Associate Director - Credit - Trading Business

About the role

At OakNorth, we're on a mission to empower ambitious businesses and the communities they serve. Since 2015, we've lent over $21 billion across the UK and US, helped create more than 58,000 new homes and 36,000 new jobs, and supported hundreds of thousands of personal savers - all while driving economic growth in the markets we serve. Our UK Credit team sits at the heart of OakNorth's lending business. We're a tight-knit group of credit professionals who work closely with Debt Finance and Credit Analytics to fund the UK's most ambitious trading businesses. We move fast, think rigorously, and hold ourselves to a high standard - because the decisions we make shape the bank's balance sheet and the futures of the businesses we back. We need a credit professional ready to move the needle on how we lend to the UK's most ambitious trading businesses. As an Associate Director in Credit Risk, you're not just reviewing papers - you're the quality filter for growth. You'll sit at the intersection of our Debt Finance and Credit Analytics teams, shaping how we structure deals across multiple sectors, making sure every decision supports the safe growth of the bank's balance sheet.

Responsibilities

• Own the full deal lifecycle from first credit paper to drawdown. Your analysis lands in front of Credit Committee, your voice shapes which businesses get funded, and your judgement is central to supporting the right growing businesses.
• Challenge and collaborate with Debt Finance, Credit Analytics, and senior members of the UK Credit team to produce high-quality credit papers - pushing back when something doesn't stack up.
• Review FDD, financial accounts, and covenant models - explain and mitigate key risks, including proposing key terms and conditions. Write focused, incisive credit recommendations for Credit Committee: clear on risk, rationale for support, and proposed structural enhancements.
• Attend Credit Committee and question borrowers directly - you're not a silent reviewer. Oversee loan execution alongside Debt Finance and the Transaction Execution Team: security, documentation, conditions precedent, and controls.
• Support Portfolio Management with in-life increases, extensions, covenant resets, and annual reviews. Contribute to ad hoc team and bank initiatives - including increased adoption of AI - to help OakNorth scale and reach its ambitious growth targets.
• YOU'LL BE A GREAT FIT IF YOU HAVE...
• Experience: Minimum 7 years of relevant experience, of which at least 5 years in a credit risk or corporate lending role. SME cashflow lending is core to what the team does; experience across a range of sectors, loan types, and sponsor and leveraged finance is a real advantage.
• Technical knowledge: Strong grasp of credit risk models (RWA, PD, LGD), working capital mechanics, covenant setting, and financial analysis.
• How you work: You move fast, focus on what matters, and write with precision. You're tenacious but pragmatic, confident challenging deal teams, and strong enough to hold a position under scrutiny.

Requirements

• Real estate lending exposure (residential development, investment, or commercial property) is welcome but not essential. What matters most is quality of credit thinking.

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