Associate Commercial Lender

Position Title: Associate Commercial Lender

Reports To: Market President, Commercial Lending & Community Impact

Grade Level: 11

Full Salary Range: $67,177 - $100,765

Hiring Salary Range: $67,177 - $83, 230.66

Position Summary 

The Associate Commercial Lender is a developing, client-facing commercial lending professional responsible for supporting the growth of Alero Financial's commercial loan and deposit relationships. The position develops business relationships, assists with originating and structuring commercial credit opportunities, coordinates the lending process, and supports ongoing portfolio administration under the guidance of experienced commercial lending and credit leaders. 

This role is designed as a development path toward a Commercial Lender or Commercial Relationship Manager position. The Associate Commercial Lender is expected to build technical credit knowledge, business-development capability, and portfolio-management skills while operating within assigned lending authority, established policies, and appropriate senior oversight. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities 

Business Development and Relationship Support 

• Develop relationships with local businesses, commercial real estate investors, community organizations, professional advisors, and other centers of influence. 

• Identify prospective commercial loan and deposit opportunities through referrals, networking, community involvement, outbound calling, and internal partnerships. 

• Support experienced commercial lenders in developing and expanding member relationships and identifying additional financial-service needs. 

• Represent Alero Financial professionally in the market and provide responsive, relationship-focused service throughout the lending process. 

• Maintain a developing prospect pipeline and document business-development activity, follow-up, and results. 

• Promote appropriate Alero Financial deposit, treasury-management, and other financial solutions in coordination with subject-matter experts. 

Loan Origination and Structuring 

• Meet with prospective and existing business members to understand financing needs, business operations, ownership structure, repayment sources, collateral, and timing. 

• Assist members with commercial loan applications and collect complete financial, organizational, collateral, and due-diligence information. 

• Work with Credit Analysts and senior lenders to evaluate loan requests and develop appropriate structures, pricing, terms, covenants, collateral, and guarantor support. 

• Prepare or assist with relationship summaries, preliminary loan requests, and materials needed for underwriting and approval. 

• Present assigned requests to the appropriate credit authority with support from an experienced lender or manager, as required. 

• Operate within delegated lending authority, if any, and escalate exceptions, complex structures, significant risks, or policy concerns. 

Loan Process and Member Experience 

• Coordinate with Credit, Commercial Loan Processing, Compliance, Legal, appraisal and environmental vendors, and other internal partners to move approved requests toward closing. 

• Communicate clearly with members regarding information requirements, approval conditions, expected timelines, and next steps. 

• Assist in resolving pre-closing and post-closing items and help ensure loan files are complete, accurate, and consistent with approvals and policy. 

• Participate in borrower, prospect, and collateral visits when appropriate. 

• Provide timely status updates to members, referral sources, and internal partners. 

Portfolio Administration and Risk Management 

• Support monitoring of assigned commercial relationships, including renewals, annual reviews, financial-reporting requirements, covenant compliance, maturities, past dues, and documentation exceptions. 

• Partner with Credit and experienced lenders to identify adverse trends, emerging risks, and relationship needs. 

• Assist with collection follow-up, criticized-asset action plans, renewals, modifications, and other portfolio-management activities as assigned. 

• Maintain accurate relationship, pipeline, and portfolio information in applicable systems. 

• Comply with Alero Financial credit policy, procedures, documentation standards, approval requirements, and applicable laws and regulations. 

Professional Development and Collaboration 

• Complete assigned commercial lending, credit, compliance, sales, and systems training. 

• Develop working knowledge of commercial real estate and commercial and industrial lending, financial statements, tax returns, cash flow, collateral, loan documentation, and risk ratings. 

• Actively seek and incorporate coaching from experienced lenders, Credit, and management. 

• Collaborate with branch, deposit, treasury-management, operations, and other teams to support complete commercial relationships. 

• Contribute ideas that improve member service, workflow, consistency, and department results. 

• Perform other related duties and development assignments consistent with the scope and level of the position. 

Qualifications 

Education and Experience 

• Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, business administration, economics, or a related field preferred. 

• One to three years of banking, commercial credit, lending, business development, financial services, or related experience preferred. 

• An equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience may be considered. 

• Commercial credit or lending training is beneficial but not required at time of hire. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong relationship-building, communication, organization, follow-through, and member-service skills. 

• Interest in developing commercial lending, credit analysis, negotiation, portfolio-management, and business-development capabilities. 

• Foundational ability to review business financial information and learn financial-statement, tax-return, and cash-flow analysis. 

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and maintain accuracy in a deadline-driven, regulated environment. 

• Sound professional judgment and willingness to seek guidance when a request is outside assigned authority or experience. 

• Ability to build credibility with business owners, referral sources, and internal partners. 

• Proficiency with Microsoft 365, particularly Outlook, Word, and Excel; ability to learn loan-origination and relationship-management systems. 

• Ability to maintain confidentiality and protect sensitive member and business information. 

• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel locally for member, prospect, collateral, and community visits. 

Applicable federal and multi-state regulations including, but not limited to:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, view information on a computer screen, and talk or hear. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Telephone conversations may be monitored or recorded for the purposes of training, coaching, feedback and quality assurance on an unannounced basis.