Position Overview:
Reporting to the Head of Operations, the Team Lead will be responsible for leading and overseeing the end-to-end operational support of Clifford Capital's loan administration, servicing and asset management operations functions.
This role combines people leadership, operational oversight, process governance and stakeholder management responsibilities across both onshore and offshore operations teams.
The successful candidate will act as the key operational owner for loan administration, trade settlements, cashflow management, lifecycle events, operational controls and service delivery. The role requires strong technical expertise in loan operations, proven leadership capabilities and experience managing outsourced operations teams to ensure high standards of accuracy, control, timeliness and client service.
This is a hands-on leadership role requiring the ability to manage complex transactions, drive process improvements, strengthen operational controls and support strategic initiatives across systems, automation and operational transformation projects.
Key Responsibilities:
Team Leadership & Management
- Oversee and manage onshore and offshore Operations teams, ensuring adherence to service level agreements, operating procedures and control standards.
- Allocate workloads effectively across the team to ensure continuity and resilience.
- Establish a strong culture of accountability, operational excellence, risk awareness and continuous improvement.
Loan Administration & Servicing
- Oversee the end-to-end loan administration and servicing of syndicated loans, bilateral loans, SPV financing structures, bonds and assets management transactions.
- Ensure timely and accurate processing of loan life cycle events such as disbursements, refinancing transactions, repayments, rollovers, rate fixing, amendment and restructuring, facility transfer and settlements.
- Ensure accurate recording and maintenance of trade positions, cashflow projections and operational data across internal systems.
- Validate complex calculations and multi-party allocations across principal repayments, commitment fees, cash and PIK interest for assets transfers and sub-participated transactions.
- Oversee payment notices, rate fixing notices, fee notices and borrower communications.
- Oversee reconciliation of receivables, settlement balances, cashflows and operational records.
- Ensure payment obligations are fulfilled accurately and within cut-off timelines.
- Monitor and resolve trade booking and payment discrepancies, failed settlements and cash breaks.
- Oversee operational activities performed by fund administrators and third-party service providers.
Operational Risk & Controls
- Ensure robust operational controls, maker-checker processes and governance frameworks are maintained.
- Drive continuous enhancement of control frameworks, audit readiness and compliance with internal policies.
- Ensure accurate documentation of procedures, control evidence and operational workflows.
- Support internal audits, external audits, regulatory reviews and compliance exercises.
- Promote strong control discipline across both internal and outsourced operations teams.
Stakeholders Management
- Partner closely with Business, Treasury, Finance, Collateral Management, Risk, Legal, Compliance and Technology teams.
- Manage communications and issue resolution with facility agents, counterparties, custodians and banking partners.
- Deliver high-quality operational support while maintaining strong service standards.
- Maintain effective working relationships with fund administrators, third-party service providers ensuring adherence to agreed service levels.
Process Improvement & Transformation
- Identify opportunities to automate manual processes and improve operational efficiency.
- Lead operational transformation initiatives, system enhancements and workflow optimisation projects.
- Drive the development and implementation of scalable operating models across onshore and offshore teams.
- Participate in user acceptance testing (UAT), process redesign and system implementation projects.
- Champion technology adoption and operational innovation to improve productivity and strengthen controls.
Requirements
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in finance, Banking, Business, Economics, Accounting or a related discipline.
Experience
- Minimum 8 to 12 years of relevant experience across Loan Operations, Loan Administration, Trade Settlements, Treasury Operations, Asset Management Operations, Middle Office, or Private Credit Operations within a bank, financial institution, asset management firm, or private credit platform.
- At least 5 years of people management experience leading operational teams.
- Experience in managing offshore operations teams is an advantage.
- Strong experience supporting:
- Syndicated loans
- Bilateral loans
- Project finance transactions
- Infrastructure financing
- SPV structures
- Bonds
- Treasury products
- Private Credit Investments
- Assets Management Portfolios
- Hands-on experience across the complete loan lifecycle from booking through servicing and settlement.
- Experience in managing complex transactions, operational controls, and stakeholder relationships is highly desirable.
Technical Knowledge
- Strong understanding of:
- Loan administration and servicing
- Private credit, structured finance and debt financing products
- Loan market conventions and settlement processes
- Credit agreements and loan documentation
- LMA/APLMA documentation standards
- Operational risk and control frameworks
- Excellent ability to interpret legal and credit documentation and translate key terms into operational setup and servicing requirements.
- Familiarity with Euroclear/Clearstream, SWIFT messaging, payment operations and settlement processes.
- Hands-on experience with trade capture, loan administration, treasury payments and settlement platforms such as Sentry, FIS Quantum, FIS Payment Hub, and other operational processing systems.
Leadership Competencies
- Strong leadership and team development capabilities.
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills with confidence to challenge, influence, and escalate appropriately.
- Ability to manage competing priorities.
- High degree of ownership, accountability and resilience.
Personal Attributes
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Exceptional attention to detail.
- Results-oriented with the ability to perform under pressure and operate effectively in a dynamic environment.
- Proactive, collaborative, self-motivated with a continuous improvement mindset.
- Demonstrates integrity, professionalism and sound judgement.