Sr. Associate, Commercial Real Estate

About Us

Since 1848, National Life Group has aimed to keep its promises, providing families with stability in good times and in bad. Throughout that history, we have provided peace of mind to those families as they plan their futures.

We foster a collaborative environment with opportunities for growth and encourage our associates to live our values: Do good. Be good. Make good.

Role Summary

As a member of the Commercial Real Estate team, you will support the management of a diversified commercial mortgage portfolio, contributing to asset performance, credit analysis, credit risk management, and portfolio monitoring. This role requires a hands-on professional who can operate across asset management, analytics, borrower relationships, and operations — supporting both investment outcomes and platform efficiency.

You will partner with senior team members to provide insights on portfolio performance, contribute to investment analysis, portfolio construction, and risk management, while participating in cross-functional initiatives that enhance scalability, reporting, and operational effectiveness across the platform.

This position currently offers an onsite work schedule, with the expectation that you are in the office four (4) days per week during onsite core days. Our current onsite core days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The work schedule type and core days are subject to change with advance notification and manager discretion.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the management of a large-scale CRE loan portfolio (multi-billion-dollar exposure across asset classes).
• Monitor loan performance including funding approvals, leasing activity, covenant compliance, and borrower requests.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for loan servicers, mortgage bankers and borrowers, proactively managing relationships and identifying opportunities to enhance asset performance.
• Monitor watchlist and REO assets and contribute to asset-level strategies that maximize recovery and value.
• Perform financial analysis, re-underwriting, and stress testing to identify potential risks.
• Contribute to quarterly reporting and valuation processes, including DCF modeling and market analysis.
• Assist in evaluating loan modifications, extensions, and restructurings and workouts including distressed scenarios such as foreclosures or note sales.
• Partner with legal, accounting, and servicing teams to support credit and risk-related activities.
• Design and maintain portfolio-level analytics, including stress models, KPIs, and performance dashboards.
• Provide actionable insights to support evaluation of credit trends, risk exposure, and portfolio performance.
• Support continuous improvement in reporting processes, automation, and data quality.
• Partner with originations to evaluate new investments, including underwriting, structuring, and IC memo preparation.
• Provide market intelligence and peer benchmarking to support investment decisions.
• Support execution of borrower requests in conjunction with 3rd party loan servicers including lease approvals, reserve disbursements, ownership transfers, and collateral modifications.
• Ensure integrity and accuracy of loan data across internal systems and reporting platforms.
• Participate in cross-functional initiatives across servicing, IT, accounting, and asset management.
• Identify and implement efficiency improvements (reporting automation, system enhancements, vendor optimization).
• Mentor and develop junior asset management professionals, providing guidance, training, and oversight of analytical work.
• Support hiring and onboarding of analysts and associates.
• Help build scalable processes and best practices to support team growth.

Minimum Qualifications

• 8 or more years Total Combined post-secondary education and relevant work experience: Bachelor’s degree and 4 – 6 years of related experience.
• 3 - 5 years of experience in commercial real estate asset management, lending, or credit.
• Proven ability to make meaningful contributions to a large CRE loan portfolio, underwriting, or financial analysis.
• Strong skills in DCF modeling, valuation, and real estate credit analysis.
• Experience with portfolio analytics, stress testing, or risk modeling.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally and drive initiatives to completion.
• Advanced Excel skills (financial modeling and scenario analysis).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with loan workouts, bridge lending, or transitional assets.
• Familiarity with commercial loan servicing or asset management platforms.
• Argus Enterprise certification or equivalent experience.
• Experience presenting to investment committee or senior leadership.
• MBA or advanced degree in real estate, finance, or related field.

AI Proficiency Expectations

All applicants are expected to:

• Leverage approved AI tools, where appropriate, to improve the efficiency, quality, and impact of their work.
• Stay curious and open to new AI-enabled ways of working.
• Exercise sound judgment by reviewing and validating AI-generated content.
• Maintain accountability for the accuracy, quality, fairness, and integrity of work products by adhering to National Life’s AI guiding principles.
• Use AI responsibly and in accordance with company policies related to confidentiality, data privacy, security, compliance, retention and intellectual property.

Benefits

Your benefits start day one and are flexible and customizable to your and your family’s specific needs. Check out the BENEFITS of a Career at National Life!

Base Pay Range. The base pay range for this position is the range National Life reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position taking into account the wide variety of factors, including: prior experience and job-related knowledge; education, training and certificates; current business needs; and market factors. The final salary or hourly wages offered may be outside of this range based on other reasons and individual circumstances.

Additional Compensation and Benefits. The total compensation package for this position may also include a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave), dependent on the position offered. The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in National Life’s discretionary annual incentive programs, subject to the rules governing such programs. If hired, the employee will be in an "at-will position" and National Life reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.