Senior Small Business Loan Originator
Contrarian Thinking, Austin, TX, United States
The Opportunity
Contrarian Capital is a new loan brokerage under the Contrarian Thinking umbrella. We help entrepreneurs and small business buyers secure SBA and commercial financing for acquisitions in the $1-10M range. Our focus is SBA 7(a) and 504 loans, selected conventional term loans, and asset-backed facilities.
We are not a bank. We are a leverage advisory firm backed by one of the largest business acquisition audiences in the country. Our distribution engine includes Contrarian Thinking content, communities, events, and the Contrarian Academy, which coaches thousands of members on buying small businesses.
This is our first hire. You will be the person who builds the origination function from scratch, closes the first deals, and shapes what this becomes. If that sounds like a lot of ownership, good. That is exactly the point.
What You Will Do You are the Senior Credit and Structuring Lead. You own the full loan origination cycle, from initial borrower conversation through funded deal. In plain terms:
Run discovery and qualification calls with borrowers from our community pipeline. These are warm leads, not cold calls.
Structure deals and build underwriting narratives that get approved. You know SBA lending is as much about the story as the numbers.
Manage and expand a lender panel. You walk in with existing relationships at SBA preferred lenders and add to them over time.
Package and submit loan applications. You know what a clean package looks like and you do not send sloppy submissions.
Close deals. Target is 1 funded deal per month in Year 1 (12 total), ramping to 4/month by Year 2.
Build SOPs and playbooks as you go. Document what works so we can hire originators behind you.
Stand up the operational infrastructure: help select and implement the CRM, e-sign, secure document storage, and project management tools.
Coordinate licensing, compliance, E&O insurance, and any required state registrations. You have done this before or know exactly what it takes.
Help build a basic web presence (landing page, intake form) for Contrarian Capital. You do not need to be a designer, but you need to be willing to get scrappy and ship it.
Non-Negotiables These are hard requirements. If you do not meet them, this is not the right fit.
$50M+ in personal SBA 7(a) and/or 504 volume closed.
Not managed. Not supervised. Closed. Your name was on the deals.
Existing lender relationships.
You walk in with a working panel of SBA preferred lenders. You are not starting from scratch.
Underwriting narrative fluency.
You understand that SBA lending is about building a case, not checking boxes. You know how to position management experience, industry transferability, and projected cash flow in a way that gets to yes.
Small business sales instinct.
You have sold to owner-operators and entrepreneurs. You know they are emotional buyers, not institutional. You can build trust fast and move deals forward without hand-holding.
Entrepreneurial drive.
You have either owned something yourself or you have been itching to. You want to build, not maintain.
Who You Are Today You are probably sitting in one of these seats right now:
SBA Division Manager or Senior Loan Officer at a lender like Live Oak Bank, Celtic Bank, Newtek, Byline Bank, ReadyCap, or Seacoast Business Funding.
Independent broker doing $10-20M/year in volume solo with no marketing engine behind you. You have the expertise but need the distribution.
Business Development Officer at a regional community bank or SBA preferred lender. You are capped on comp and annoyed about it.
Former SBA lender now at a franchise financing shop (Benetrends, Guidant Financial, or similar) who misses real deal work.
The sweet spot: you are mid-career, you know the SBA playbook cold, and you are tired of making money for someone else. We have the distribution and deal flow. You have the expertise. That is the trade.
Preferred (Not Required)
Existing NMLS license or state-specific mortgage/loan broker licenses, or willingness to obtain them within 90 days.
Familiarity with NAGGL and the SBA preferred lender ecosystem.
Experience standing up a brokerage or lending operation from scratch (tech stack, compliance, SOPs).
Comfort with basic website and marketing tools (landing pages, intake forms, CRM setup). You do not need to be technical. You need to be resourceful.
Prior experience in franchise lending, acquisition financing, or working with search fund / ETA buyers.
This Role Is Not For You If
You are a pure banker who has never worked on commission or eaten what you kill.
Your pitch is 'I know a lot of lenders' but you cannot point to specific deals you personally closed.
You need more than 90 days to close your first deal with warm leads handed to you.
You want to build process before closing deals. Process follows revenue here.
You are looking for a title upgrade, not a career-defining build.
Why Contrarian Capital Most SBA closers are stuck at banks that move slow, kill good deals on technicalities, and cap their comp. You have probably watched deals die because your credit committee could not see what you saw in the borrower.
Here is what is different:
Distribution you cannot build alone. Contrarian Thinking reaches millions of entrepreneurs. Our Academy has thousands of members actively looking to buy businesses. You will never lack for deal flow.
Speed and autonomy. No credit committee politics. No six-layer approval chain. You match borrowers with the right lender and close.
This is not a job. It is a chance to build a business unit inside a fast-growing company from the ground floor.
A team that gets it. We coach people on buying businesses every day. We understand SBA, deal structure, and what it takes to get a deal across the finish line. You will not be explaining the basics.
Location & Commitment
Location:
Austin, TX — Full-time, in-office.
Employment Type:
Full-time.
Interested?
Send your resume, a brief note on why this is your move, and your best closed-deal story.
Contrarian Capital is an equal opportunity employer.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
We are not a bank. We are a leverage advisory firm backed by one of the largest business acquisition audiences in the country. Our distribution engine includes Contrarian Thinking content, communities, events, and the Contrarian Academy, which coaches thousands of members on buying small businesses.
This is our first hire. You will be the person who builds the origination function from scratch, closes the first deals, and shapes what this becomes. If that sounds like a lot of ownership, good. That is exactly the point.
What You Will Do You are the Senior Credit and Structuring Lead. You own the full loan origination cycle, from initial borrower conversation through funded deal. In plain terms:
Run discovery and qualification calls with borrowers from our community pipeline. These are warm leads, not cold calls.
Structure deals and build underwriting narratives that get approved. You know SBA lending is as much about the story as the numbers.
Manage and expand a lender panel. You walk in with existing relationships at SBA preferred lenders and add to them over time.
Package and submit loan applications. You know what a clean package looks like and you do not send sloppy submissions.
Close deals. Target is 1 funded deal per month in Year 1 (12 total), ramping to 4/month by Year 2.
Build SOPs and playbooks as you go. Document what works so we can hire originators behind you.
Stand up the operational infrastructure: help select and implement the CRM, e-sign, secure document storage, and project management tools.
Coordinate licensing, compliance, E&O insurance, and any required state registrations. You have done this before or know exactly what it takes.
Help build a basic web presence (landing page, intake form) for Contrarian Capital. You do not need to be a designer, but you need to be willing to get scrappy and ship it.
Non-Negotiables These are hard requirements. If you do not meet them, this is not the right fit.
$50M+ in personal SBA 7(a) and/or 504 volume closed.
Not managed. Not supervised. Closed. Your name was on the deals.
Existing lender relationships.
You walk in with a working panel of SBA preferred lenders. You are not starting from scratch.
Underwriting narrative fluency.
You understand that SBA lending is about building a case, not checking boxes. You know how to position management experience, industry transferability, and projected cash flow in a way that gets to yes.
Small business sales instinct.
You have sold to owner-operators and entrepreneurs. You know they are emotional buyers, not institutional. You can build trust fast and move deals forward without hand-holding.
Entrepreneurial drive.
You have either owned something yourself or you have been itching to. You want to build, not maintain.
Who You Are Today You are probably sitting in one of these seats right now:
SBA Division Manager or Senior Loan Officer at a lender like Live Oak Bank, Celtic Bank, Newtek, Byline Bank, ReadyCap, or Seacoast Business Funding.
Independent broker doing $10-20M/year in volume solo with no marketing engine behind you. You have the expertise but need the distribution.
Business Development Officer at a regional community bank or SBA preferred lender. You are capped on comp and annoyed about it.
Former SBA lender now at a franchise financing shop (Benetrends, Guidant Financial, or similar) who misses real deal work.
The sweet spot: you are mid-career, you know the SBA playbook cold, and you are tired of making money for someone else. We have the distribution and deal flow. You have the expertise. That is the trade.
Preferred (Not Required)
Existing NMLS license or state-specific mortgage/loan broker licenses, or willingness to obtain them within 90 days.
Familiarity with NAGGL and the SBA preferred lender ecosystem.
Experience standing up a brokerage or lending operation from scratch (tech stack, compliance, SOPs).
Comfort with basic website and marketing tools (landing pages, intake forms, CRM setup). You do not need to be technical. You need to be resourceful.
Prior experience in franchise lending, acquisition financing, or working with search fund / ETA buyers.
This Role Is Not For You If
You are a pure banker who has never worked on commission or eaten what you kill.
Your pitch is 'I know a lot of lenders' but you cannot point to specific deals you personally closed.
You need more than 90 days to close your first deal with warm leads handed to you.
You want to build process before closing deals. Process follows revenue here.
You are looking for a title upgrade, not a career-defining build.
Why Contrarian Capital Most SBA closers are stuck at banks that move slow, kill good deals on technicalities, and cap their comp. You have probably watched deals die because your credit committee could not see what you saw in the borrower.
Here is what is different:
Distribution you cannot build alone. Contrarian Thinking reaches millions of entrepreneurs. Our Academy has thousands of members actively looking to buy businesses. You will never lack for deal flow.
Speed and autonomy. No credit committee politics. No six-layer approval chain. You match borrowers with the right lender and close.
This is not a job. It is a chance to build a business unit inside a fast-growing company from the ground floor.
A team that gets it. We coach people on buying businesses every day. We understand SBA, deal structure, and what it takes to get a deal across the finish line. You will not be explaining the basics.
Location & Commitment
Location:
Austin, TX — Full-time, in-office.
Employment Type:
Full-time.
Interested?
Send your resume, a brief note on why this is your move, and your best closed-deal story.
Contrarian Capital is an equal opportunity employer.
#J-18808-Ljbffr