liquidity solutions 

• Strategic Initiatives: You will work cross functionally to strategize on solutions in support of FHLBank Members’ residential lending businesses and mortgage liquidity needs, with a focus on the seller experience, product eligibility and guidelines, investor relationships, and securitization capabilities 

• Housing Leadership: You will be challenged to drive MPF Program success against housing leadership objectives through creative solutions and industry partnerships, with a focus on affordable housing, access to credit within historically underserved communities, and housing supply challenges 

What you can expect: 

• Enhance and refine the MPF Program’s business strategy, with a focus on ensuring that products meet the demands of consumers, liquidity needs of sellers and are compliant with FHLBank regulations 

• Partner with policy, compliance, risk, capital markets, and product development stakeholders to optimize product terms and risk management strategies, including pricing strategy and credit risk sharing 

• Take a leading role in driving credit risk strategy, solutions, and pricing, including seller credit risk sharing terms and exploring other credit risk transfer (CRT) opportunities with third parties 

• Work closely with operations to standardize loan delivery and funding operational processes with a focus on seller experience 

• Serve as the primary business point of contact responsible for key third party relationships, including with investors (GSEs, Ginnie Mae), FHLBank stakeholders, Mortgage Insurers, and other vendors 

• Maintain robust servicing retained and released options available to MPF Program sellers across all product offerings 

• Partner with risk and counterparty stakeholders on review and approval of industry partners, particularly the use of non-FHLBank Member servicers as aggregators or purchasers of MPF Program Mortgage Servicing Rights (MSR) under certain scenarios 

• Oversee strategies for use of product and pricing engines and other mechanisms for promoting best execution functionality   

• Lead efforts to expand housing leadership initiatives, including the formulation of strategic industry relationships and product and program initiatives to address housing affordability challenges 

• Partner with policy colleagues to encourage creative solutioning to address current and potential future challenges that lenders and borrowers face 

• Promote a strong risk culture within the team.  Oversee the development and maintenance of a strong control and risk reporting framework and a robust inventory of policies and procedures 

• Partner with training, learning, and development stakeholders to oversee Program-wide training and education efforts on product training, education, and promoting awareness of key strategies and objectives 

• Coordinate with business, operations, and IT stakeholders to ensure initiatives are properly planned, prioritized, and managed 

• Manage all staffing duties for the MPF Products and Strategy team, including hiring/separations, performance management, staff development and day-to-day employee related issues 

• Manage and allocate work across teams to promote efficiency and ensure the core responsibilities of each team are fulfilled 

What you’ll bring: 

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business, economics, or related field, or equivalent work experience  

• Master’s degree a plus  

• 10+ years of experience in financial services and residential mortgage industry.  Experience with both the lender and secondary investor side of the industry preferred. 

• Extensive experience in mortgage originations and capital markets, with deep knowledge of loan products, investor guidelines, and secondary markets 

• Hands on experience with seller best execution analysis and investor relationships 

• Deep understanding of mortgage industry regulations and compliance requirements.  

• Proven leadership skills (3+ years) with a track record of managing large teams and achieving operational and strategic goals.  

• Strong analytical skills and business acumen to make informed, data driven decisions.  

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively interact with customers, vendors, investors, and internal stakeholders.  

• Proficiency in loan origination systems, product and pricing engines, and technology platforms.  

The perks:

At FHLBank Chicago, we believe in rewarding our high performing workforce. We offer a highly competitive compensation and bonus package, and access to a comprehensive benefits program designed to meet the needs of our employees. Our retirement program includes a 401(k) and pension plan. Our wellbeing program supports employees at work and in their personal lives: Our generous PTO plan provides five weeks of vacation for new employees and 11 paid holidays per year; our Lifestyle Spending Account provides an annual stipend for employees to support wellbeing activities; and our central downtown location at the Old Post Office provides easy access to public transportation and breathtaking views from our award-winning rooftop. Step into a brighter future with us. #LI-Hybrid