Associate Director, Debt Finance – Property Finance

Since our launch in 2015, we’ve lent over £15bn to ambitious entrepreneurs across the UK, supporting the delivery of more than 61,000 jobs and over 36,000 new homes. Property finance is a core pillar of our lending strategy, and our Debt Finance team plays a critical role in executing complex, property-backed transactions efficiently and at scale.

This role is suited to a commercially minded, delivery-focused professional who thrives on taking originated real estate transactions and driving them through credit, documentation and completion. You’ll work closely with senior stakeholders while owning the day-to-day execution and client experience.

The Associate Director will lead the end-to-end execution of property-backed lending transactions, including investment, development, and income-producing real estate across OakNorth-affiliated businesses. Taking ownership of transactions once originated, the role will act as the central point of coordination across internal teams and external advisers, ensuring efficient credit approval and seamless deal execution.
This is a hands-on execution role requiring strong credit judgement, deep real estate understanding and the ability to manage multiple workstreams under pressure.

Principal responsibilities::
• Own the execution of property finance transactions from initial handover through to credit approval, documentation and drawdown
• Act as the central deal lead, coordinating credit, legal, portfolio management, valuation and operations teams
• Prepare and present high-quality property-specific credit papers for Credit Committee and approval forums
• Build, review and challenge detailed financial models covering development appraisals, cash flows, sensitivities, exit values and downside scenarios
• Analyse property assets, development costs, lease structures, rental assumptions, valuations and borrower equity positions
• Manage external advisers including valuers, lawyers, monitoring surveyors and borrower advisors
• Lead and contribute to client and adviser meetings alongside senior bankers, ensuring momentum is maintained through to completion
• Review budgets, construction programmes, funding structures and capital stacks to assess risk and execution feasibility
• Identify and proactively resolve execution risks, delays or structural issues throughout the transaction lifecycle
• Support selective origination activity from an execution and structuring perspective where required
• Contribute to continuous improvement of property lending execution standards and processes

What makes a successful Associate Director::
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Real Estate, Economics, Accountancy or a related discipline
• Proven experience executing property-backed lending or real estate finance transactions to completion
• Strong understanding of real estate credit, development finance, investment lending and asset-backed risk analysis
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex transactions involving multiple stakeholders and advisers
• Advanced financial modelling capability, particularly in property and development scenarios
• Ability to deliver transactions within tight timeframes while maintaining strong credit discipline
• Confident communicator, able to present clearly to Credit Committee and senior stakeholders
• Highly organised, resilient and accountable, with a strong sense of ownership over deal delivery
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment with evolving priorities

Benefits & Perks::
• Equity. We want people to have a stake in the business so that all our interests are aligned.
• 25 days holiday
• Personalized benefits – opt-in to what matters to you
• Subsidised Private Medical Insurance with Bupa
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• Wellbeing and social events
• In-house Barista Bar in London office
• Support causes that matter to you – Volunteering time off
• Salary sacrifice schemes (Cycle to work, nursery, gym, electric car scheme)