Senior Manager, Loan Salability & First-Line Model Governance

About the role

You will lead the end-to-end ownership of loan salability and first-line model governance for Upstart's secured lending portfolio. This role is responsible for establishing and managing the methodology, monitoring cadence, and governance materials that ensure portfolio integrity and regulatory readiness. You will oversee the secured lending asset quality function across home equity line of credit, auto direct, and auto indirect dealer channels. In this capacity, you will set the review methodology, operating cadence, reporting standards, and escalation routines for a small team of asset quality analysts. You will partner closely with Credit Risk, Capital Markets, Model Risk Management, Product, Engineering, Compliance, Legal, Operations, and bank partners to interpret model execution patterns and identify systemic risk. A core part of this role involves monitoring portfolio-level trends, escalating repurchase and put-back risk, and ensuring findings are addressed before they become repurchase events or examination issues. You will translate complex portfolio signals into clear action plans that align with investor expectations and bank partner thresholds. If you are energized by tackling meaningful problems and driving durable risk controls in a digital-first environment, this role offers the opportunity to shape the infrastructure that supports the next stage of growth.

Key facts

What you'll do

Lead the secured lending asset quality and loan salability function across home equity line of credit, auto direct, and auto indirect dealer channels, setting the review methodology, operating cadence, reporting standards, and escalation routines for a small team of asset quality analysts.

Monitor portfolio-level salability risk across secured lending channels - tracking eligibility adherence trends, defect patterns, collateral documentation quality, and exception concentrations; escalate repurchase and put-back risk to Capital Markets and bank partners before they affect loan sale execution or partner commitments.

Monitor asset quality and portfolio performance indicators tied to salability, including early payment defaults, delinquency, loss severity, prepayment, non-performing loan trends, exception patterns, and threshold breaches.

Evaluate origination and channel quality across secured lending programs, including collateral documentation completeness, lien perfection, override trends, pricing consistency, dealer or partner performance, concentration risk, and potential fair lending exposure.

Own first-line model implementation and performance oversight for secured lending models, including production model monitoring, threshold tracking, version control, use-case boundaries, model inventory updates, change impact assessment, and escalation of performance degradation or out-of-bounds behavior.

Translate loan review findings, portfolio trends, and model performance signals into action by identifying root causes, defining remediation plans, tracking issue resolution, and escalating material risks to stakeholders.

Establish governance materials, including risk dashboards, metric definitions, data quality checks, and control testing artifacts, to ensure clarity, consistency, and transparency for internal and external audiences.

Coordinate cross-functional reviews with Credit Risk, Capital Markets, Model Risk Management, Product, Engineering, Compliance, Legal, Operations, and bank partners to align on risk appetite, thresholds, and remediation timelines.

Drive readiness for bank partner and regulatory review by maintaining robust documentation, test results, and evidence of ongoing monitoring across the loan lifecycle.

Set priorities for the small analyst team based on portfolio risk, emerging trends, partner feedback, and regulatory focus areas, ensuring disciplined execution against timelines and quality standards.

Requirements

8+ years of relevant experience in risk, credit, asset quality, model governance, or a related field within financial services or a closely related industry.

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience; advanced degree preferred.

Demonstrated expertise in monitoring, evaluating, and improving credit portfolio performance and model governance.

Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence stakeholders without direct authority.

Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to synthesize complex findings into clear, actionable recommendations for diverse audiences.

Experience working with data, including the ability to interpret model performance metrics, track exceptions, and identify trends across large datasets.

Understanding of risk frameworks, controls, and regulatory expectations in lending environments, including familiarity with investor and bank partner requirements.

Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment while managing multiple priorities and driving results under tight timelines.

Nice to have

Experience in secured lending, including home equity lines of credit, auto direct, and auto indirect dealer channels.

Background in first-line model governance, model risk management, or model validation.

Experience collaborating with bank partners, Capital Markets, and regulatory examiners.

Familiarity with data visualization tools and dashboarding platforms to communicate portfolio trends and risk metrics.

Practical notes

Full-time position; remote work is the default with flexibility to work from U.S.-based locations, including Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, and New York City (opening Summer 2026).

Team onsites, planning sessions, and collaboration moments will be scheduled to build trust and spark creativity across the organization.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

No relocation support is available for this role.