Head of Lending

Rockbourne has been appointed help appoint a Head of Lending to lead, scale, and institutionalise our clients\’ lending operations.

This is a rare opportunity to join a high-growth, tech-enabled investment platform backed by significant family office and institutional capital, and to build a lending business that will scale significantly in the near term.

Working directly with the CEO and non-exec leadership, you will take full ownership of the end-to-end lending lifecycle, drive origination and underwriting standards, and play a pivotal role in shaping one of the UK’s next-generation challenger lenders.

What’s in it for you?

Impact

• You will be responsible for the entire lending lifecycle – from origination and underwriting through execution, monitoring, and repayment – directly shaping the business\’ credit standards, loan book quality, investor confidence, and growth trajectory.
• You will protect and enhance a zero-default, zero-arrears track record while scaling AUM exponentially in the coming years.

Culture

• A dynamic, entrepreneurial, high-energy environment where you will operate with significant autonomy.
• Flat structure, tight-knit team, and clear accountability. Independence is essential – there is nowhere to hide, and excellent judgement is expected.

Growth

• The firm is entering a phase of accelerated expansion with increasing deal flow, institutional capital coming in, and a modern digitised lending platform being rolled out.
• You will help build the team, define processes, and position the platform to rival the UK’s specialist lenders (HTB, UTB, Shawbrook, etc.).
• You will have the opportunity in the future to become part of the C‑Suite in the business.

Autonomy

• You will own lending end-to-end: underwriting, credit approval, structuring, monitoring, relationship management, and team development.
• Your decisions will shape the firm\’s identity, performance, and investor credibility.

The Role

Origination & Relationships

• Build strong relationships with brokers and repeat borrowers.
• Increase deal flow and ensure rapid, high-quality execution.
• Represent the business externally with confidence and credibility.
• Lead all underwriting, diligence, credit approvals, and structuring.
• Maintain rigorous, judgment-led credit disciplines.
• Ensure the business continues to deliver on yield while maintaining zero defaults.

Loan Execution

• Oversee documentation, CPs, drawdowns, covenants, and loan monitoring.
• Ensure compliance with governance, investor expectations, and risk frameworks.
• Maintain a stable, high-performing loan book.
• Manage developments, construction milestones, extensions, arrears, and exits.

Technology-Enabled Lending

• Leverage the business\’s new digitised lending platform.
• Reduce manual processes and streamline workflows.
• Hands‑on at first; build and mentor a high-performance team as AUM scales.
• Contribute to long-term platform design and process institutionalisation.

Stakeholder Communication

• Communicate clearly with investors, credit committee, internal teams, and external partners.
• Inspire confidence and uphold the business\’s reputation for disciplined, high-quality lending.

About You

• 5+ years of real estate debt experience.
• Strong underwriting, credit analysis, and risk assessment skills.
• Understanding of bridging and development finance (or ability to get up to speed quickly).
• Strong knowledge of loan documentation, covenants, and real estate credit structures.
• Confident and articulate communicator—credible with brokers, borrowers, and investors.
• Judgement-led decision maker with backbone.
• Able to operate independently in a lean, fast-paced environment.

Salary & Package

• Bonus: 50–100% of base (performance dependent)