Director of Mortgage TechnologyDirect Mortgage LoansLocation: Remote; candidates local to the Maryland area are a plus
The OpportunityDirect Mortgage Loans (DML) is seeking an experienced
Director of Mortgage Technology to lead the systems, people, and technology priorities that support our mortgage business.
This is a hands-on leadership role combining technology strategy, team development, project execution, and deep mortgage technology expertise. The ideal candidate can set direction, create structure, partner effectively across departments, and step into the details when needed.
This is not a traditional infrastructure-only role or simply an Encompass administrator position. The Director of Mortgage Technology will lead our Technology team, own the technology roadmap, and help DML continue building a proactive, scalable, and measurable technology function.
Key Responsibilities- Develop and maintain a technology roadmap aligned with company priorities, mortgage production needs, compliance requirements, and available team capacity.
- Lead, coach, and develop the Technology team, including hiring, training, role clarity, project assignments, performance management, accountability, cross-training, and succession planning.
- Own the health and evolution of DML's mortgage technology ecosystem, with particular responsibility for Encompass configuration, workflows, business rules, custom fields, milestone conditions, templates, releases, integrations, reporting, and data quality.
- Establish a disciplined process for technology intake, prioritization, and change management to ensure requests are properly scoped, appropriate stakeholders are involved, and downstream impacts are understood before changes are implemented.
- Balance day-to-day production support with strategic initiatives, ensuring appropriate resources are dedicated to both immediate business needs and long-term system improvements.
- Evaluate new technology, upgrades, and vendor integrations based on DML's environment, operating costs, productivity needs, security requirements, and company goals, and present clear, objective recommendations to leadership.
- Identify opportunities to automate manual work, simplify processes, improve reporting, and provide leaders with better access to reliable information.
- Manage technology vendors and service providers, including contracts, pricing, invoices, renewals, service levels, product roadmaps, security reviews, and escalations.
- Ensure the team can diagnose and resolve application, integration, plugin, and user-level issues across the mortgage technology stack while addressing recurring issues at their source.
- Partner with Compliance and Operations on system configuration and technology needs involving disclosures, preapprovals, brokered loans, and other regulated mortgage processes.
- Coordinate with internal and external partners on access controls, vendor risk, information security, audit readiness, incident response, and business continuity.
- Maintain clear documentation, shared access, and cross-training to reduce key-person risk across critical systems and processes.
- Communicate releases, system changes, and process updates clearly and ensure affected teams receive appropriate training, documentation, and support.
- Provide the President and executive leadership with clear reporting on technology priorities, progress, risks, resource needs, vendor performance, and decisions requiring leadership involvement.
Leadership ApproachThe successful candidate will:
- Translate business needs into practical technical solutions and communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Build strong working relationships across Sales, Operations, Compliance, Finance, Human Resources, and executive leadership.
- Remain calm and practical when priorities compete, systems experience issues, or proposed changes require additional evaluation.
- Challenge requests when appropriate, clearly explain tradeoffs, and recommend better solutions while remaining approachable and service-minded.
- Delegate effectively, develop technical expertise across the team, and create clear accountability without over-reliance on any one individual.
Required Experience & Skills- 8+ years of progressive experience in mortgage technology, mortgage systems administration, or a closely related financial-services technology function.
- Demonstrated experience leading a technology team, including performance management, employee development, workload prioritization, and accountability.
- Strong knowledge of Encompass administration, configuration, workflows, reporting, and integrations, with sufficient current hands-on expertise to investigate issues and guide the team.
- Demonstrated success establishing priorities and balancing day-to-day technology support with longer-term strategic initiatives.
- Experience managing technology implementations, upgrades, integrations, vendors, and cross-functional process changes.
- Strong executive communication skills with the ability to explain technical risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations in clear business terms.
- Working knowledge of project management, information security, business continuity, data governance, and technology vendor management.
- Strong organizational, analytical, and interpersonal skills with sound judgment and a practical, solutions-focused approach.
Preferred Experience- Experience with Total Expert, nCino or SimpleNexus, Motivity, Jira, or comparable mortgage technology and project management platforms.
- Experience helping a mortgage organization scale its systems, processes, and technology governance while maintaining responsiveness to the business.
- Encompass Administrator certification or comparable demonstrated expertise.
- Bachelor's degree in technology, business, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
What Success Looks LikeSuccess in this role means:
- DML has a visible, prioritized technology roadmap with clear owners, decisions, and realistic timelines.
- The Technology team maintains strong service levels while increasing its focus on strategic and proactive work.
- Business departments engage Technology early enough to properly evaluate impact and implement changes effectively.
- Documentation, shared access, and cross-training reduce key-person risk across critical systems and processes.
- Technology investments produce measurable improvements in efficiency, reliability, employee experience, and/or customer experience.
Compensation & BenefitsThe anticipated salary range for this position is
$180,000-$220,000 annually. Actual compensation will be determined based on the candidate's experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job-related factors.
Direct Mortgage Loans offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical benefits through an ICHRA, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, a 401(k) plan, paid time off, and paid holidays.
Physical RequirementsProlonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
