---
title: 'Director, Debt Finance at OakNorth'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-debt-finance-oaknorth-new-york-78vw5hmt7e0a'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-17'
---

# Director, Debt Finance at OakNorth

- **Company:** OakNorth
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-11
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-17
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/oaknorth/259d95e5-4a20-4eb3-8fc5-0e2942be164a

## Job description

## DUTIES:

- Originate, structure, and execute commercial lending transactions, with a primary focus on commercial real estate (CRE) and mid-market corporate borrowers.
- Conduct detailed financial analysis and credit underwriting, including evaluation of borrower financials, cash flow projections, and collateral performance.
- Structure loan facilities, including determination of pricing, covenants, security packages, and repayment terms.
- Prepare and present credit memoranda to internal credit committees to support transaction approvals.
- Manage the end-to-end transaction lifecycle, including origination, structuring, underwriting, approval, documentation, closing, and ongoing portfolio monitoring.
- Develop and maintain relationships with borrowers, sponsors, developers, and financial intermediaries to originate and execute transactions.
- Identify and evaluate new lending opportunities across commercial real estate asset classes.
- Monitor portfolio performance and identify opportunities for additional lending or refinancing with existing clients.
- Ensure all transactions comply with internal credit policies and approved terms.
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders, including credit, legal, and analytics teams, to structure and execute transactions.
- Structure loan facilities, including determination of pricing, covenants, security packages, and repayment terms

## REQUIREMENTS:

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Mathematics, Finance or related quantitative field and 5 years’ experience in commercial real estate (CRE) lending or commercial lending, including structured finance. Experience must include:

- Experience leading and independently executing lending transactions with limited supervision.
- Origination and execution of commercial lending or CRE transactions.
- Experience managing multiple concurrent lending transactions in a high-volume environment.
- Contributed to the development and implementation of internal processes to support lending operations and transaction execution.
- Financial modelling and credit analysis for debt transactions, including analysis of financial statements and cash flow projections.
- Preparation and presentation of credit memoranda to internal or external approval committees.
- Structuring loan facilities, including pricing, covenants, and collateral/security arrangements.
- Managing transactions through full lifecycle, including underwriting, approval, documentation, and closing.
- Managing relationships with borrowers, sponsors, and financial intermediaries in a lending or investment context.
- Financial modelling using Microsoft Excel.
- Credit risk assessment and underwriting methodologies for commercial lending transactions.
- Analysis of commercial real estate assets and corporate borrower financial performance Telecommuting may be permitted a few days a week. When not telecommuting, must report to OakNorth’s office in NY, NY. HOURS: Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00pm. LOCATION: OakNorth Bank, plc., 445 Park Avenue, 8th Fl, New York, NY 10022 (Telecommuting may be permitted a few days a week. When not telecommuting, must report to OakNorth’s office in NY, NY.) SALARY: $200,000 - $300,000 per year

TO APPLY: Email resumes to usrecruitment@oaknorth.com Reference # 10297751 when applying

## 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/)

## Other roles at OakNorth

- [Assistant Manager - Procurement](https://feeny.ai/job/assistant-manager-procurement-oaknorth-gurugram-8a37gdaxbm2y) — Gurugram, India
- [Assistant Manager- Accounts Payable](https://feeny.ai/job/assistant-manager-accounts-payable-oaknorth-gurugram-tcn96n5yex2b) — Gurugram, India
- [Assistant Manager - controllership](https://feeny.ai/job/assistant-manager-controllership-oaknorth-gurugram-qv4xs8nbvkte) — Gurugram, India
- [Deposit Operations Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/deposit-operations-analyst-oaknorth-manchester-20kg47psnftg) — Manchester, United Kingdom
- [Compliance Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/compliance-analyst-oaknorth-gurugram-vaeecaap3xxb) — Gurugram, India
- [Intern - Finance (Regulatory Reporting)](https://feeny.ai/job/intern-finance-regulatory-reporting-oaknorth-gurugram-1t6kqw6ez0b5) — Gurugram, India
- [Associate, Debt Finance Support  (Real Estate)](https://feeny.ai/job/associate-debt-finance-support-real-estate-oaknorth-new-york-0qbhy2a4sve4) — New York, NY
- [Credit, Director - C&I](https://feeny.ai/job/credit-director-c-i-oaknorth-new-york-ge8b82wfwp4z) — New York, NY
- [Manager - Company Secretary](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-company-secretary-oaknorth-gurugram-pv06rkyaw7xf) — Gurugram, India
- [AVP - Legal - Transaction & Execution Management](https://feeny.ai/job/avp-legal-transaction-execution-management-oaknorth-gurugram-t9egh1d1zs6b) — Gurugram, India