How To Become A Commercial Lending Vice President: What It Is and Career Path

What is a commercial lending vice president and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A commercial lending vice president generally oversees the handling of commercial loans. They develop and execute strategic plans for commercial lending that minimize risk and ensure that the commercial lending policies align with the company objectives. Commercial lending VPs also structure loan terms and fees, perform financial statement analyses, make approvals and recommendations for loans, and monitor loan activities.

A commercial lending VP reports to the Chief lending officer. They work closely with a team of loan officers and with executive managers to be able to efficiently carry out their duties. Commercial lending VPs usually work at banks and other similar financial institutions. A successful commercial lending VP should have in-depth knowledge of credit management, negotiation skills, communication skills, analytical skills, attention to detail, and organizational skills.

Commercial lending VPs usually work in an office setting. The role involves a bit of travel to meet potential clients.

ScoreCommercial Lending Vice PresidentUS Average

Salary

7.4

Avg. Salary $94,727

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.5

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.34%

Asian 7.30%

Black or African American 8.58%

Hispanic or Latino 14.51%

Unknown 4.15%

White 65.11%

Gender

female 18.34%

male 81.66%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

9.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a commercial lending vice president

Explore commercial lending vice president education requirements

Most common commercial lending vice president degrees

Bachelor's

78.1 %

Master's

15.3 %

Associate

4.6 %

Start to develop specific commercial lending vice president skills

Skills	Percentages
Loan Portfolio	11.34%
Financial Statements	6.91%
Business Development	6.79%
Real Estate Loans	6.09%
Commercial Banking	5.45%

Complete relevant commercial lending vice president training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New commercial lending vice presidents learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a commercial lending vice president based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real commercial lending vice president resumes.

Research commercial lending vice president duties and responsibilities

Establish and manage customer relationships, credit approval/recommendation, documentation, servicing of commercial, real estate, and SBA loans.
Manage a loan pipeline from origination through to settlement and funding in accordance with Bankpolicies, procedures and regulatory requirements.
Manage a portfolio in various stages of workout including liquidation, refinancing, restructure, rehabilitation, bankruptcy and litigation.
Expand commercial loan product offerings by establish bank with the SBA, enabling usage of SBA programs for loan risk mitigation.

Get commercial lending vice president experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a commercial lending vice president. The most common roles before becoming a commercial lending vice president include assistant vice president, vice president team lead and vice president and manager.

Prepare your commercial lending vice president resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your commercial lending vice president resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a commercial lending vice president resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable commercial lending vice president resume templates

Build a professional commercial lending vice president resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your commercial lending vice president resume.