National Manager - Co-Lending & Partnerships

Job Summary:

The Head - Co-Lending & Partnerships will be responsible for building, scaling and managing the company's co-lending and strategic partnership business with Banks, NBFCs, FinTechs, Housing Finance Companies and other eligible financial institutions.

The role will own the end-to-end co-lending strategy, partner acquisition, commercial structuring, product development, portfolio growth, profitability, governance and partner relationship management, while ensuring adherence to applicable regulatory and internal risk frameworks.

The incumbent will be responsible for creating a scalable partnership ecosystem that enables the company to expand its customer reach, optimize capital and funding, improve distribution and generate sustainable profitable growth.

Requirements:

- Graduate in any discipline; MBA/PGDM in Finance/Marketing preferred.

- CA/CFA or other relevant financial qualification is an advantage.

- 15 - 20+ years of experience in Banking, NBFC, Housing Finance, FinTech or Financial Services.

- Significant experience in Co-Lending, Partnership Banking, Institutional Business, Digital Lending, Business Alliances or Strategic Partnerships.

- Experience in building and managing partnerships with Banks/NBFCs/FinTechs is essential.

Specific Skills:

- Co-Lending & Partnership Business

- Institutional relationship management

- Bank/NBFC/FinTech ecosystem knowledge

- Deal structuring and commercial negotiation

- Financial and business-model analysis

- Lending product knowledge

- Credit and risk understanding

- Portfolio management

- P&L and profitability management

- Regulatory and governance understanding

- Technology/API/LOS-LMS integration understanding

- Strategic business development

- Senior stakeholder management

- Team leadership

Responsibilities:

Business & Partnership Strategy:

- Develop the company's overall Co-Lending and Strategic Partnership strategy in line with business and funding objectives.

- Identify priority segments such as Home Loans, Affordable Housing, LAP and other permitted products.

- Define target partner categories including Banks, NBFCs, FinTechs, digital platforms and other eligible institutions.

- Develop a diversified partner ecosystem to reduce dependency and concentration risk.

- Identify new business models, distribution channels and partnership opportunities.

Strategic Partner Acquisition:

- Build relationships with senior leadership of Banks, NBFCs, FinTechs and other financial institutions.

- Identify and onboard marquee/high-quality partners.

- Develop long-term strategic alliances rather than purely transactional relationships.

- Build a strong institutional network at CXO and senior management levels.

Business & P&L Strategy:

- Own the strategic direction for AUM, disbursement, revenue, yield, spread and profitability.

- Define the desired portfolio mix across partners, products and geographies.

- Optimize cost of funds and risk-adjusted returns.

- Evaluate the economics and strategic value of new partnership opportunities.

Product & Business Model Strategy:

- Define scalable co-lending models and partnership structures.

- Develop differentiated propositions for partners and customers.

- Drive digital and embedded-finance opportunities.

- Identify opportunities to improve customer acquisition, TAT and experience through technology.

Risk & Governance Strategy:

- Establish appropriate partner selection and risk frameworks in conjunction with Credit/Risk.

- Define partner exposure and concentration limits.

- Establish governance standards for partner onboarding and monitoring.

- Ensure business models remain aligned with applicable regulatory requirements and internal risk appetite.

Technology Strategy:

- Drive the strategic roadmap for LOS/LMS/API and system integration with partners.

- Promote automation and straight-through processing.

- Establish a scalable technology architecture for multiple partners.

Organizational Leadership:

- Define the organizational structure and capability requirements for the Co-Lending function.

- Build leadership talent and succession capability.

- Create a strong culture of business growth, partnership orientation, governance and risk discipline.

Partner Acquisition & Evaluation:

- Identify potential partners and develop a qualified partnership pipeline.

- Conduct preliminary business and commercial evaluation of prospective partners.

- Assess: Business model, Customer profile, Origination capability, Portfolio performance, Financial strength, Credit standards, Technology capability, Governance and compliance.

- Prepare business cases and proposals for management approval.

Deal Structuring & Negotiation:

- Structure partnership arrangements covering: Product, Pricing, Revenue economics, Funding, Risk participation, Servicing, Collections, Data sharing, Technology integration, Exit/termination.

- Lead commercial negotiations with partners.

- Coordinate with Credit, Risk, Legal, Compliance, Finance and Technology for final structure.

Business Planning:

- Translate annual targets into monthly and quarterly partnerwise plans.

- Establish partner-wise AUM, disbursement and revenue targets.

- Track pipeline, activation and productivity of each partner.

- Drive partner ramp-up after onboarding.

Product & Process Execution:

- Convert partnership concepts into operational products and customer journeys.

- Define workflows and responsibilities between HFC and partner.

- Establish SLAs and TATs.

- Coordinate product, operations and technology teams for implementation.

- Ensure smooth transition from pilot to full-scale business.

Portfolio Management:

- Review partner-wise: Sourcing, Sanctions, Disbursements, AUM, Yield, Collections, DPD/SMA/NPA, Credit cost, Customer complaints.

- Identify underperforming partnerships.

- Develop corrective action plans.

- Review portfolio performance against approved business assumptions.

Commercial & Financial Management:

- Track partner-level profitability.

- Analyze yield, spread, fee income, operating costs and credit costs.

- Identify opportunities for improving economics.

- Review pricing and commercial terms periodically.

Governance & Compliance:

- Ensure partnership agreements, SOPs and operating protocols are implemented.

- Coordinate regulatory, compliance and audit requirements.

- Ensure adherence to applicable RBI guidelines and internal policies.

- Monitor partner compliance and resolve exceptions.

Team Supervision:

- Supervise Partnership Managers/Relationship Managers and support teams.

- Allocate partners and responsibilities among team members.

- Set individual targets and activity metrics.

- Conduct regular performance reviews.

- Monitor productivity and pipeline movement.

- Coach team members on partner management and commercial negotiations.

Partner Management:

- Ensure regular engagement with assigned partners.

- Track partner commitments, business volumes and agreed SLAs.

- Resolve day-to-day operational and commercial issues.

- Escalate critical issues to senior management.

- Maintain strong partner relationships.

Pipeline Management:

- Review daily/weekly partner pipeline.

- Track leads, applications, sanctions and disbursements.

- Identify bottlenecks in the lending journey.

- Coordinate with Credit, Operations, Legal and Technology teams to resolve pending items.

- Ensure timely activation of approved partners.

Operational Monitoring:

- Monitor end-to-end transaction flow: Sourcing - Login - Credit - Sanction - Documentation - Disbursement - Servicing - Collections.

- Ensure adherence to agreed TATs and SLAs.

- Track reconciliation and data-quality issues.

- Ensure timely resolution of operational exceptions.

Portfolio Monitoring:

- Review partner-wise collection and delinquency reports.

- Monitor DPD, bounce, SMA/NPA and collection efficiency.

- Identify early-warning indicators.

- Escalate deterioration in partner/customer portfolio quality.

- Coordinate with Credit/Risk/Collections on corrective action.

MIS & Reporting:

- Ensure timely and accurate partner-wise MIS.

- Prepare daily/weekly/monthly performance reports.

- Track actual performance against targets.

- Highlight deviations and prepare action plans.

- Maintain partner-level dashboards.

Compliance & Controls:

- Ensure team adherence to SOPs and internal policies.

- Monitor partner compliance with agreed processes.

- Ensure proper documentation and data controls.

- Support internal/external audits.

- Track and close operational and compliance observations.