CircleLending Seeks Product Manager, Mortgages

The Company

Widely regarded as a pioneer in the U.S. financial services industry for designing products and services for the private loan market, CircleLending provides everything customers need to formalize and repay private loans. This includes:

• Loan documentation
• Repayment schedules
• Electronic billing
• Payment processing using electronic funds transfer
• Credit reporting
• Year-end statements for tax purposes and record keeping
• Filing of Uniform Commercial Code liens
• Recording of private mortgages, including intra-family mortgages
• Title searches and owner reports
• Seller-financing services
• Real estate closing services in conjunction with closing agents and attorneys
• Tax and insurance escrow payment administration
• Loan servicing protocols for restructuring person-to-person loans
• Web-enabled (and toll-free) account administration

CircleLending launched its first product, a variation of today’s Handshake Plus offering, in September 2001. Since then, CircleLending’s loan volume has been growing at over 25% per quarter, comprised of loans as small as $500 and as large as $1,000,000. The company’s loan volume surpassed $100 million in early 2006. Currently there are twenty employees at CircleLending’s main office and this number is expected to grow to thirty over the next year. CircleLending is

The Position

The Product Manager, Mortgages will report to Jim Smith, the Chief Marketing Officer of CircleLending. There will be no direct reports to this role, but that will likely change as the company meets its growth targets. He/she will be responsible for creating and implementing a roadmap for the mortgage product line, which is expected to be one of the main drivers of the company’s growth. As part of this, he/she will:

• Manage product pricing and profitability
• Develop detailed business requirements for each new product or service
• Work across all functions to bring new products to launch
• Serve as the focal point of product knowledge including regulatory issues and business trends
• Develop, document and share knowledge of potential partners and service suppliers
• Manage partner relationships that are unique to the mortgage products
• Evangelize for mortgage product internally

The Individual

The successful candidate will have a deep understanding of mortgage finance as well as experience designing, marketing and/or managing mortgage products for online consumers. The Product Manager, Mortgages must have the ability to quickly develop a solid understanding of the operational aspects of delivering CircleLending’s unique products as well as a strong grasp of the product features and benefits most important to our market segments. He/she will have the ability to work closely and productively with Marketing, Sales, Finance, Technology and Operations in rolling-out new products and services. The ideal candidate will thrive in a small, but rapidly growing and changing, environment.

Position Requirements

• 10+ years of relevant product management experience
• Substantial knowledge of the operational, legal and financial aspects of mortgages
• Superior verbal and written communication skills
• Strong financial, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Proven work ethic and strong desire to succeed
• Entrepreneurial instincts
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams through influence and knowledge
• Proven track record of successfully delivering products on time and on budget
• Solid project management skills
• Ability to handle multiple responsibilities simultaneously
• Strong negotiating skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Bachelors degree required, MBA desirable
• Sense of humor

Location: Waltham, Massachusetts

Email expressions of interest to: jbuda@romcapital.com.