---
title: 'Director, Credit - Trading Businesses at OakNorth'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-credit-trading-businesses-oaknorth-london-j3a3mak281tr'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-03'
---

# Director, Credit - Trading Businesses at OakNorth

- **Company:** OakNorth
- **Location:** London, United Kingdom
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-03
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/oaknorth/3b6d7a53-905b-4e91-8f7a-33213b3273fb/application

**Skills:** SME Cash Flow Based Lending, Financial Analysis, Credit Risk Models, RWA, PD, LGD, Covenant Setting, Risk and Control Techniques, Financial Due Diligence, Covenant Models, Real Estate Lending, SME Product Lifecycle Risks, Origination, Optimisation, Collections, Recoveries

> The Director of Credit Risk drives OakNorth's mission by assessing and challenging new lending opportunities for SME and trading businesses. This role involves crafting high-impact recommendations to Credit Committees, managing risk assessments, and supporting portfolio management and legal teams to ensure high-qual...

## Job description

## ABOUT US

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.

## ABOUT THE TEAM

At OakNorth, our Credit Risk team is at the heart of what we do — empowering ambitious businesses to grow while protecting the strength of our portfolio. We work closely with Debt Finance Origination, Credit Analytics, Portfolio Management, and Legal teams to deliver high-quality credit decisions with real commercial impact.

## ABOUT THE ROLE

As a Credit Director, you'll play a pivotal role in driving OakNorth's mission forward. You'll critically assess and challenge new lending opportunities across a diverse range of SME and trading businesses, crafting high-impact recommendations to our Credit Committees. This is a highly visible role — you'll engage directly with borrowers, shape key lending decisions, and fuel real economic impact at one of the UK's most innovative banks.

## WHAT YOU'LL DO

- Key involvement in shaping loan proposals through sighting new lending opportunities with deal teams at an early stage
- Work with and professionally challenge the Debt Finance Origination and Credit Analytics teams to deliver high-quality Credit recommendations to Credit Committee(s), including suggestions to improve deal structure
- Quickly grasp transactions and focus on key risks, presenting findings in a concise yet focused manner
- Collate and distribute committee decisions on new loan requests and be responsible for any follow-up actions
- Review and input on term sheets, balancing the relative risks of the deal with customer outcomes
- Support the internal Legal/Loan Execution team through close scrutiny of the bank's security requirements and documentation
- Meet clients with the Debt Finance team from time to time, providing guidance on structuring and early steer on credit appetite
- Support the Portfolio Management team post-drawdown with in-life loan increases, extensions, restructures, or covenant resets
- Review all key information supporting credit decisions, including Financial Due Diligence, financial accounts, and covenant models
- Ensure data used to assess risk is fit for purpose in terms of quality, quantity, and breadth
- Undertake strategic projects as requested by the Head of Credit Risk

YOU'LL BE A GREAT FIT IF YOU HAVE…

- A working knowledge of SME cash flow based lending and financial analysis, with a detailed understanding of key sectors such as Healthcare, Hospitality and Leisure, Financial Intermediaries, Manufacturing, and Structured/Leveraged Finance including M&A, MBO/MBI, and Financial Sponsors. Knowledge of Real Estate lending is a plus
- Minimum 5 years in a credit risk function, or demonstrable transferable skills
- A good knowledge of credit risk models associated with SME clients, including RWA, PD, and LGD
- Strong experience of risk and control techniques, including covenant setting, as applied to SME credit processes
- Strong negotiation skills, tenacity, pragmatism, and a drive for quality outcomes for both the bank and its customers
- The ability to manage multiple deliverables in a fast-paced, high-volume environment with effective time management

## Nice to Have

- Understanding of the wider risks associated with the full SME product lifecycle, including origination, optimisation, collections, and recoveries
- Experience engaging directly with clients and deal teams on structuring and credit appetite

## WHAT WE OFFER

- 25 days holiday
- Personalised benefits — opt-in to what matters to you
- Wellbeing and social events
- In-house Barista Bar
- Volunteering time off — support causes that matter to you
- Salary sacrifice schemes — cycle to work, nursery, gym, electric car scheme

## About OakNorth

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: OakNorth is a UK-based digital bank founded by entrepreneurs, providing fast, flexible business loans and competitive savings accounts to support ambitious businesses and savers.
- **Entity Type**: Private (fully-licensed digital bank, profitable; not publicly listed)
- **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Digital banking, commercial lending, retail savings
- **Target customers**: Lower mid-market businesses (entrepreneur-led, scaling fast) seeking debt financing from £1m to tens of millions; retail savers in the UK.
- **Mission**: “Banking should be barrier-free” – inspired by the founders’ own frustrations with traditional lending, OakNorth aims to back proven businesses with fast, data-driven credit decisions.

## Products & Services
- **Business Loans**: Flexible, structured debt financing from £1m to tens of millions for growth capital, acquisitions, management buyouts, and property development/investment.
- **Business Banking**: Digital account with dedicated support, seamless payments and cash management for scaling businesses.
- **Personal Savings**: FSCS-protected savings accounts (up to £120,000) with competitive interest rates, offered via a digital platform.
- **OakNorth Credit Intelligence (OCI)**: Data-driven technology platform that gives lenders a forward-looking view for agile credit decisions (used internally and sold to other institutions).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Cumulative lending of over £15.1bn since inception (2025). Annual profit of £165.2m in 2025. Total capital ratio of 18.4%.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Founded and led by Rishi Khosla & Joel Perlman; backed by a range of institutional investors (details not fully public). Over 400,000 retail savers provide deposit funding. Partnered with LSE Generate for mentorship.
- **Growth Signals**: Named **Best Bank in the UK** at The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards 2025. Recognised by CNBC/Statista as one of the UK’s Top 250 Fintechs. Expanded lending into the US in 2023. Built a diversified business including Business Banking capability. 61,000+ jobs and 36,000+ new homes created through lending. Offices in London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Newcastle, Birmingham, New York (OCI), and India (Gurugram, Bengaluru, Hyderabad).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Data-driven credit underwriting**: Uses proprietary analytics (OCI) to assess future potential, not just past financials, enabling faster, more accurate lending decisions.
- **Founder-led, flat organisational structure**: Decision-making is fast, with less bureaucracy than traditional banks.
- **Disciplined profitability**: One of the few digital banks globally to be consistently profitable, with extremely low credit losses (4.5 basis points of cumulative facilities).
- **Customer obsession**: High NPS and a culture of “customer delight” rather than mere satisfaction.

## Strategic Focus
- **US expansion**: Scaling lending in the US lower mid-market where a similar structural gap exists.
- **Business Banking rollout**: Building a full business banking capability beyond loans to deepen customer relationships.
- **Technology and data**: Continuing to invest in the OakNorth Credit Intelligence platform and automation.
- **ESG and community**: Net zero target by 2045; 1+1% initiative (1% of profits and 1% of employee time to charity).
- **Talent and culture**: Expanding teams across UK, US, and India while maintaining a founder-led, high-autonomy culture.

## Why Work Here
- **Equity**: Employees receive equity in the business, sharing in growth.
- **Flat structure**: Opportunity to interact with senior leaders and have real impact regardless of tenure.
- **Autonomy**: Personal goal-setting with manager support; freedom to take on projects of interest.
- **Mission-driven**: Directly contribute to creating jobs, homes, and supporting ambitious entrepreneurs.
- **Culture**: Values include “Say it how it is” (honest communication), “10x” (set ambitious goals), “One team”, and “Momentum”.
- **Hybrid/Office**: Multiple office locations across UK (London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Newcastle, Birmingham) plus New York and India. Specific remote policies not detailed but likely hybrid for most roles.
- **Recognition**: Work for a bank that has won “Best Bank in the UK” and is seen as a top fintech employer.

## Sources
1. [OakNorth.co.uk – Home](https://oaknorth.co.uk/)
2. [OakNorth.co.uk – About/Our Story](https://oaknorth.co.uk/about/)
3. [OakNorth.co.uk – Careers](https://oaknorth.co.uk/about/careers/)
4. [OakNorth.co.uk – Annual Report 2025 (PDF)](https://oaknorth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Annual_Report_2025.pdf)
5. [OakNorth.co.uk – Jobs](https://oaknorth.co.uk/jobs/)

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