Senior Originator / Head of Bridging Finance in London

City + Capital are currently representing a notable and well-respected development finance lender who are planning their launch into the bridging finance market. As a result, they require an experienced bridging originator who will be primarily tasked with growing the bridging book. Where excellent performance is delivered, it is expected that the arriving individual will move into a ‘Head of Bridging’ role with a view to growing the proposition and team throughout subsequent growth phases.

The Company

Our client is a specialist property finance lender based in London, primarily focused on providing ground-up development finance to support the needs of property developers. Offering institutional-grade funding solutions, they have recently secured institutional funding to expand and grow their bridging finance offerings, and to make the bridging finance proposition a ‘standalone’ business unit within its own right. This is a key growth area for the firm, in a market that has just surpassed the £10bn mark for the first time. Our client is well-positioned to capture this growth but are actively seeking strong experience from the bridging sector for this key hire. Operating with a lean, highly skilled team they are well positioned to scale and increase bridging market share. For an individual who is looking for a role where they can truly make an impact, short and long term, this is one that is well worth serious consideration.

Role Overview

As our client are predominantly a development finance lender, they have generated much of their success to date by working directly with the developer, rather than through engagement with the broker market. Initially, your primary focus within this role will be the growth of the bridging finance loan book via the identification and funding of loans that suit the agreed appetite. This will start as a ‘standalone’ role, in the sense that you will be the core bridging finance originator, though you will be heavily supported by the current team of experienced underwriters and credit specialists. To achieve this, you may work directly with borrowers, but the belief is that true growth will be driven via engagement with known bridging brokers in the London & Southeast. You will strategically manage your own diary of appointments to drive enquiries for the team to assess and fund. Throughout, you will have access to our client's development finance offerings as well, to ensure you have capacity to assist brokers or borrowers with their full needs. During the brief for this role, our client’s CEO highlighted their long-term view for this role, which they hope would see the arriving individual move up to Head of Bridging once initial loan book growth objectives have been met. At this point it is expected that you will build your own bridging finance team, onboarding experienced specialists into key roles that drive lending success and growth. As our client are boutique in size (and big in ambition!) you will work closely with the board throughout your tenure, assisting with strategy planning, innovating ideas for bridging growth and mapping out the growth of the team and department. This is, therefore, a hugely important appointment for our client, at a seriously exciting time.

Responsibilities

• The leading player in the growth of the brand-new bridging finance loan book
• Engage with brokers and borrowers to identify and fund loans to meet appetite
• Work towards agreed lending targets and objectives to meet lender ambitions
• Undertake initial deal assessments & ensure viability
• Work with the board to develop the bridging proposition in all aspects
• Distribute ground-up development finance loans, wherever possible
• Liaise closely with internal teams, such as marketing, underwriting and credit
• Present cases for underwriting and support transaction execution
• Monitor market trends and competitor activity, suggesting improvements on process

Candidate Requirements

• Highly experienced in bridging finance, including originations and deal assessments
• Confident working with refurbishment deals within the bridging finance sector
• Established network of property brokers and introducers in London and SE
• Demonstrated ability to originate and convert deals in line with lending targets
• Confident when assessing bridging applications & composing credit papers
• Good working knowledge of current bridging trends and property markets
• Self-motivated, resilient and results-driven: ‘rolling up my sleeves’ approach
• Strong attention to detail and ability to work under pressure to deadlines
• Comfortable attending networking events, expanding yours and company reach
• Ambitious and keen to be ‘Head of Bridging’

On Offer

Our client is open to a range of experience levels from the bridging finance market, so long as the track record and potential is positive. They have therefore offered a broad salary range to cover this, ideally looking to pay between £60k-£120k basic salary, relevant to experience. Higher offers may be considered for exceptional fit. Salary will be complemented by an uncapped bonus potential that will reward you for deals funded and the growth of the bridging book. This will significantly increase annual earnings based on performance. A further bonus structure is likely to be employed as you grow the team, alongside a salary review in line with responsibility growth. Notably, this is a genuine opportunity to play a critical role in the growth cycle of a well-respected and successful development finance lender who is well primed for further growth and success in new markets. As a result, we do not expect this role to be on the market for long!

Next Steps

There is a reasonable amount of urgency to fill this position in line with objectives. If this role does sound like one that you are both qualified for and interested in, then we look forward to your application as soon as possible. Once we have reviewed your application we will be in touch with an update. We look forward to hearing from you.