Senior Director Model Validation

In this compelling leadership position, you will plan and direct the work of a team whose staff conduct theoretical and empirical research with public and proprietary data in all areas of mortgage finance business, including mortgage products and securities, borrower behavior, investment and hedging strategies, residential property valuation, macroeconomic models including housing prices and interest rate, financial valuation of finance assets and derivatives, economic capital, and stress testing. Additionally, you will coordinate operational activities of the unit through the support of your team.

THE IMPACT YOU WILL MAKE
The Senior Director Model Validation role will offer you the flexibility to make each day your own, while working alongside people who care so that you can deliver on the following responsibilities:

• Define the approach for applying mathematical, statistical, and econometric techniques to provide innovative, thorough, and practical solutions that support business strategies and initiatives and to conduct or assess ad hoc quantitative analyses, modeling, or programming using SAS, SQL, R, or Python.
• Identify and deploy data mining and/or statistical techniques to develop analytic insights, sound hypotheses, and informed recommendations, as well as identify opportunities to apply quantitative methods to improve business performance and/or resolve complex or unusual business issues.
• Integrate established company policies and industry-wide modeling practices into department processes. Ensure compliance across modeling projects.
• Ensure effective validation or testing strategies and assesses the quality and risk of model methodologies, outputs, and processes. Apply understanding of division and corporate strategic plans to interpret model results, monitor performance, and assess risks.
• Communicate technical subject matter to senior management clearly and concisely, both verbally and through written communication, such as white papers, review reports, or workpapers.

Requirements

THE EXPERIENCE YOU BRING TO THE TEAM

Minimum Required Experiences

• Bachelor degree or equivalent in a quantitative field such as Economics, Statistics, Finance, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Engineering.
• 8 years of relevant work experience, including developing or validating quantitative models.
• Experience with managing a team of quantitative analysts.
• Experience with retail loan products, home mortgage products preferred.
• Work experience at a large financial services firm (SIFI or GSIB).

Desired Experiences

• PhD in Economics w/ Econometrics focus, Applied Finance, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, or similar quantitative discipline.
• Advanced experience with model risk framework and oversight.
• Experience with credit risk models, loss forecasting models, and underwriting scorecard models.
• Advanced experience in econometrics, statistical inference and/or financial mathematics, including time series forecasting, stochastic processes, hypothesis testing and causal inference, hazard models.
• Experience with Allowance (CECL) and stress testing (CCAR) frameworks as applicable to modeling.
• Leadership or principal contributor experience in a model validation a large firm in the financial services industry (SIFI or GSIB).
• Deep knowledge of Fannie Mae's business operations and policies or that of the Secondary Mortgage Market.
• Expertise with machine learning and other modern modeling techniques including the use of big/unstructured data.

Technical Skills

• Expertise in using statistical methods, including: developing and testing hypotheses, using experimental design, and running linear and logistic regressions.
• Experience in the process of analyzing data to identify trends or relationships to inform conclusions about the data.
• Experience in model validation or model development.
• Ability to present information and/or ideas to an audience through clear and engaging visualizations.

Functional Skills

• Working with people with different functional expertise respectfully and cooperatively to work toward a common goal.
• Skilled in influencing, negotiating, persuading others and resolving conflict.
• Proficient written and oral communication skill in delivering complex technical information to diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated experience with stakeholder management and interactions with regulatory entities.
• Strategic mindset with clear understanding of business operations and insights related to risk modeling.
• Adept at managing project plans, resources, and people to ensure successful project completion.

Tools

• Skilled in SAS
• Skilled in Tableau
• Skilled in Microsoft Office
• Skilled in R Language Programming
• Skilled in Python object-oriented programming