Control Lead

About Us

Live Oak Bank is a digital bank that serves small business owners across the country.  Our groundbreaking spin on service and technology has fueled our mission to be America's Small Business Bank. Our products help customers buy, build, and expand their business, and our high-yield savings and CD products help them grow their hard-earned money.  At Live Oak, we never lose sight of the well-being of our people. We believe our employees are the heart of our company. Our commitment to our customers and culture is intertwined, and we seek those who embody and embrace what it takes to empower the American dream.

How This Role Impacts Live Oak and Its People

The Control Lead – Lending enhances the integrity of Live Oak's lending and credit-related financial reporting by embedding SOX and internal control excellence across key business areas. The role drives consistency in documentation, oversight, and evidence management for Commercial Lending, SBA, Credit, Allowance for Credit Losses (ACL), and Special Assets Group (SAG) processes. By partnering closely with credit and lending leadership, the Control Lead fosters a culture of ownership, transparency, and proactive risk management that directly supports the bank's mission to lend to small business owners responsibly and sustainably.

This position may be based on-site or remote. For remote employees, periodic travel to Live Oak offices may be required for walkthroughs, audits, training, and collaboration sessions.

What You'll Do at Live Oak

• Partner with business unit leaders and control owners to ensure key controls are designed effectively, documented accurately, and updated for process/system changes utilizing the RCSA process

• Coordinate SOX walkthroughs and maintain updated narratives, flowcharts, and risk/control matrices for Lending, Credit, Allowance for Credit Losses (ACL), and Special Assets Group (SAG) processes

• Monitor control performance within lending and credit operations, ensuring timely evidence collection and readiness for internal and external auditor reviews

• Track and support remediation efforts for deficiencies, including root cause analysis, documentation of corrective actions, and status reporting

• Prepare periodic updates for the Head of SOX on control issues, remediation progress, and emerging risks in lending and credit areas

• Train and coach process/control owners on SOX responsibilities, documentation standards, and evidence expectations

• Liaise with external auditors during walkthroughs and testing by facilitating requests, gathering documentation, and clarifying process questions.

• Work closely with control owners to act as the lead for identification and reporting new self-identified control issues.

• Identify opportunities to streamline controls, eliminate redundancies, and improve efficiency within the lending control framework.

• Act as the "SOX Champion" within Lending, promoting a strong control culture and operational ownership.

• Assist in performing monitoring activities over lending and credit processes.

Additional Areas of Impact:

• Risk Management & Controls Culture: Act as a risk champion within Lending and Credit functions, supporting RCSAs and RAM reporting, and promoting awareness of operational and compliance risks beyond SOX

• Process Improvement: Partner with Operations Excellence, Data, and Credit teams to improve control design, workflow efficiency, and evidence automation

• Audit & Regulatory Exam Readiness: Coordinate internal audit and regulatory exam requests (FDIC, SEC, State Regulators) to ensure readiness and consistency across lending lines

• Project & Change Management: Participate in new lending product launches or credit policy changes to assess control impacts and ensure SOX implications are addressed proactively

• Coordination Across Lines of Defense: Serve as a liaison between first-line lending operations, second-line risk/compliance, and third-line audit teams

• Technical & Accounting Insight: Provide support and guidance on Allowance for Credit Losses (ACL)-related financial reporting controls, modeling governance, and data integrity considerations

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field​

• 5–10 years of experience performing public company audits of financial institutions, with emphasis on lending, credit, or Allowance for Credit Losses (ACL)-related areas

• Strong understanding of internal control frameworks (COSO), SOX requirements, and lending/credit processes

• Excellent relationship management skills with the ability to collaborate across senior leadership and multiple departments

• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities and execute in a fast-paced, dynamic environment

Preferred Experience

• CPA or CIA certification

• Experience with Allowance for Credit Losses (ACL), credit modeling governance, or CECL-related control design

• Prior experience in SOX program management, internal audit, or regulatory examinations

• Familiarity with Workiva, , or similar workflow/documentation tools

• Familiarity with Python or Python Models

Our Values

• Dedication: Possess a deep commitment to Live Oak Bank's mission and core values, exemplified through a strong work ethic, adaptability and pride in your work.

• Ownership: Take initiative to deliver positive results by proactively and creatively solving problems, while maintaining a high degree of quality.

• Respect: Treat everyone with courtesy, politeness, and kindness.

• Innovation: Embrace fresh ideas and fearlessly contribute new solutions to emerging or existing problems.

• Teamwork: Foster collaboration, accountability, and trust with others and understand that together, we do more

For a detailed overview of our employee benefits please visit: 

Live Oak Bank is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer, Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled. We consider applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, veteran status or disability. Equal access to programs, service and employment is available to all persons. Those applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application and/or interview process should notify human resources at 

EEO is the Law

The base pay range for this position is $125, $175,000.00 per year. Compensation may also include annual bonuses and long-term incentives, subject to various metrics and company policy. A candidate's salary is determined by several factors including travel, relevant work experience or skills and expertise.

Please note that we provide at least the minimum requirement of paid sick leave to our employees who reside in states that require employer-paid sick leave, including but not limited to Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.   

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