Director/Sr. Director, Structured Credit
National Life Group
Come join one of America’s fastest-growing insurance companies. Since 1848, National Life Group has aimed to keep our 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.
Our mission extends beyond the insurance and annuities policies that we offer. We strive to make the world a better place through our grants from our charitable foundation, paid volunteer time for our employees, environmentally sustainable and healthy workplaces, and events that promote the work of nonprofits in our own backyard.
We foster a collaborative environment with opportunities for growth and encourage our associates to live our values: Do good. Be good. Make good.
Director/Sr. Director, Structured Credit Analyst
About Us
NLG Capital, the investment management company of NLG, manages approximately $40+ billion in AUM. Our purpose is simple – to allow NLG to keep its promises. How we do this – an obsessive focus on delivering investment results. We drive results through a rigorous but collaborative investment process, and we hold ourselves to the highest of standards, both as investors and teammates. While our process is based on rigor, our culture is based on our guiding principles: Meritocracy, Uncompromising Transparency, Intellectual Honesty, Performance Driven Learning, Relentless Pursuit of Excellence. These principles serve as the foundation of our team. They govern the way we conduct ourselves, how we interact with teammates and how we approach every investment decision. We act with the integrity and humility required to make the investment decision that is right for the firm, and ultimately our policyholders. Our culture has been deliberately built to foster curiosity and provide opportunities to learn and grow, both as people and investors. The flat and collaborative nature of our team promotes an atmosphere where the best ideas are continually expressed and rewarded. Our pursuit of excellence is unwavering.
Please note that we do not offer visa sponsorship for this position.
NLG Capital is seeking an accomplished Director, Structured Credit Analyst focused on evaluating and underwriting investments in BSL and Middle Market CLOs. The successful candidate will have experience operating across the capital structure including mezzanine and equity tranche investing and will have demonstrated experience maintaining rigorous manager due diligence, underwriting, cashflow modeling, and monitoring processes. The candidate should have strong technical skills, be able to translate complex risk analysis into investment decisions. Experience in a buy-side role preferred.
Responsibilities
- Perform in-depth underwriting and analysis across both Broadly Syndicated Loan (BSL) and Middle Market CLO managers
- Develop and maintain a comprehensive credit and manager evaluation framework to assess CLO manager strategy, historical performance, risk profile, portfolio construction, and trading capabilities
- Conduct detailed transaction due diligence, including review of deal structure, collateral composition, documentation, cash flow modeling (Intex), and scenario-based stress testing
- Maintain and articulate market views on CLO relative value, structural risk, and capital stack positioning, identifying opportunities consistent with NLG’s investment objectives
- Establish and continuously refine underwriting guidelines; engage actively with Portfolio Management and the Investment Committee to communicate market insights.
- Design, implement, and enhance underwriting and governance processes, including quantitative and qualitative deal and manager scoring frameworks, ranking systems, and ongoing risk / watchlist management
- Perform ongoing surveillance and performance monitoring of existing investments, identifying early warning indicators and recommending appropriate repositioning strategies
- Engage with industry participants, including CLO managers, arrangers, and rating agencies; attend conferences and issuer meetings to stay current on market developments and regulatory trends.
- Develop and communicate asset-class insights and portfolio reporting to support firmwide strategic decision-making and transparency across the NLG investment platform
- Monitor credit, prepayment, liquidity, and market risk factors to inform portfolio valuation, risk management, and cash flow forecasting exercises.
- Leverage technical knowledge to automate cash flow, exposure, and risk analyses, enhancing efficiency and repeatability.
- Collaborate with technology and data teams to enhance internal structured credit databases, manager dashboards, and analytics infrastructure.
THE PERSON
Pivotal Experience & Expertise
- Bachelors degree in finance, economics, mathematics, engineering, or another quantitative discipline; advanced degree and/or CFA preferred
- 7-10+ years of relevant experience, with a minimum of three years directly focused on CLOs – ideally within a buy-side of asset management environment
- Demonstrated expertise in manager evaluation, structural analysis, and capital structure dynamics across both BSL and Middle Market CLOs
- Proven experience analyzing and making active investment recommendations in mezzanine and (preferably) equity tranches of CLOs, including return modeling, sensitivity analysis, and stress-testing
- Highly proficient using Intex and other cashflow modeling tools; experience using APIs preferred
- Working knowledge of programming / data analytics tools (SQL, Python, R) to support portfolio analytics and automation considered helpful
- Understanding of accounting implications and insurance general account investing preferred but not required
- Entrepreneurial approach and mindset, with a desire to be part of a dynamic, growing organization
- Deep intellectual curiosity and engagement as an active student of the fixed income and structured credit markets, maintaining awareness of market trends and manager performance
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex credit and market dynamics into clear insights
Cultural Fit
- Results-driven mindset
- Thrives in an environment where the best ideas that drive the best results are rewarded
- Has the integrity to communicate all relevant facts and information in evaluating decisions and the humility to admit what you do not know
- Love of learning – comfortable in an organization that seeks to continually learn from its failures and successes to drive better investment decisions
- Comfortable with ambiguity and the mentality required to address and ultimately own those ambiguous situations – finds answers and solutions
- Comfortable giving and receiving constructive feedback in both real time and structured environments
- Demonstrates transparent, direct, and open communication across the organization
- Promotes collaboration and has a “firm first” attitude – does what is right for the firm
- Commitment to our mission and values
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.
National Life is accepting applications for this role on an ongoing basis and the role remains open until filled.
National Life Group® is a trade name of National Life Insurance Company, Montpelier, VT – founded in 1848, Life Insurance Company of the Southwest, Addison, TX – chartered in 1955, and their affiliates. Each company of National Life Group is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations. Life Insurance Company of the Southwest is not an authorized insurer in New York and does not conduct insurance business in New York. Equity Services, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, is a Broker/Dealer and Registered Investment Adviser affiliate of National Life Insurance Company. All other entities are independent of the companies of National Life Group.
Fortune 1000 status is based on the consolidated financial results of all National Life Group companies.
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1 National Life Dr
Montpelier, VT 05604
