🚀 Operations Manager — Clever Closings

🌍 Location: Remote (United States - must be located in TX, FL, CA, GA, AZ, MI, NC, or SC)

💰 Salary: $80k–$90k base · $105-125k OTE

About Clever

Clever is a venture-backed real estate technology company on a mission to revolutionize the way people buy, sell, and manage real estate. We are at the forefront of innovation, combining cutting-edge technology with deep industry expertise to create seamless, efficient, and transparent real estate experiences.

We've built the leading online education platform in real estate and earned a 4.9 TrustPilot rating with over 3,800 reviews — helping consumers save over $210 million in real estate fees. If you're excited to play a key role at a company that transforms how people navigate their real estate journey, we'd love to hear from you!

About Clever Closings

Clever Closings is the title and escrow arm of Clever Real Estate. We close residential transactions across multiple states for home buyers, sellers, loan officers, and agents — handling title search and examination, title insurance, escrow, settlement, and disbursement under tight regulatory and underwriter requirements. Our work has to be fast, accurate, and audit-ready every single time.

Role Overview

We're hiring an Operations Manager to lead a team of 6–10 closers, escrow officers, and processors who carry our files from contract to disbursement. This role will report to our Sr. Director of Operations and serve as a critical partner across Operations, Compliance, and Product — helping Clever scale our title and escrow business across multiple states with speed, accuracy, and audit-ready quality.

The most important thing this person has to do is connect with the team in a real way. We need a leader people trust — someone who knows their names, their strengths, what they're working on, and what's getting in their way. This is a hands-on leadership role. You will coach individually, run the cadence, monitor live pipeline health, and act as the senior point of contact when underwriters push back or a regulatory question shows up. You are equally comfortable digging into the details of a stuck closing and zooming out to redesign a process that is no longer scaling.

Key Responsibilities

Lead and connect with the team

• Directly manage 6–10 closers, escrow officers, and processors across hiring, onboarding, coaching, and career development
• Run consistent 1:1s, huddles, and performance reviews
• Set the tone for a high-trust, feedback-rich culture where people feel supported and accountable

Drive performance and quality

• Own team KPIs (cycle time, on-time-to-close, fall-through rate, CSAT) and report to leadership
• Monitor pipeline health, balance workload, and serve as the senior escalation point
• Conduct routine file audits across title commitments, CDs, escrow ledgers, and wire instructions

Own compliance

• Ensure all files meet Federal and state-specific requirements — RESPA, TRID, CFPB, BSA/AML, escrow trust accounting, and applicable consumer disclosures
• Maintain alignment with underwriter requirements and ALTA Best Practices
• Investigate every compliance miss and convert it into a permanent process fix

Improve the process

• Identify workflow friction and partner with Ops and Product to improve playbooks, templates, and tooling
• Keep SOPs current and turn escalation patterns into systemic fixes

Partner cross-functionally

• Work closely with Agent Network, Customer Success, and Product to keep handoffs clean and the customer experience seamless
• Surface trends, risks, and opportunities early — with data and a recommended path forward

What Success Looks Like

In 3 months… You know every team member by name, strengths, and growth areas. Weekly 1:1s, huddles, and monthly reviews are running smoothly. A KPI dashboard is live and reporting to leadership on a regular cadence. You've worked enough live files to be the go-to escalation point the team can count on.

In 6 months… KPIs are trending in the right direction across cycle time, on-time-to-close, and fall-through rate. The biggest workflow friction points are documented, and at least two fixes have shipped. SOPs are written, current, and actually being used. Compliance is clean — no open findings, audits are buttoned up, and near-misses have been turned into permanent controls.

In 12 months… The team is hitting targets consistently and has built a culture of trust and open feedback. We've successfully launched a new market or scaled through a volume surge without dropping quality. You've identified and are actively developing 1–2 internal leaders ready for more. Cross-functional handoffs with Agent Network, Customer Success, and Product run smoothly — without you needing to be in the middle of every escalation.

Ideal Candidate

• A leader people want to work for. You build trust quickly, give honest feedback, and treat people like adults.
• Strong interpersonal skills. You interact effectively with team members, customers, lenders, agents, and underwriters.
• Organized. You manage multiple tasks efficiently and maintain order throughout the closing process.
• Analytical. You're comfortable in spreadsheets and BI dashboards, and you turn numbers into decisions.
• Calm under pressure. Closings don't always go to plan, and your team needs you steady when they aren't.
• A clear communicator. Direct without being abrasive, warm without being soft.
• A builder. You document, simplify, and improve the work — you don't just manage the status quo.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in title, escrow, settlement, or closing (residential resale) with 2+ years managing a team
• Hands-on across the full closing lifecycle — title through disbursement
• Strong knowledge of Federal and multi-state compliance (RESPA, TRID, CFPB, BSA/AML)
• Proficient in Qualia
• Strong communicator; comfortable in a fast-moving, remote, multi-state environment

Bonus Points

• Active title producer or escrow officer license (FL, TX, or others)
• Multi-state experience across attorney, escrow, and title states
• ALTA Best Practices certification experience
• Experience launching a new market or scaling a team during growth

What We Offer

💰 Salary: Base Salary: $80-90k, OTE: $105-125k

🏥 Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance

🌴 Paid Time Off: 18 days of PTO (increases with tenure) plus 10 paid holidays

📚 Professional Development: Annual budget for learning and career growth

🏝️ Tenure Sabbaticals: Paid sabbaticals to celebrate major milestones

🏡 Clever Product Benefit: Exclusive access to Clever homeownership perks

🖥️ Work-From-Home Stipend: Support for your remote workspace

💼 401(k): Retirement plan administered through Guideline

👶 Parental Leave: 6–12 weeks of paid parental leave

💙 Wellness Benefits: Free counseling sessions and optional weekly meditation

Equal Employment Opportunity Employer Statement:

Clever Real Estate provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.