[Hiring] SVP, Mortgage Operations @Finance of America

Role Description

The SVP, Mortgage Operations provides executive leadership and strategic direction for end-to-end mortgage operations across the Company's retail and wholesale channels, including processing, underwriting, appraisal, closing, funding, post-closing, securitization compliance for loan-level diligence, and operations enablement.

This role is accountable for operational performance, transformation, scalability, quality, customer and business-partner experience, capacity, and compliance within a regulated lending environment. The mandate is transformation: partnering with operations leadership to deliver a step-change in operational productivity and cost to produce in direct support of the Company's 2027 operating plan.

The SVP, Mortgage Operations modernizes the operating model by using data, process redesign, artificial intelligence, automation, and the existing technology environment to improve speed, quality, productivity, and capacity—delivering a step-change in cost to produce and end-to-end cycle time while scaling volume on a headcount-neutral basis.

The role establishes clear operating standards and measurable performance expectations, develops the Operations leadership team, and partners across Technology, Product, Risk, Quality Control, Capital Markets, and other functions to support sustainable growth and scalable product delivery.

Qualifications

• Requires a minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in mortgage operations, lending operations, financial services operations, banking, fintech, or a closely related field, including significant senior leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrates experience leading a large, multi-functional operations or fulfillment organization through functional leaders in a regulated lending or financial-services environment.
• Demonstrates a record of transforming and modernizing operational functions as the accountable owner, with measurable improvements in cycle time, unit cost, productivity, capacity, throughput, quality, and/or customer experience, including at least one transformation that produced a step-change (25%+ improvement) in unit cost or cycle time.
• Demonstrates hands-on experience implementing AI, intelligent automation, workflow technology, or comparable digital capabilities within core operational processes in production and at scale, with measured productivity or unit-cost impact.
• Possesses strong knowledge of mortgage fulfillment functions, including processing, underwriting, appraisal, closing, funding, post-closing, and securitization loan-level diligence, and the regulatory and investor requirements applicable to those functions.
• Demonstrates the ability to establish and manage performance through data, KPIs, service standards, dashboards, reporting, forecasting, and consistent management routines.
• Demonstrates experience driving meaningful operational change through an existing technology stack using process redesign and automation rather than relying solely on platform replacement.
• Possesses sufficient technical fluency to partner effectively with Technology, Engineering, Data, and Product leaders and to evaluate build-versus-buy decisions.
• Demonstrates strong executive leadership capabilities, including leadership assessment, coaching, organizational design, change leadership, succession planning, and development of high-performing teams.
• Demonstrates sound judgment in balancing operational speed, innovation, customer experience, regulatory compliance, investor requirements, risk management, and quality.
• Demonstrates effectiveness leading teams and maintaining performance, engagement, communication, and accountability in a geographically distributed or remote work environment.
• Communicates effectively with senior executives and cross-functional stakeholders and demonstrates the ability to influence enterprise-level decisions beyond the Operations function.
• Demonstrates an evidence-based, adaptable approach to solving complex operational problems and leading significant organizational change.
• Reverse-mortgage experience is not required; relevant transformation experience in forward mortgage, banking, fintech, consumer lending, unsecured lending, or another regulated financial-services environment may be considered.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree.
• Master's degree (preferred).

Benefits

• Competitive benefits package including health, dental, vision, life insurance, paid time-off benefits, flexible spending account, 401(k) with employer match, and ESPP.

First-Year Outcomes

• Measurable reduction in cost to produce and end-to-end cycle time against a baseline set with Finance within the first 90 days.
• AI and agentic automation live in production fulfillment workflows with measured adoption and productivity impact—not proofs of concept.
• Written, measurable performance standards for every Operations function and role, reviewed on a monthly operating cadence.
• An Operations organization design and staffing model that supports 2027 volume targets within existing headcount.

Reports To

• Chief Operations Officer, FAR