Position Summary
The Team Leader - Settlement is responsible for leading the daily operations, performance, training, and service delivery of the Settlement team, including Settlement Coordinators and Fulfillment Officers. This role oversees file readiness, closing preparation, customer and lender requests, Closing Disclosure preparation, fulfillment tasks, queue management, phone coverage, and service level performance to ensure files are prepared accurately and timely for closing.
The Team Leader - Settlement is accountable for monitoring workflows, ensuring team members are meeting service expectations, identifying training needs, maintaining strong quality standards, and supporting a consistent and professional customer experience. This position partners closely with internal teams, clients, borrowers, lenders, closing professionals, and leadership to ensure settlement operations are completed efficiently, accurately, and in alignment with Equity National Title’s standards.
Summary of Essential Job Functions
Leadership & Team Development Responsibilities
- Lead, supervise, coach, and motivate Settlement Coordinators and Fulfillment Officers in the daily execution of settlement and fulfillment responsibilities.
- Monitor team performance, workload, attendance, schedules, and coverage needs to ensure business requirements and service level agreements are met.
- Pull, review, and share monthly team scorecards to monitor performance, identify trends, and support coaching.
- Create, maintain, and adjust weekly and monthly production schedules based on volume, capacity, staffing, client needs, and closing deadlines.
- Forecast and determine resources needed to complete settlement and fulfillment processes accurately and on time.
- Identify, create, and fulfill training needs within the team, including training related to settlement workflows, closing documents, customer requirements, lender requirements, payoffs, taxes, fees, and Closing Disclosures.
- Support career development for all team members through coaching, feedback, cross-training, goal alignment, and regular check-ins.
- Conduct regular employee check-ins and team meetings to review production, provide support, answer questions, work through live file examples, and communicate company updates, process changes, client updates, scorecards, quality trends, and training topics.
- Approve employee timecards and PTO requests and address overtime issues in accordance with company policy and department needs.
- Monitor staffing levels and escalate staffing, coverage, performance, or capacity concerns to the Director of Settlement
- Perform other duties as assigned by management.
Settlement Operations & File Readiness
- Oversee daily settlement workflows to ensure files are prepared for closing in accordance with company service level agreements, client requirements, lender requirements, and internal quality standards.
- Monitor work queues to ensure settlement, fulfillment, and closing preparation tasks are completed timely and accurately.
- Pipeline files that are not clear to close within expected timelines and coordinate with team members to resolve outstanding items.
- Oversee preparation and review of preliminary and final Closing Disclosures, settlement statements, disbursement documents, and related closing documentation.
- Ensure company fees, lender instructions, county recording charges, tax payments, payoffs, purchase adjustments, and other transaction figures are reviewed for accuracy.
- Monitor outstanding customer, lender, borrower, and internal requests to ensure they are acknowledged, tracked, completed, and followed up on timely.
- Ensure files are progressing appropriately toward closing, funding, and disbursement milestones.
- Research and escalate files that are delayed, at risk, out of SLA, or missing required documentation.
- Support timely resolution of scheduling conflicts, lender discrepancies, compliance concerns, documentation issues, and borrower or agent inquiries.
Fulfillment Oversight
- Oversee Fulfillment Officers responsible for monitoring work queues, ensuring file readiness, obtaining tax information, payoffs, invoices, and supporting documentation, reviewing fees and recording charges, performing file audits, and supporting timely closing preparation.
- Ensure compliance concerns, lender discrepancies, and complex file issues are escalated appropriately.
- Ensure Fulfillment Officers are cross-trained, supported, and equipped to adapt to changing responsibilities, workflow needs, client requirements, and business demands.
- Ensure tax information, payoffs, invoices, documentation, title updates, and other required items are requested, obtained, reviewed, and completed timely.
Phone Coverage, Communication & Service Delivery
- Participate in a weekly rotating after-hours phone coverage schedule to support closing agents.
- Ensure team members are answering phones, returning voicemails, responding to calls, and managing phone inquiries in a timely, professional, and customer-service-focused manner.
- Monitor phone coverage throughout the day to ensure borrowers, clients, lenders, agents, vendors, and internal partners receive responsive support.
- Reinforce expectations for professional phone etiquette, timely call handling, voicemail follow-up, and proper routing of calls to the appropriate team members.
- Monitor email requests and ensure they are acknowledged, responded to timely, and handled accurately.
- Ensure customer and internal requests are acknowledged within expected timeframes, with follow-up times provided when items cannot be immediately resolved.
- Ensure team members maintain professional communication with internal teams, external partners, clients, borrowers, lenders, agents, and closing professionals.
- Escalate communication delays, non-responsiveness, service concerns, or client-impacting issues to the Director of Settlement as appropriate.
- Partner cross-functionally with all internal departments and leadership teams to support smooth file movement and service delivery.
Production Control, Quality Control & Reporting
- Monitor production processes and adjust schedules, priorities, assignments, and resources as needed.
- Establish and maintain key process indicators, success metrics, and service level measures for Settlement and Fulfillment team performance.
- Track and review actions completed, queue activity, production numbers, quality trends, SLA performance, client measures, and scorecard results.
- Enter or provide team production numbers and operational updates to leadership as requested.
- Review quality control items, identify trends, and address errors with employees, clients, or internal teams as appropriate.
- Perform spot audits of files prior to closing to ensure accuracy, completeness, and readiness.
- Monitor payoff review, scheduling notes, recording fees, company fees, lender instructions, and required documentation for accuracy.
- Identify recurring quality issues, production gaps, workflow breakdowns, or training needs and implement corrective action.
- Prepare for and support monthly client calls, scorecard reviews, internal reporting, and leadership updates.
- Raise and address process or systemic issues through the appropriate channels.
Knowledge Management & OneNote
- Own and maintain the Settlement and Fulfillment team’s knowledge management system, including OneNote, job aids, training materials, process documentation, client-specific requirements, workflow references, and internal procedure guides.
- Ensure OneNote is accurate, organized, current, and accessible to Settlement Coordinators, Fulfillment Officers, and other team members who rely on these procedures.
- Document and communicate process changes, client updates, lender requirements, system changes, compliance updates, and workflow expectations in a clear and timely manner.
- Ensure team members know where to find current procedures and are consistently following documented workflows and standards.
- Review KMS and OneNote regularly to remove outdated information, identify missing guidance, and improve clarity for team members.
- Use knowledge management tools to support training, cross-training, quality improvement, consistency, and continuity across the Settlement and Fulfillment team.
Risk, Compliance & Security Responsibilities
- Ensure settlement and fulfillment work is performed in accordance with company policies, client requirements, lender requirements, regulatory expectations, and applicable industry standards.
- Support compliance with applicable settlement-related requirements, including RESPA, TRID, CFPB guidelines, lender instructions, and state-specific document requirements.
- Maintain internal controls that support quality, audit readiness, accuracy, confidentiality, risk mitigation, and service consistency.
- Ensure team members comply with all security policies and procedures to protect customer NPPI, company information, and company assets.
- Report any security incident, violation, suspected violation, or act of non-compliance with company security policies and procedures to management, IT, or the appropriate Equity contact.
- Identify operational risks, compliance concerns, workflow gaps, documentation issues, and recurring errors, and escalate or resolve them appropriately.
Skills
- Strong leadership capabilities and supervisory experience.
- Excellent organizational skills and strong attention to detail.
- Strong understanding of settlement, fulfillment, pre-closing, closing preparation, lender requirements, and closing documentation.
- Ability to train, coach, develop, and manage personnel.
- Strong knowledge of closing disclosures, settlement statements, lender instructions, title closing documents, payoffs, taxes, recording charges, purchase adjustments, and state-specific document requirements.
- Performance measurement focused, with the ability to establish, monitor, and communicate KPIs, production metrics, quality trends, and SLA performance.
- Strong phone, email, verbal, and written communication skills.
- Strong customer service skills and ability to maintain professionalism with borrowers, clients, lenders, agents, vendors, and internal partners.
- Ability to manage multiple queues, competing priorities, daily deadlines, and high-volume production demands.
- Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to gather and analyze information, identify root causes, and implement solutions.
- Ability to identify training needs, process gaps, systemic issues, and workflow improvement opportunities.
- Ability to work independently and effectively with minimal supervision.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive customer, client, employee, and company information appropriately.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office products, internal systems, title/settlement platforms, workflow queues, KMS, OneNote, and related department tools.
Minimum Requirements
- BS/BA degree preferred, preferably in business management, real estate, finance, operations, or a related field.
- Prior process management experience preferred.
- Prior personnel management, supervisory, or team leadership experience required.
- Experience in title, settlement, mortgage operations, real estate closings, fulfillment, or related operations preferred.
- Strong understanding of settlement workflows, closing documents, Closing Disclosures, lender requirements, payoffs, taxes, fees, and file readiness preferred.
- Ability to work flexible hours, including some evenings and peak business periods as needed.
Personal Qualities
- Professional demeanor.
- Ability to build and maintain strong client partnerships through responsive communication, effective follow-through, and consistent service delivery.
- Customer service oriented.
- Strong sense of ownership, accountability, and follow-through.
- Ability to participate effectively in a team atmosphere.
- Ability to lead, motivate, and support employees in a fast-paced production environment.
- Strong commitment to quality, accuracy, responsiveness, confidentiality, and continuous improvement.
- Proactive, solution-oriented, and comfortable addressing issues directly and professionally.
- Ability to adapt to changing priorities, client needs, system updates, and operational demands.
Pay: $52,000.00 - $78,500.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Employee discount
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Referral program
- Vision insurance
Location:
- Providence, RI 02908 (Preferred)
Ability to Commute:
- Providence, RI 02908 (Required)
Work Location: In person
