Senior Manager Closing Operations, Home Lending

The Team: 

Upstart’s Home Lending Operations team supports customers throughout the home equity lending process, helping ensure loans move efficiently, accurately, and compliantly from application through closing. Within Operations, the Closing team owns the operational execution required to complete loan closings and works closely with internal partners and third-party vendors that support closing and related functions.

As the Senior Manager Closing Operations, Home Lending, you will lead the operations of the Closing team and oversee  day-to-day execution of external vendors Upstart uses to support closing activities. You will be accountable for team performance, closing quality and productivity, vendor execution, and the continued development of scalable processes and controls. You will also serve as a subject matter expert and cross-functional partner, using operational data and lending expertise to identify risks, resolve complex issues, and improve how Upstart executes closings.

How you’ll make an impact

• Lead the day-to-day operations of the Closing team, setting priorities, managing capacity, and ensuring the team consistently delivers against closing quality, productivity, service-level, and turn-time expectations.
• Manage, coach, and develop team members by establishing clear performance expectations, providing regular feedback, identifying skill gaps, and creating opportunities that support individual development and team performance.
• Own operational performance across internal and third-party closing functions by establishing and monitoring metrics, identifying performance gaps and bottlenecks, and holding internal teams and vendors accountable for measurable outcomes.
• Lead the investigation and resolution of complex or high-risk closing issues, using root-cause analysis and operational data to implement durable process improvements, controls, and preventative solutions.
• Oversee day-to-day execution of third-party closing vendors, including escalations, issue resolution, and ongoing accountability against operational expectations.
• Partner with Product, Compliance, Legal, Risk, and other Operations leaders to anticipate operational needs, evaluate tradeoffs, improve closing workflows, and plan for changes in volume, process, policy, or technology into the future.

Minimum Qualifications 

• 5+ years of experience in mortgage, home equity, or residential lending operations with a deep understanding of home lending closing operations, settlements, and county lien recording.
• 3+ years of direct people management experience.
• Professional experience leading mortgage or home lending operations at a bank, credit union, mortgage lender, fintech, or other regulated financial institution.
• Experience managing third-party vendors or service providers supporting mortgage closing, title, settlement, notary, recording, funding, or related lending functions.
• Experience managing an operational team through defined productivity, quality, service-level, turnaround-time, or other performance metrics, including responsibility for capacity planning and performance management.
• Experience applying residential lending closing requirements, operational controls, and regulatory or compliance processes to resolve escalations and manage operational risk.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting HELOC or other home equity lending products and knowledge of the end-to-end closing lifecycle.
• Experience using operational data to identify trends, conduct root-cause analysis, establish performance benchmarks, and implement measurable process improvements.
• Experience leading complex or cross-functional operational initiatives involving Product, Compliance, Legal, Risk, Technology, or other business partners.
• Knowledge of vendor governance practices, including service-level agreements, performance scorecards, escalation frameworks, and remediation plans.
• Ability to communicate complex operational issues, risks, and recommendations to senior leaders and internal or external stakeholders.
• Experience scaling or evolving operations through changes in volume, technology, process, policy, or regulatory requirements

Position location This role is available in the following locations: Columbus, Ohio

Time zone requirements The team operates on the East coast time zone

 In-Office requirements.  You will be required to work from the Columbus, Ohio office 2 days per week

Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

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