Director, Portfolio Management, Real Estate Finance
JOB SUMMARY:
Forbright Bank is seeking a hands-on, player-coach Director of Portfolio Management to help lead its Real Estate Finance portfolio-management function. The Director will manage a nation-wide portfolio of performing commercial real estate loans, develop portfolio-management professionals, maintain strong borrower relationships, identify emerging credit and market risks before they become material problems, and use technology, data, automation, and AI to improve loan- and portfolio-level reporting, efficiency, and early-warning capability.
This role is designed for a knowledgeable lender who can combine asset-level credit judgment with portfolio-level perspective. The Director will work closely with the Managing Director of Portfolio Management, senior leadership, originations, underwriting, loan closing, legal, servicing, and other partners to turn portfolio information into clear decisions and timely action. The Director will also serve as a strategic feedback loop between portfolio performance and new-deal underwriting by analyzing trends across property types, sponsors, regional markets, and economic conditions and bringing those implications to management to inform underwriting, structuring, and portfolio strategy. Deep distressed-asset specialization is not required; meaningful exposure to borrower issues, modifications, remedies, or workouts is important. We are seeking an individual with the ability to think critically, creatively, and collaboratively to help implement best-in-class portfolio management practices in an ever-evolving environment to support a growing portfolio at a bank with ambitious goals.
The position is in Chevy Chase, MD and requires 4 days in office per week.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Manage an assigned nation-wide portfolio of performing commercial real estate loans and ensure timely, thoughtful monitoring.
- Evaluate property performance, cash flow, sponsor strength, collateral, covenants, business plans, and relevant economic and market trends.
- Identify negative trends early, lead quarterly and ad hoc risk-rating reviews, and present clear recommendations to senior management. Analyze portfolio performance by property type, sponsor, geography, and market conditions, and translate those trends into recommendations for new-deal underwriting and portfolio strategy.
- Lead the evaluation, negotiation, underwriting, diligence, approval, and documentation of loan modifications.
- Maximize the efficiency, accuracy, and relevance of loan- and portfolio-level reporting.
- Serve as a senior point of contact for borrowers and sponsors, building credibility through communication, preparation, responsiveness, transparency, and sound judgment.
- Evaluate and negotiate requests involving funding, waivers, extensions, modifications, covenant matters, and changes to business plans.
- Manage early-stage credit issues and lead or support modifications, restructurings, workouts, and lender-remedy strategies based on the circumstances.
- Remain close to the portfolio while assigning work, reviewing analysis, coaching team members, and improving the quality and consistency of portfolio-management output.
- Develop less-experienced professionals through feedback, modeling, and direct involvement in borrower and credit situations.
- Partner effectively with various teams, including originations, underwriting, loan closing, legal (internal and external), servicing, and senior management while escalating material issues early.
- Improve portfolio-management processes, reporting, exception tracking, and early-warning tools so the team operates with greater speed, accuracy, and consistency.
- Identify practical uses of data, automation, and AI for monitoring, document review, reporting, workflow management, preparation for borrower conversations, and other processes to improve efficiency.
- Ensure that servicing, documentation, funding, compliance, and other portfolio processes have clear ownership and are completed timely, accurately, and within Bank policy.
Portfolio Leadership and Proactive Risk Management
Borrower Relationships and Credit Strategy
Player-Coach Leadership
Process Improvement, Technology, and Controls
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s Degree required
- A minimum of 8 years of commercial real estate lending, credit, portfolio management, asset management, or related experience; flexibility for an exceptional candidate.
- Direct experience managing a performing commercial real estate portfolio.
- Demonstrated borrower-facing experience, including negotiation of requests, business-plan changes, extensions, modifications, or covenant matters.
- Exposure to workouts, restructurings, troubled credits, or other lender remedies.
- Strong understanding of CRE credit, property performance, sponsor analysis, loan documents, and lender remedies.
- Ability to connect portfolio-level trends with asset-level risk and communicate clear recommendations, including implications for new-deal underwriting and portfolio strategy.
- Experience coaching, mentoring, or managing less-experienced professionals.
- Demonstrated curiosity about process improvement, data, AI, and automation.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
- Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Proactive and comfortable escalating potential problems early.
- Curious, analytical, commercially minded, and outward-looking about economic and property-market trends.
- Calm and credible in borrower negotiations.
- Practical problem solver who distinguishes important issues from noise.
- Collaborative, accountable, and committed to developing others.