Commercial Banking Associate Team Lead in Chandler, Arizona at WESTERN STATE BANK

Western is looking for an experienced Commercial Banking Team Lead who brings strong commercial loan processing expertise, a passion for developing people, and a commitment to delivering an exceptional experience for both customers and lending partners.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who understands the complexities of commercial lending and knows how to turn that knowledge into strong team performance. You’ll lead and develop a team of Commercial Banking Associates, help navigate complex transactions, improve processes, balance workloads, and ensure our lenders and customers receive accurate, responsive, and dependable support.

If you’re ready to take your commercial banking experience to the next level and make an impact through both people and process, we’d love to meet you.

You’ll create an environment where team members know what success looks like and have the support they need to achieve it.

• Lead, coach, and develop Commercial Banking Associates supporting commercial and agricultural lending.

• Establish clear expectations, priorities, and accountability while creating a positive and collaborative team environment.

• Provide regular coaching, feedback, and development opportunities.

• Support onboarding and training for new team members and continued development for existing employees.

• Monitor workloads and priorities to ensure work is distributed effectively and deadlines are met.

• Recognize strong performance and address performance or development needs in a timely and constructive way.

• Build cross-training and team coverage to create consistency and business continuity.

Your commercial loan processing experience will allow you to provide guidance when transactions become more complex.

• Serve as an escalation point and subject matter resource for commercial and agricultural loan processing and documentation questions.

• Review complex loan transactions and help ensure documentation accurately reflects approved terms and conditions.

• Provide guidance related to pre-closing, closing, funding, and post-closing requirements.

• Help the team navigate documentation, collateral, insurance, title, lien, tickler, and other loan processing requirements.

• Partner with lenders and internal teams to research and resolve more complex loan issues.

• Ensure work is completed accurately, efficiently, and in accordance with established policies, procedures, and controls.

Great commercial banking support is about more than completing a transaction—it’s about making the process easier for everyone involved.

• Build strong working relationships with commercial lenders, customers, and internal partners.

• Promote responsive communication and a strong sense of ownership across the team.

• Help anticipate lender and customer needs and remove roadblocks when possible.

• Ensure questions and issues are handled professionally, accurately, and with appropriate urgency.

• Create a culture where service, accuracy, and follow-through go hand in hand.

You’ll help us build processes that are not only effective today but can continue to support Western as we grow.

• Review workflows and identify opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency, controls, and the customer experience.

• Partner with leadership to develop and maintain procedures, job aids, and team expectations.

• Support process, system, and operational changes impacting Commercial Banking.

• Identify recurring issues, bottlenecks, or training opportunities and recommend practical solutions.

• Help implement changes and ensure new processes are understood and consistently followed.

• Partner across Commercial Banking, Loan Operations, Compliance, Risk, and other teams to solve problems and improve handoffs.

We’re looking for a leader who knows commercial lending operations and enjoys helping people perform at their best.

Required Qualifications

• 6–9 years of commercial loan processing experience, including experience working with complex commercial loan transactions.

• 2–3 years of management or people leadership experience.

• Strong knowledge of the commercial lending lifecycle, including loan documentation, closing, funding, collateral, and ongoing documentation requirements.

• Demonstrated ability to coach, train, and develop team members.

• Experience prioritizing and distributing work in a deadline-driven environment.

• Strong attention to detail with the ability to recognize potential documentation, process, or operational issues.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to handle confidential and complex information with professionalism and sound judgment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting both Commercial and Agricultural lending.

• Experience with LaserPro and other commercial lending or banking systems.

• Experience developing procedures, improving workflows, or leading operational changes.

• Experience working in a community banking environment.

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in business, finance, accounting, or a related field.

Lead by example. You’re willing to jump in, help solve a problem, and demonstrate the standards you expect from your team.

Develop people. You enjoy coaching others, sharing your knowledge, and helping team members build confidence and expertise.

Know the details without losing the big picture. You understand that accuracy matters, but you also recognize how processes, people, lenders, and customers all connect.

Create clarity. When priorities compete or a transaction gets complicated, you help the team determine what needs to happen next.

Take ownership. You follow through, communicate proactively, and hold yourself and your team accountable for results.

Look for a better way. You ask thoughtful questions and identify opportunities to make processes simpler, stronger, and more scalable.

Put relationships first. You build trust with your team, lenders, customers, and internal partners through respectful, responsive, and dependable support.

At Western, leadership isn't simply about managing the work. It's about developing people, strengthening relationships, and creating an environment where teams can do their best work.

As a Commercial Banking Team Lead, you'll have an opportunity to use the commercial lending expertise you've built throughout your career while making an even broader impact—helping your team grow, improving how we work, and supporting the relationships that drive our business forward.

Ready to lead what’s next?

Apply today to join Western as our Commercial Banking Team Lead and bring your commercial lending expertise and leadership experience to a team where you can make a difference.