Associate Director - Agriculture Real Estate Lending Officer

Role Value Proposition: 

MetLife Investments is one of the largest institutional investors and asset managers in the United States, with nearly half a trillion dollars in general account and third-party portfolio assets invested primarily in investment grade corporate bonds, structured finance securities, commercial and agricultural mortgage loans, U.S. Treasury and agency securities and real estate and corporate equity.  A significant contributor to MetLife’s financial performance, Investments maximizes the company’s long-term economic value by investing in assets globally that support the company’s liabilities and produce a consistent stream of operating earnings.

Global Function: MetLife Investments’ Real Estate and Agricultural Investments Units manage a $62 billion portfolio of commercial and agricultural loans, and real estate equity investments. In addition to sourcing and managing these investments, the group is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with key industry contacts, including mortgage and leasing brokers, developers and property managers.  The Mortgage Portfolio and Equity Portfolio Units actively manage MetLife’s portfolio of mortgage loans and equity investments in office, apartment, retail, industrial, and hotel properties. The Portfolio Units are responsible for overall portfolio strategy, pricing, transaction approval and credit approval on new loans and the active management of the overall mortgage and equity portfolios. 

We are proud of the important role that MetLife has played in the financing of agriculture since 1917. The associates working in Agricultural Investments today are dedicated to continuing that tradition by providing flexible and competitive loan products backed by the resources of MetLife, a leading provider of insurance and other financial services. That’s why we are one of North America's largest private lenders to agriculture.

THE ROLE: 

MetLife’s Agricultural Investments is seeking an exceptional and experienced Agricultural Real Estate Loan Officer to originate loans and service an existing loan portfolio in Fresno and Madera Counties of California.

This Agricultural Real Estate Loan Officer position will be part of a team responsible for the origination and servicing of agricultural real estate loans in California.  

Key Responsibilities:  

• Loan origination
• Credit analysis & underwriting
• Real estate appraisal & property inspections
• Loan servicing/reporting/portfolio management
• Relationship management/marketing.

Key Relationships:

• Reports to: Regional Director, Head of Western Regional Office & Latin America, Agricultural Finance
• Key Stakeholders: Agricultural Finance Regional Directors, Head of Real Estate & Ag Operations, Ag Strategies Group, Loan Servicing team

Essential Business Experience and Technical Skills:

Required:

• 10+ years of experience with credit analysis and credit decision.
• 10+ years relevant experience with a proven track record of underwriting successful agricultural debt deals.

Preferred:

• Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, Business Administration, Finance, Economics, or Banking as well as any other related field of expertise; MBA or master’s degree a plus.
• Extensive agricultural lending experience, ideally including experience in core regional crops (e.g., nut crops, row & vegetable crops, dairy, livestock, wine & table grapes, citrus, and various other specialty crops).
• Strong credit and analytical skills, superior knowledge of lending principles, credit procedures, collateral and credit. 
• Proficiency in Word and Excel-based applications.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Strong relationship management skill set.
• Strong financial, accounting and credit analysis skills.
• Farm real estate appraisal knowledge.

Travel

15% Domestic

Business Category

Investments

Number of Openings

1