Senior Manager, Portfolio Management, Commercial Finance Group

Join a Challenger

Being a traditional bank just isn’t our thing. We are big believers in innovating the banking experience because we believe Canadians deserve better options, and we challenge ourselves and our teams to creatively transform what’s possible in banking. Our team is made up of inquisitive and agile minds that find smarter ways of doing things. If you’re not afraid of taking on big challenges and redefining the future, you belong with us. You’ll get to work with people who will encourage you to reach new heights. We like to keep things fun, ask questions and learn together.

We are a big (and growing!) family. Overall we serve more than 670,000 people across Canada through Equitable Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank™, and have been around for more than 50 years. Equitable Bank's wholly-owned subsidiary, Concentra Bank, supports credit unions across Canada that serve more than six million members. Together we have over $125 billion in combined assets under management and administration, with a clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives. Our customers have named our EQ Bank digital platform (eqbank.ca) one of the top banks in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks list since 2021. 

The Work

The Senior Manager, Portfolio Management, CFG will be a key member of the Commercial Portfolio Management team. Reporting to the Director, Portfolio Management, the incumbent will lead a team of Account Managers and assist the Sr. Manager in the management and prudent oversight of an assigned portfolio of both conventional commercial and construction mortgages secured by all major asset classes in markets throughout Canada. The overall CFG portfolio is $3B+ in size, with loans ranging in size from $5.0 million to $50.0 million+.

Key responsibilities include managing, supervising and mentoring an assigned group of Account Managers and Underwriting Associates to ensure individual responsibilities are being completed in accordance with Company policies, procedures and priorities such that the CFG portfolio and more specifically, the construction portfolio is comprehensively controlled and within approved guidelines. This is to be achieved, in part, via completion of ongoing loan monitoring, annual reviews, renewals, and amendments/modifications. Appropriate use of delegated authority to recommend and approve transactions will be critical to success in this role.

In addition, the Senior Manager support of the Bank’s goal of delivering a superior customer experience by ensuring the Account Managers thoroughly understand and respond to the needs of their respective clients in a timely manner. The Manager will also assist and encourage the team to develop and maintain strong relationships with their assigned clients.

The core parts of your role would be to:

• Provide support, guidance and ongoing training to an assigned group of CFG Account Managers, identifying their specific needs and devising plans to ensure all staff are adequately trained.
• Assist with the management, oversight and project monitoring of conventional commercial and construction loans.
• Review, approve or recommend commercial credit facilities (i.e. renewals, assumptions, annual reviews, etc.) ensuring the request falls within the Company’s lending and regulatory requirements and is in compliance with the Company’s delegated authority limits.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with CFG colleagues as well as our broker partners in order to provide optimal service to our clients
• Develop, implement, and maintain production and service metrics to measure and support best-in-class turnaround times on completion of portfolio underwriting/renewals and sub-advances with the goal of exceeding customer service, accountability, and transparency targets
• Promote organic growth within the business by allocating resources appropriately in order to target 40% retention of allocated CFG maturities
• Ongoing, timely completion of construction portfolio reporting in an effort to identify risks associated with ongoing projects and proactively develop strategies to mitigate said risk. Reporting and monitoring may include, but not be limited to: status of each construction loan, identification of cost overruns, if any, along with recommendations on how to deal with same, monitoring of associated Letters of Credit, maturity profile, etc.
• Review and approval of regular, ongoing sub-advance requests as delegated by the Prudent Person Policy
• Ensure that projects remain on schedule and on budget. In the event of cost overruns, work closely with lending partners to ascertain cause of overruns while ensuring appropriate tools are in place to address same
• Provide support regarding the management and resolution of challenged commercial facilities.
• Working with lending partners and internal stakeholders, process post-closing amendments that may be required to address cost overruns, scope changes, Letter of Credit requirements, etc.
• Provide overflow support by way of taking on underwriting assignments i.e. renewals, annual reviews, etc

Let's Talk About You!

• Post-secondary education (diploma/degree) in business or finance
• Have a minimum of 5 years of progressively senior experience in commercial real estate lending, with a specific focus on construction lending
• Management experience is an asset – proven ability to inspire a team to work toward a set of goals and objectives
• Strong knowledge of the process of a construction project, from Zoning and Site Plan Approval requirements to Substantial Completion and Stabilization.
• Ability to identify risks that may arise at various stages of a construction project while leveraging experience to develop mitigating factors.
• Highly developed verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate to Senior Management and Partners in a clear, concise and professional manner
• Sound technical knowledge of commercial lending, financial statement analysis and factors affecting the Canadian commercial lending environment
• Working knowledge of AML/ATF regulations and Corporate/Legal documentation for commercial real estate in multiple jurisdictions across Canada
• Detail-oriented individual who possesses a high level of integrity
• Demonstrated service excellence with their field
• Proven ability to thrive in a constantly changing environment and to perform well in a high volume, high intensity environment
• Effective analytical and problem solving skills
• Strong organizational and time management skills
• Ability to handle multiple competing priorities
• Proficient in MS Office

Job Complexities / Thinking Challenges

• The position requires the incumbent to be a self-starter with the ability to prioritize work flow and allocate resources effectively. In addition, the incumbent will need to effectively analyze and make decisions on sometimes complex deal structure issues with incomplete information. The incumbent shall possess strong cognitive skills and professional judgement to property assess risk and rely on past experiences to assist in mitigating same. The individual should also have the ability to coach/motivate employees to consistently develop and achieve aggressive departmental targets. Given the size of the subject construction portfolio, the incumbent must be able to manage multiple priorities while completing work in a compressed timeline.




• The incumbent is required to follow corporate policies, procedures and regulatory requirements in order to properly review files and rationalize the recommendations or decisions made. In addition to exercising professional judgement, strong problem solving skills with respect to AML/ATF risk and related documentation are required. As the construction portfolio continues to grow over time, opportunities may arise to increase the size of the construction team and implement formal reporting relationships.

#LI-Hybrid

What we offer [For full-time permanent roles]

💰 Competitive discretionary bonus 

✨ Market leading RRSP match program

🩺 Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability benefits

📝 Employee Share Purchase Plan

👶🏽 Maternity/Parental top-up while you care for your little one

🏝 Generous vacation policy, personal days and even a moving day 

🖥 Virtual events to connect with your fellow colleagues

🎓 Annual professional development allowance and a comprehensive Career Development program

💛 A fulfilling opportunity to join one of the top FinTechs and help create a new kind of banking experience

Equitable Bank is deeply committed to inclusion. Our organization is stronger and our employees thrive when we honour and celebrate everyone’s diverse experiences and perspectives. In tandem with that commitment, we support and encourage our staff to grow not just in their career path, but personally as well. 

We commit to providing a barrier-free recruitment process and work environment for all applicants. Please let us know of any accommodations needed so that you can bring your best self to the application process and beyond. All candidates considered for hire must successfully pass a criminal background check and credit check to qualify for hire. While we appreciate your interest in applying, an Equitable recruiter will only contact leading candidates whose skills and qualifications closely match the requirements of the position.

We can’t wait to get to know you!