Loan Officer Certification & QA Specialist; Durham

Description

LCCU is hiring!

The Loan Officer Certification & Quality Assurance Specialist serves as the primary subject matter expert responsible for the administration, governance, and continuous enhancement of Loan Officer certification standards, quality assurance practices, and operational performance requirements within Consumer Lending. This position ensures Loan Officers consistently meet certification requirements and perform loan origination activities in accordance with established quality standards, regulatory requirements, internal policies, and operational procedures.

The role provides oversight of certification programs, quality control activities, operational reviews, and performance evaluations to ensure accuracy, consistency, compliance, and operational excellence throughout the lending function.

The position is accountable for monitoring certification outcomes, identifying operational risks, validating adherence to established standards, and implementing continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen lending quality and mitigate risk. Works closely with the Training & Talent team to ensure alignment with LCCU's training standards.

• Design and deliver Loan Officer certification training content (curriculum, job aids, assessment)?in coordination with the Training & Talent team? to ensure consistency with LCCU's broader onboarding training standards.
• Utilize the organization's LMS (BAI) to schedule, track, and report certification completions.
• Lead the administration, maintenance, and governance of the Loan Officer Certification Program.
• Establish, maintain, and periodically review certification standards, certification requirements, competency expectations, assessment criteria, and recertification requirements.
• Develop and administer certification examinations, practical evaluations, and qualification assessments to validate operational readiness and adherence to performance standards.
• Evaluate and certify Loan Officer proficiency prior to assignment of independent lending authority and decision-making responsibilities.
• Review and update certification standards and evaluation criteria based on regulatory changes, policy revisions, operational requirements, system enhancements, and lending best practices.
• Oversee quality assurance and quality control activities related to loan origination processes, lending decisions, loan documentation, and operational execution.
• Monitor loan quality results, exception trends, operational findings, and certification outcomes to identify process gaps, risks, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Analyze loan documentation, approval patterns, exception reports, and quality review results to identify root causes and recommend corrective actions.
• Perform periodic reviews of loan files, lending decisions, certification records, and supporting documentation to assess compliance with internal policies, regulatory requirements, and established quality standards.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of operational controls and identify deficiencies, process gaps, documentation exceptions, and compliance risks.
• Monitor remediation efforts and validate completion of corrective actions to ensure sustainable resolution of audit findings and quality concerns.
• Maintain audit documentation, evidence, work papers, and reporting necessary to support internal reviews, external audits, and regulatory examinations.
• Analyze recurring audit findings, quality review results, and operational trends to identify systemic issues and recommend process improvements.
• Track and report key quality, certification, compliance, and audit metrics to management, including exception rates, documentation accuracy, certification outcomes, and corrective action status.
• Ensure compliance with applicable lending regulations, including Regulation Z, Regulation B, Fair Lending requirements, UDAAP, FCRA, Military Lending Act (MLA), SCRA, BSA/AML requirements, and internal lending policies.
• Partner with Compliance, Risk Management, Internal Audit, Underwriting, Operations, and Consumer Lending leadership to maintain regulatory compliance and strengthen operational controls.
• Assess the impact of regulatory, procedural, and operational changes on certification requirements, quality standards, and lending practices.
• Support audit readiness activities by ensuring policies, procedures, certification records, quality reviews, and operational documentation remain current, complete, and readily available for examination.
• Identify operational risks, control deficiencies, documentation inconsistencies, and process breakdowns and recommend solutions to improve process integrity and performance.
• Develop, maintain, and standardize procedures, certification documentation, operational resources, reference materials, and quality review methodologies supporting lending activities.
• Monitor adherence to established documentation standards, operational…