President & Chief Banking Officer — Forge Bank, N.A.
Houston, Texas, with regular presence at the Bank's Central Texas banking offices · Reports to the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
About Forge
Forge Bancorp, Inc. is a Texas bank holding company, headquartered in Houston, built by career bankers to own and operate a full-service national bank in the community banking tradition — local relationships, sound lending, and careful stewardship of customers' deposits. Forge is in the process of acquiring an OCC-chartered national bank in Central Texas with a long history, two banking offices, and a small loyal customer base; upon closing, the bank is expected to operate as Forge Bank, N.A. To that community banking foundation, Forge will add a carefully chosen set of regulated services for customers who own digital assets, such as Bitcoin — offered inside the bank, under the same supervision as every other banking product. Forge is backed by institutional investors. Every employee of Forge becomes an owner through equity participation.
The Opportunity
We are hiring the banker who will run the bank. The President & Chief Banking Officer is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Forge Bank, N.A. and — this is the heart of the role — personally leads the Bank's lending business as its senior lending officer. The President's first mandate is to build a high-quality loan portfolio: ranchland and farmland, agricultural, energy (power generation), commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and residential lending across Texas, alongside Forge's pioneering program of loans collateralized by digital commodities. The building will be done prudently — relationship by relationship, within a Board-approved risk appetite, and with the discipline of an independent credit function alongside.
The President oversees the majority of the Bank's employees through direct reports including the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Customer Officer & Head of Private Client Services, the Chief Product Officer, and the Commercial and Retail Lending Teams. The role serves as Vice-Chair of the Executive and Digital Asset Oversight Management Committees, sits on the Bank's other key management committees, and appears before the Board's Audit and Risk & Compliance Committees ex officio.
What You Will Do
- Build and lead the lending function: originate and grow the loan portfolios; recruit and develop the commercial and retail lending teams; own loan production, pricing discipline, and first-line portfolio performance.
- Run the Bank day-to-day: operations, service quality, efficiency, and execution of the Board-approved strategic plan, in close partnership with the CEO.
- Launch new products with discipline — including digital-asset-collateralized lending and the Bank's card programs — vetted through management committees and the Board before launch.
- Be the Bank's face in its communities: customers, civic institutions, and regulators, in both Central Texas and Houston.
- Champion a culture of safe and sound banking, fair lending, and accountability, while preserving the independence of the risk, credit, and compliance functions.
What You Bring
- Fifteen or more years in commercial banking, with at least ten in senior lending leadership (chief lending officer, senior commercial banker, market president, or bank president of a community bank).
- A demonstrated record of building loan portfolios in Texas community markets — commercial, CRE, ranchland and agricultural credit experience strongly preferred — with clean credit outcomes through a full cycle.
- Direct experience with OCC or Federal Reserve supervision, examinations, and Board-level governance.
- The temperament to lead bankers in a small, rapidly growing institution: player-coach, visible in the lobby, comfortable calling on a rancher in the morning and a fintech founder in the afternoon.
- Genuine curiosity about regulated digital-asset banking. Prior crypto experience is not required; sound judgment is.
- Bachelor's degree required; graduate banking school or MBA preferred.
The Practical Details
- The President will be based full-time at the Bank's head office in Houston's Galleria area, with regular travel to the Central Texas banking offices. No remote or hybrid arrangement will be considered.
- Compensation: target total cash compensation of $450,000–$700,000, comprising a base salary of $225,000–$350,000 and an annual performance bonus with a target of approximately 100% of base salary, plus equity in Forge Bancorp, Inc. under the 2026 Equity Incentive Plan, sized to the seniority of the role.
- Benefits: medical, retirement plan, and generous paid time off.
- Appointment is contingent on completion of customary background, credit, and fingerprint checks.
- Timing & regulatory approval. This role is tied to Forge's pending acquisition and will commence upon closing of the transaction. The successful candidate must participate in the regulatory approval process — including furnishing biographical and financial information and cooperating with any interagency notice or application through which the OCC (and, as applicable, the Federal Reserve) reviews the appointment of senior executive officers in connection with the change in control. The appointment is contingent on completion of that process and on the transaction closing. We estimate 4-5 months from now.
Forge is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
