Position Specification

First Command Bank

EVP, Chief Lending Officer

The Company

First Command Financial Services (“First Command”) offers a range of financial products and services with a distinct focus on serving active and former military personnel and their families. First Command offers financial planning, investments, investment management, and retirement planning services, and it also sells life, property/casualty, disability, and long-term care insurance. Banking services, such as deposit accounts, home mortgages, consumer loans, credit cards, and trust services, are provided through First Command Bank (FCB).

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, First Command operates primarily in the US, but enjoys an extended reach abroad with about 170 offices worldwide, including Germany, the UK, and Guam. First Command was founded in 1958 by Air Force Lt. Col. Carroll Payne. Today the company serves about 300,000 families nationwide. The company offers financial products from numerous highly reputable investment companies and insurance carriers. The company is 100% owned by the First Command Employee Stock Ownership Plan. In addition to its board of directors, First Command has a select group of retired senior flag officers and senior enlisted leaders who compose the Military Advisory Board.

First Command Bank was opened and chartered in April 1997 and today serves 100,000 client families with 150,000 distinct accounts and $1B in deposits. The bank employs 95 people and provides checking, savings, card services, mortgage, and loans to clients as well as online banking capabilities. To continue its growth, the bank has built and is implementing a strategy to evolve its digital capabilities to better serve current clients and attract new ones. This includes adding a banking platform to allow for the shift to a 24X7 digital bank.

The Position

Location

The role is located at the corporate headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. Relocation will be provided, and the long-term expectation is to work in the office, at minimum on a part-time basis as dictated by COVID restrictions.

Position Summary

The EVP Chief Lending Officer will be responsible for leading the growth of the bank’s consumer and commercial loan, credit card, and business banking portfolio to include professional, SBA, and consumer loans, residential brokered-out mortgages, card services, and commercial deposit sales focused on those who serve from young military families to successful veteran retirees /separatees in their pursuit of lifelong financial security. This individual will be responsible for developing the vision and executing the bank’s lending strategy from current state to re-imagined state with inspirational leadership delivering the First Command winning proposition in support of the enterprise commitments for their clients, field force, employees, and company. The EVP Chief Lending Officer will work closely with the executive leadership of Advisor Operations, Marketing and Communications, Compliance and Legal, Business Information Solutions (BIS), Financial Services, and third-party vendor relationships. This position is a member of the enterprise Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and voting member of Director’s Loan Committee (DLC), FCB’s Asset Liability Committee (ALCO), Pricing Committee, and Bank Compliance Committee. The position requires participation and presentation of business updates at the FCB Board of Director’s meeting and other committees as assigned.

Reporting Relationship

This role reports directly to the Bank President / CEO and will manage the SVP, Consumer Lending; SVP, Professional Lending; VP, SBA Program Director; and Manager, Collections.

Responsibilities

• Continual assessment and optimization of the bank’s commercial and consumer loan portfolio performance utilizing data analytics tools and insights to maximize the bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio.
• Ensure high credit quality of the loan portfolio by continually evaluating underwriting standards and overseeing the ongoing monitoring of the loan portfolio, the collection of delinquent accounts, and assignment of proper risk rating grades and proper reserve levels.
• Lead the Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) process to calculate the bank’s reserve leveraging well documented methodologies for the safety and soundness of the bank.
• Partner with Advisor Operations, Financial Planning, and Marketing to influence and elevate advisor and client engagement for banking opportunities during the client engagement process and new client onboarding.
• Conduct bank presentations and training for Districts and Advisors on the features and benefits of leveraging Debt Consolidation Loans to reduce high interest debt and increase savings for our target market, and SBA loans for clients transitioning from military to civilian life to start a small business.
• Lead the bank lending experience in partnership with User Experience team for all client delivery touch points to drive sustained growth of the loan portfolio.
• Collaborate and contribute to First Command’s product development process through market, industry, client, and field research to enhance the client and field force experience by extending innovative industry available products with unique client attributes that are integrated with financial planning for our target market.
• Partner with Bank Treasurer and Compliance officer in the risk assessment process of the consumer portfolio to include interest rate sensitivity, compliance and strategic risk, and consumer credit concentration.
• Assess and update lending policy guidelines to meet all safety and soundness requirements along with prudent underwriting criteria commensurate with our target market and financial planning model
• Ensure the appropriate internal preventive and detective controls are maintained within Consumer and Commercial loans and Card Services to include Military Lending Act (MLA), Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), and federal regulations.
• Set goals, monitor work, and evaluate results to ensure that departmental and organizational objectives and compliance requirements are met and are in line with the needs and mission of the organization.
• Coach, develop, and inspire direct reports to meet performance objectives and team goals. This includes establishing development plans for future growth and succession planning.
• Communicate and work closely with other members of the leadership team and successfully collaborates with departments across the organization to achieve revenue goals and customer experience targets.
• Develop and direct the administration of a multi-million expense budget which includes staffing, negotiations for expenditures, managing vendor relationships/expenses, analyzing reports, initiating process improvements, and reducing cost
• Ensure the development and maintenance of an effective organization for area(s) of responsibility to include efficient workflow patterns; established performance standards; effective delineation of duties and responsibilities; suitable staffing levels; appropriate supervision; and systems for timely communication of pertinent information.
• Must have knowledge of all bank lending, card services, collections, and deposit procedures and policies to manage the daily requirements of running the department. Stay current on all changes affecting the bank and communicates these changes to the department to ensure compliance

Travel

About 10% business travel.

The Candidate

The ideal candidate must be a mature, professional individual able to address problems and recommend a solution to quickly resolve personnel or client issues. This position includes setting priorities, determining the tasks, and delegating work assignments for the assigned teams. Leads and coaches a client-focused team of highly qualified banking professionals and team leaders to achieve annual business plan objectives and value-added performance targets in accordance with the regulations, policies, and guidance of the President/CEO of FCB, and the Board of Directors.

Education

The successful candidate will possess a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree and/or certification from Graduate School of Banking are highly preferred.

Professional Qualifications

• 10 to 15 years of banking or financial services experience required.
• 7 to 10 years of bank portfolio lending with credit authority experience required.
• 3 to 5 years of debit and credit card product management experience preferred
• 3 to 5 years of mortgage experience preferred.
• Safe Agile experience preferred.
• Possesses maturity and demonstrations professionalism in addressing problems and recommending solutions to quickly resolve personnel or client issues.
• Adept at setting priorities, determining tasks and delegating work assignments for the assigned teams.
• Experience leading and coaching a client-focused team of highly qualified banking professionals and team leaders to achieve annual business plan objectives and value-added performance targets in accordance with the regulations, policies, and guidance of the President / CEO of FCB, and the FCB Board of Directors.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills to assess situations, troubleshoot and make recommendations from both strategic and tactical perspectives.
• Proven ability to assimilate, understand and manage problem solving and opportunities recognition in context of consumer bank sales and product development.
• Expertise in aligning business process to the business goals leading to improvement in bottom-line, cost reduction and optimization and performance excellence.
• Demonstrate excellent leadership and interpersonal communication skills to effectively communicate with executives and board members.
• Must be able to work independently or within a team environment with little or no supervision, be self-motivated and demonstrate initiative to take on new tasks.
• Must be detail oriented, possess strong organizational skills, trustworthy and comfortable working in a highly confidential business environment.

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Required Skills

Required Experience