Job Description

About this Role

The Director of Special Assets Resolution leads the strategy and execution for managing the Bank’s highest-risk credit relationships. This role provides strategic direction and daily leadership to a team of workout officers and collections personnel, with a focus on balancing urgency with sound judgment to achieve timely, well-reasoned resolutions that minimize losses and protect the bank’s capital. The role requires a disciplined, decisive leader with strong credit acumen and legal/regulatory awareness who can manage complex credit situations, guide difficult borrower conversations, and maintain credibility with internal stakeholders, outside counsel, auditors, and regulators.

In this Role You Will

• Lead, the bank’s special assets resolution team, including oversight of workout, collection, foreclosure, repossession, liquidation, restructuring, and recovery activities
• Manage, coach, and develop workout officers and collections personnel, ensuring clear expectations and accountability, consistent execution, regular feedback, and strong documentation standards
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, urgency, and continuous improvement
• Manage an assigned portfolio of assets, ensuring the maintenance of appropriate risk ratings, accrual status, and adequate specific reserves, if necessary.
• Develop, execute, and oversee resolution strategies for the bank’s most troubled credit relationships, ensuring strategies are supported by current financial analysis, collateral evaluation, borrower communication, guarantor assessment, and legal documentation
• Lead, and oversee, negotiations with borrowers, guarantors, legal counsel, and other related parties in an effort to maximize recoveries
• Monitor portfolio activities, trends, and risk indicators to prepare clear, timely updates for senior management, board committees, auditors, and regulators regarding special assets activity and resolution progress
• Maintain strong compliance with bank policies, regulatory expectations, documentation requirements, and applicable laws governing collection, asset disposition, and recovery activity
• Manage relationships with outside counsel, appraisers, receivers, auctioneers, repossession agents, real estate brokers, property managers, and other third parties involved in workout, recovery, foreclosure, liquidation, or OREO activities.
• Partner with Credit Administration, Lending, Loan Operations, Legal, Risk Management, and executive leadership to evaluate options, escalate concerns, and drive resolution outcomes
• Perform other duties as assigned

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Legal requirements and regulatory compliance
• Risk management and mitigation
• Loan documentation
• Bankruptcy, foreclosure, repossession, liquidation, and recovery processes
• OREO and asset disposition practices

Skills

• Exercising sound judgment under pressure
• Coaching, mentoring, and performance management
• Negotiation and communication
• Prioritization
• Financial and collateral analysis

Abilities

• Leadership
• Managing complex, high-risk credit situations
• Problem solving and decision making
• Maintaining confidentiality
• Building credibility with internal and external stakeholders

Qualifications, Competencies and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in business, accounting, finance, or a related field required; Advanced degree, banking school, or relevant professional certification preferred
• Minimum of ten years of progressive commercial credit, loan workout, special assets, credit administration, or other banking experience, including five years of leadership responsibility for the special assets function of a bank or financial institution
• Demonstrated experience in loan workouts, including the management of criticized, classified, non-performing, or distressed credit relationship towards optimal resolution
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate risk, recommend action, negotiate resolution strategies, and clearly communicate complex credit matters internal and external stakeholders
• Strong understanding of loan documentation, financial and collateral analysis, guarantor evaluation, bankruptcy, foreclosure, repossession, liquidation, credit restructuring, and recovery strategies
• Ability to lead a team, manage performance, set expectations, and mentor employees in a high-accountability environment
• Strong judgment, discretion, confidentiality, and professionalism when handling sensitive borrower, employee, legal, and regulatory matters

Compensation Disclosure

The range for this role takes into account many factors that First Bank considers when making hiring decisions, including but not limited to prior experience, skill set, training, and other internal business and organizational factors. First Bank generally does not hire at or near the top of the stated range. The range is driven by the geographic location of the anticipated hiring location; however, the specific range may vary depending on the geographic location for remote positions. Compensation decisions depend on the specific facts and circumstances of each hiring instance. A reasonable estimate of the current pay range is $150,000 - $195,000, annually.

About Us

Be a part of a growing company that is truly committed to its employees and clients. Consider joining the First Bank family. As a member of our family, you are part of one of the largest independent banks in the U.S. We are proud of our growth and success over the past 100 years and look forward to a bright and promising future.

Diversity

At First Bank one of our biggest strengths is the diversity of our people. Our mission is to capitalize on the diversity of our associates and promote personal and professional development throughout every area of the organization. We encourage diversity by actively seeking employees from various backgrounds, walks of life, and job skills. We strongly encourage you to apply whenever a First Bank job opportunity interests you.

First Bank is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status.

At First Bank, we embrace a hybrid work environment which allows employees to work at least three full days in the office with more or all in-office days expected of our client facing teams and the groups that support them in the business.