Senior Leadership in Non-Bank Lending: Hiring the Right Commercial Leader

A recent recruitment project led to an interesting discussion about what a non-bank lender actually needs when hiring a senior commercial leader.

We discussed a number of profiles, each bringing something different. Some were experienced originators who had built their careers writing business and continued to do so. Others offered more of a leadership proposition, with the commercial appetite, strategic thinking and ability to get the best out of a team, but not necessarily the same technical depth in specialist products such as development finance.

It raised a question worth exploring. How much weight should we place on years of product experience when the job is ultimately to lead other people?

For me, the answer starts with being clear about what we are hiring someone to do.

Experience, but experience of what?

I’m certainly not going to suggest that years spent in specialist lending count for nothing. Having worked in this market for 12 years, I place considerable value on experience, relationships and judgement.

But when assessing a leadership appointment, I want to understand what sits behind those years. Has someone built a successful personal book of business? Developed other originators? Set a strategy and delivered it through a team? These are different achievements, even when they sit beneath similar job titles.

Someone with extensive development finance experience may be exactly what a lender needs. Equally, I wouldn’t automatically discount a candidate with less time in that particular product if they can demonstrate stronger evidence of building and leading a successful commercial function.

The distinction is between knowing how to do the job yourself and knowing how to help other people do it well. Ideally, you find both. When there is a trade-off, the purpose of the appointment should guide the decision.

The player-manager question

There is a strong argument for a leader who continues to originate. They remain close to brokers and borrowers, understand the practical challenges their team faces and can demonstrate what good looks like. For a smaller lender, that personal contribution may also be essential to the growth plan.

I wouldn’t dismiss that model at all. The question is whether the expectations are realistic.

If someone is expected to maintain a substantial personal pipeline, develop a strategy, recruit, coach the team and address underperformance, how much time are we actually giving them to lead? We should be careful about appointing a Head of Sales and then measuring their value almost entirely through their own completions.

The alternative is someone whose main contribution comes through the team. They may not bring the largest personal network in a particular product, but they know how to establish direction, create accountability and help capable people perform more consistently.

That isn’t a less commercial role. I would still expect hunger, ambition and a genuine appetite to win business. The difference is where that energy is directed.

A little football comparison

This is where I think there is a useful comparison with Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp and Sir Alex Ferguson. Not because leadership fits neatly into three categories, but because they offer different ways of thinking about what a manager contributes.

Take Guardiola’s focus on detail and continuous improvement. His approach to coaching emphasises learning, adapting and finding ways to improve team performance. In a lending business, I’d associate that with a leader who can see where the commercial process is breaking down and coach people to improve it, rather than simply asking for more business.

Klopp offers another useful perspective. He has described leadership in terms of supporting people and surrounding himself with experts whose knowledge exceeds his own in particular areas. That feels relevant to this discussion: a leader does not have to be the strongest specialist in every part of the business to make an important contribution. They do need the confidence to recognise expertise and use it properly.

Then there is Ferguson’s approach to developing talent and building for the long term. Harvard Business School’s study highlighted his willingness to bring younger players through, make difficult personnel decisions and adapt his methods. The lending equivalent, for me, is someone who can deliver today while developing the people who will carry the business forward.

Those qualities overlap, of course. This isn’t an argument that Klopp lacked technical knowledge or Guardiola only cared about tactics. It is a reminder that leadership involves more than being the best individual performer.

Although expecting your manager to finish as top scorer every season might be asking a little much.

Technical knowledge still matters

There is an important boundary here. I’m talking primarily about sales and origination leadership, not suggesting that technical expertise is optional for a Head of Credit or someone responsible for final lending decisions.

Even in a commercial leadership role, I would expect a credible understanding of the product, the lender’s appetite and the risks involved. In development finance, I’d want someone who can engage sensibly with questions around the build, the borrower and the proposed exit, while recognising when specialist input is needed.

Being less technically experienced than members of your team is one thing. Being unable to challenge them or recognise the limits of your own knowledge is another.

I also wouldn’t accept “they can learn the product” without considering what that learning requires. A candidate moving from an adjacent market needs the willingness to learn, appropriate support and clear boundaries around their responsibilities. Commercial confidence is valuable, but it cannot substitute for sound judgement.

What does the business actually need?

My starting point would be to establish whether the lender needs more personally originated business, stronger leadership of an existing team or a combination of both. From there, the experience required becomes much clearer.

For a leadership appointment, I’d want the conversation to go beyond personal lending volumes. Who have they developed? What improved across the team? Can they explain their contribution to those results without taking credit for everyone else’s work?

I’m not arguing for less experience. I’m arguing for being more precise about which experience matters.

The right appointment might be an established development finance originator who leads from the front. It might be a commercially driven leader from an adjacent market who can get more out of the specialists already in place. Neither should win the argument on years of service alone.

Before deciding which CV looks strongest, decide whether you need a goalscorer, a player-manager or someone whose main job is to get the whole team performing.

Hiring Senior Leaders in Specialist Lending?

At Fintelligent, we work with specialist lenders, banks and real estate finance businesses to identify commercial leaders who can support long-term growth.

Whether you're looking for an experienced originator, a Head of Sales or a senior leader to develop your existing team, get in touch with Daniel Greenhalgh to discuss your recruitment requirements.