First Merchants Bank is seeking a Director, Secondary Market to join our team! This position will provide strategic leadership and oversight for all secondary market and portfolio mortgage activities, including post-closing. Proactively evaluate market conditions, pricing, investor relationships, loan-sale opportunities, and portfolio risks to develop recommendations that support mortgage profitability, competitiveness, operational effectiveness, and the Bank’s overall business objectives.
As part of this role, you will:
- Develop and execute strategies for the Bank’s secondary market and portfolio mortgage activities in alignment with organizational goals.
- Proactively monitor economic conditions, interest-rate trends, housing market activity, and other relevant factors that may affect mortgage pricing, loan demand, or profitability.
- Analyze secondary market performance and provide timely, data-informed recommendations to mortgage and Bank leadership.
- Identify opportunities to improve mortgage pricing, loan-sale execution, profitability, competitiveness, and operational effectiveness.
- Evaluate potential risks associated with market changes, investor requirements, pricing decisions, loan delivery, and mortgage pipeline activity.
- Recommend strategies to manage interest-rate exposure, pricing risk, investor risk, and other secondary market considerations.
- Sell mortgage loans to approved investors in the secondary market.
- Develop and maintain productive relationships with investors and evaluate opportunities to expand or improve investor options.
- Assess investor pricing, guidelines, service levels, and execution to recommend investor relationships that best support the Bank’s objectives.
- Set and communicate daily mortgage interest rates to Mortgage Loan Originators.
- Manage and maintain the mortgage pricing engine used to determine loan pricing and profitability, including updating rates in the applicable mortgage system.
- Ensure pricing strategies appropriately balance competitiveness, profitability, risk, and organizational objectives.
- Monitor mortgage rates, products, and pricing offered by competitors and communicate relevant trends, risks, and opportunities to leadership.
- Analyze loan-sale activity, pricing results, margins, investor performance, and relevant secondary market trends.
- Develop and present reports, forecasts, recommendations, and other decision-support information to mortgage and Bank leadership.
- Anticipate market or business changes and recommend proactive adjustments to pricing, products, processes, investor strategy, or risk controls.
- Partner with mortgage leadership and other business areas to support mortgage product development, business planning, and strategic initiatives.
- Serve as a subject-matter resource regarding secondary market trends, mortgage pricing, investor requirements, and loan-sale strategies.
- Identify opportunities to improve the effectiveness, consistency, and scalability of secondary market processes and technology.
- Oversee and recommend updates or improvements to secondary market policies, procedures, systems, and internal controls.
- Ensure changes to pricing strategies, investor requirements, policies, or procedures are communicated and implemented effectively.
- Ensure applicable Bank policies, investor requirements, regulatory requirements, and internal procedures are consistently followed.
To be successful in this position, we require the following:
- Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, accounting, management, or a related field
- A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in mortgage secondary marketing, mortgage banking, capital markets, mortgage pricing, loan sales, or a related area.
- Demonstrated knowledge of secondary market mortgage operations, including loan pricing, investor relationships, loan-sale execution, mortgage pipeline management, and applicable investor requirements.
- Experience analyzing market conditions, interest-rate trends, pricing results, margins, and other business information to identify risks and opportunities.
- Demonstrated ability to develop and communicate strategic, data-informed recommendations to senior leadership.
- Experience proactively identifying market, pricing, profitability, operational, or investor-related concerns and recommending appropriate solutions.
- Strong analytical and financial decision-making skills, with the ability to balance competitiveness, profitability, risk, and organizational objectives.
- Demonstrated ability to evaluate business processes, systems, policies, and controls and recommend improvements that support efficiency, consistency, and scalability.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to clearly explain complex mortgage and secondary market information to a variety of audiences.
- Demonstrated ability to build effective working relationships with investors, mortgage leadership, business partners, and other stakeholders.
- Proficiency with mortgage pricing technology, secondary market systems, and standard business reporting and analytical tools.
First Merchants offers the following:
- Base Pay PLUS Bonuses
- Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
- 401k
- Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts
- Vacation/Sick Time
- Paid Holidays
- Paid Parental Leave
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Additional Benefits
A little about us:
First Merchants is guided by a genuine philosophy of being a meaningful place to work and having a prosperous impact across all walks of life throughout the communities we serve, including consumers, businesses and other organizations. Our Vision, Mission and Team statement reflect and reinforce that authentic service philosophy.
Our Vision is:
To enhance the financial wellness of the diverse communities we serve.
Our Mission is:
To be the most responsive, knowledgeable, and high-performing financial organization for our clients, teammates, and shareholders.
Our Team:
"We are a collection of dynamic colleagues with diverse experiences and perspectives who share a passion for positively impacting lives. We are genuinely committed to attracting and engaging teammates of diverse backgrounds. We believe in the power of inclusion and belonging."
Apply today to begin your career with us!
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with DisabilitiesThis employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in business, finance, economics, accounting, management, or a related field
- At least five years of progressively responsible experience in mortgage secondary marketing, mortgage banking, capital markets, mortgage pricing, loan sales, or a related area
- Knowledge of secondary market mortgage operations, including loan pricing, investor relationships, loan-sale execution, mortgage pipeline management, and investor requirements
- Experience analyzing market conditions, interest-rate trends, pricing results, margins, and business information
- Ability to develop and communicate strategic, data-informed recommendations to senior leadership
- Experience identifying market, pricing, profitability, operational, or investor-related concerns and recommending solutions
- Strong analytical and financial decision-making skills
- Ability to evaluate business processes, systems, policies, and controls and recommend improvements
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to build effective relationships with investors, mortgage leadership, business partners, and stakeholders
- Proficiency with mortgage pricing technology, secondary market systems, and business reporting and analytical tools
First Merchants Corporation Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about First Merchants Corporation and has not been reviewed or approved by First Merchants Corporation.
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Retirement Support — Retirement programs include a 401(k) with employer match and an employee stock purchase plan that are presented as meaningful components of total rewards. These elements are highlighted as strengths relative to other benefit components.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off provisions include PTO, bank holidays, bereavement, paid parental leave, and paid volunteer time. These elements can help offset concerns about base pay in some roles.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave is explicitly offered and positioned alongside PTO and holidays to support family needs. This support contributes to a more balanced work–life setup.
First Merchants Corporation Insights
What We Do
First Merchants Corporation is the largest financial services holding company in Central Indiana, headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. The Corporation has one full-service bank charter, First Merchants Bank. The Bank also operates as First Merchants Private Wealth Advisors (as a division of First Merchants Bank). First Merchants Corporation’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market System under the symbol FRME. First Merchants offers customers broad financial services throughout locations in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan providing: • Commercial Banking (business) – checking, treasury management, card services, financing, loans, electronic banking, online and mobile banking. • Personal Banking (consumer) – checking, savings, CDs, mortgages, loans, IRAs, HSAs, online and mobile banking. • Private Wealth Advisors - trusts, investments, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, profit sharing plans, pension plans, cross-tested plans, cash balance plans, Flexible Spending Accounts, IRAs, SEP IRAs, and succession planning. First Merchants is committed to customers by: • Developing strong relationships. o As financial advisors – our professionals listen and provide solutions o The tenure of our professionals averages eight years, meaning you will enjoy continuity of service o We hire local professionals from the communities we serve • Customers benefit from local decision making. o Decisions are made faster o The process is streamlined, with each customer having a single point of contact. o Our financial professionals are empowered to develop tailored solutions. • The local communities we serve benefit from First Merchants’ involvement and support.
