Full-Time

Director Middle Market Direct Lending

Updated on 8/1/2026

MUFG

MUFG

10,001+ employees

Global bank offering diversified financial services

No salary listed

London, UK

In Person

Category
Finance & Banking (1)
Required Skills
Microsoft Office
Risk Management

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Requirements
  • Extensive experience transacting sponsor-backed leveraged finance transactions in lead roles in the United Kingdom middle market.
  • A strong network and ability to source deals in the United Kingdom middle market, particularly transactions with EBITDA of £20–50 million.
  • Experience working within a banking environment or a debt fund environment.
  • Practical experience leading leveraged finance or direct lending transactions in the United Kingdom market.
  • Expertise in sub-investment-grade credit analysis, cash-flow modelling, and documentary negotiation.
  • Existing relationships with private equity capital markets teams in the United Kingdom.
  • Excellent presentation and negotiation skills.
  • Degree-level education or equivalent experience.
  • Excellent communication skills.
  • A results-driven approach with a strong sense of accountability.
  • A proactive and motivated approach.
  • The ability to operate with urgency and prioritise work accordingly.
  • Strong decision-making skills and sound judgement.
  • A structured and logical approach to work.
  • Strong problem-solving skills.
  • A creative and innovative approach to work.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills.
  • The ability to manage large workloads and tight deadlines.
  • Excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
  • A calm approach and the ability to perform well in a pressurised environment.
  • Strong numerical skills.
  • Excellent Microsoft Office skills.
Responsibilities
  • Originate and execute private-equity sponsor-driven middle-market transactions consistent with the targeted sponsor framework, target size range, and specific geographic focus.
  • Act as deal captain to structure and execute term loans and unitranche facilities supporting private-equity sponsors’ leveraged buyout transactions.
  • Drive profitable deal flow from the private-equity middle-market community in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
  • Develop and maintain a strong network of private-equity relationships to originate business for the bank across middle-market direct lending and other relevant products, with particular focus on the United Kingdom market.
  • Work with private-equity sponsor coverage to identify target clients for middle-market direct lending that are not currently serviced by the bank.
  • Lead deal execution to ensure high-quality transaction delivery, risk management, and client satisfaction.
  • Negotiate terms and documentation for leveraged-finance transactions in the middle market in collaboration, where relevant, with Leveraged Capital Markets.
  • Support risk management of onboarded assets in partnership with the Leveraged Finance Portfolio Management team and drive incremental revenue and cross-selling opportunities for MUFG.
  • Work closely with internal stakeholders, including credit, sponsor coverage, leveraged capital markets, financial-institution coverage, corporate coverage, compliance, and audit, to promote the strategic mission of Leveraged Finance and maintain the team’s good standing within the bank.
  • Support the broader Leveraged Finance team leadership in managing and developing more junior team members.
Desired Qualifications
  • A relevant post-degree qualification, such as a Chartered Financial Analyst qualification, Associate Chartered Accountant qualification, or Master of Business Administration degree, is preferred.

MUFG is a global financial group that provides banking, trust services, securities, credit cards, and asset management to individuals and businesses. Its products work by offering loans, deposits, payments, investments, and asset management through a network of banks, digital platforms, and advisers. It differentiates itself by its large size, diversified offerings, and strong international footprint, including its U.S. expansion tied to the Morgan Stanley partnership. Its goal is to support economic growth worldwide by expanding its reach and promoting sustainable finance.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Tokyo, Japan

Founded

2006

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Strappa can deepen cross-sell across cash management, trade finance, and corporate lending.
  • MUFG’s 2.7 trillion-dollar balance sheet supports large working-capital and liquidity mandates.
  • Its global branch network enables coordinated local-to-global servicing for multinational clients.

What critics are saying

  • J.P. Morgan Payments sets the product benchmark, limiting MUFG’s differentiation.
  • Bank of America CashPro creates entrenched treasury lock-in across U.S. corporates.
  • Legacy compliance systems can slow API rollout and blunt real-time payments adoption.

What makes MUFG unique

  • MUFG combines Japanese megabank scale with a global transaction-banking franchise.
  • Valeria Strappa brings J.P. Morgan Payments and Citi modernization experience to Americas GTB.
  • MUFG’s Americas platform links transaction banking with lending, FX, and supply-chain finance.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Paid Vacation

Paid Sick Leave

Paid Holidays

Parental Leave

Professional Development Budget

401(k) Retirement Plan

Remote Work Options

Flexible Work Hours

Company News

Global FinTech Edge
Jul 21st, 2026
MUFG appoints Valeria Strappa to Head Global Transaction Banking for the Americas.

MUFG appoints Valeria Strappa to Head Global Transaction Banking for the Americas. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) announced on July 20, 2026 that Valeria "Val" Strappa will take the reins as Head of Global Transaction Banking for the Americas, overseeing the unit's operations across the United States, Canada and Latin America. Leadership change signals a strategic shift. Strappa arrives from J.P. Morgan Payments, where she spent almost a decade steering product-innovation and large-scale transformation initiatives across the Americas. Her résumé also includes senior stints at Citi, GE Capital and McKinsey, giving her a rare blend of fintech-centric product expertise and traditional banking acumen. At MUFG, she will be tasked with accelerating commercial growth, deepening digital modernization, and tightening collaboration between Corporate & Investment Banking and the broader transaction-banking ecosystem. What Global Transaction Banking does. Global Transaction Banking (GTB) bundles cash-management, trade finance, supply-chain financing, and digital payments into a single, data-rich platform that lets enterprises move money, manage liquidity and mitigate risk in real time. Unlike stand-alone payment processors, GTB solutions embed treasury-level analytics, foreign-exchange hedging, and cross-border settlement under one roof. For multinational corporations, that integration translates into fewer legacy system patches, lower transaction costs, and a clearer view of working-capital health. Why the appointment matters. MUFG's decision to place a fintech-savvy leader at the GTB helm reflects a broader industry pivot toward end-to-end digital finance. According to Gartner, "transaction-banking revenues are projected to grow at a 12 % compound annual growth rate through 2028," driven largely by demand for real-time payments and embedded finance. Strappa's background in scaling digital payment platforms positions MUFG to capture a larger slice of that growth, especially in the fast-moving Latin American market where open-banking APIs are gaining regulatory traction. Competitive context. MUFG is not the only global bank betting on GTB transformation. JPMorgan Chase recently launched its "Pay-Connect" API suite, while Citi has rolled out a blockchain-based trade-finance network that promises near-instant settlement. Bank of America's "CashPro" platform continues to dominate the U.S. corporate treasury space. Strappa's mandate - to fuse MUFG's deep financing capabilities with a modern digital experience - aims to differentiate the bank by offering a more seamless, API-first architecture that can rival the agility of pure-play fintechs such as Stripe Treasury and Square's embedded-finance stack. Implications for enterprise marketing teams. For marketers overseeing B2B fintech products, MUFG's move underscores the growing importance of data-driven storytelling. A GTB platform that aggregates transaction data can feed real-time insights into customer-relationship-management (CRM) tools like Salesforce or Adobe Experience Cloud, enabling hyper-personalized campaigns. Moreover, the integration of open-banking standards means marketing teams can co-create value-added services - such as dynamic discounting or supply-chain financing offers - directly within a client's ERP system, shortening the sales cycle and boosting cross-sell ratios. Future outlook. Strappa's appointment arrives at a moment when embedded finance is reshaping how enterprises think about banking. IDC predicts that by 2027, "more than 60 % of B2B payments will be processed through embedded-finance platforms." MUFG's push to modernize its GTB offering could accelerate that trend in the Americas, especially if the bank leverages its existing relationships with tech giants - Google Cloud for data analytics, Microsoft Azure for secure compute, and Amazon Web Services for scalable API delivery. The success of this initiative will hinge on the bank's ability to marry legacy compliance frameworks with the speed of cloud-native development, a challenge that many incumbent institutions are still wrestling with. Market landscape. The transaction-banking market is entering a phase of consolidation and digital disruption. A 2025 Forrester survey found that 48 % of CFOs consider "real-time cash visibility" a top priority, yet only 22 % feel their current banking partners deliver on that promise. Meanwhile, open-banking mandates in Canada and Brazil are forcing banks to expose standardized APIs, leveling the playing field for fintech challengers. In this environment, MUFG's strategic focus on digital modernization - backed by Strappa's fintech pedigree - could help the bank capture a larger share of the $1.4 trillion transaction-banking spend forecast for the Americas by 2028. Top insights. * Valeria Strappa's fintech-focused background equips MUFG to accelerate GTB digitalization, a key growth driver projected at 12 % CAGR through 2028. * MUFG's GTB platform aims to outpace rivals by integrating real-time cash-management, trade-finance and API-first services under one cloud-native architecture. * Enterprise marketers can leverage data streams to deliver hyper-personalized campaigns via Salesforce, Adobe and other CRM ecosystems. * Open-banking regulations in North and South America create a fertile ground for API-driven GTB solutions, positioning MUFG for regional expansion. * Success will depend on MUFG's ability to balance legacy compliance with the agility of cloud platforms from Google, Microsoft and Amazon. 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Kalkine Media
Jul 10th, 2026
MUFG acquires significant stake in Australian tech firm Megaport

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has become a substantial holder in Megaport Limited, an Australian technology company, effective 7 July 2026. The acquisition marks MUFG's strategic move to expand its presence in the technology sector. The development could influence Megaport's future strategic decisions and market positioning. MUFG's investment demonstrates growing financial sector interest in technology companies and infrastructure providers. The Japanese financial services group's stake in Megaport represents a significant cross-border investment in Australia's tech industry.

The Economic Times
Jul 10th, 2026
Shriram Finance taps foreign banks for cheaper debt

Shriram Finance is raising $1.3 billion through foreign banks including DBS Bank, HSBC, and MUFG to lower borrowing costs following a credit rating upgrade. This strategic move comes after a significant investment by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
May 26th, 2026
Movida’s $350 Million Offering and Concurrent Tender Offer | News | Cleary Gottlieb

Cleary Gottlieb represented the global coordinators and initial purchasers and the joint-bookrunners and initial purchasers in the offering of $350 million 9.7% notes due 2033, issued by Movida Europe.

The Economic Times
Apr 8th, 2026
Japan's MUFG Bank acquires 20 pc stake for Rs 39,618 cr in Shriram Finance.

Japan's MUFG Bank acquires 20 pc stake for Rs 39,618 cr in Shriram Finance. PTI Last Updated: Apr 08, 2026, 04:30:00 PM IST Japan's MUFG Bank has acquired a 20% stake in Shriram Finance Ltd (SFL) for Rs 39,618 crore, marking the largest cross-border investment in India's financial services sector. This strategic collaboration aims to leverage MUFG's global expertise to accelerate SFL's growth and enhance financial inclusion in India. New Delhi: Japan's MUFG Bank on Wednesday acquired 20 per cent stake in Shriram Finance Ltd (SFL) for Rs 39,618 crore. The transaction represents the largest cross-border investment in India's financial services sector. "This follows the approval by SFL's Board of Directors, at its meeting held today, of the allotment of equity shares to MUFG Bank through a preferential issue," SFL said in a statement. You May Like MUFG Bank has subscribed to 471,121,055 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 840.93 per share, with the total investment amounting to approximately Rs 39,618 crore, it said. The investment has been undertaken after obtaining all requisite regulatory and statutory approvals, including approval from the Competition Commission of India. Upon completion of the allotment, MUFG Bank will hold a 20 per cent equity stake in SFL on a fully diluted basis, it said. It further strengthens MUFG's presence in India and enables SFL to leverage MUFG's global expertise and capabilities to accelerate its long-term growth strategy, it said. The completion of this transaction marks a significant milestone for both MUFG and SFL, strengthening their long-term strategic collaboration and reinforcing their shared commitment to driving sustainable growth and financial inclusion in India, it said. SFL Executive Vice Chairman Umesh Revankar said this collaboration will open new avenues for innovation, enhance access to diversified and cost-effective funding, and support adoption of global best practices in risk management and governance. "The investment significantly strengthens our capital base and positions us to accelerate growth across key business segments. As we move forward, our focus remains on delivering consistent and responsible growth while creating long-term value for all stakeholders," he said. MUFG President and Group CEO Junichi Hanzawa said SFL is a leading financial institution in India with a strong business foundation and significant growth potential in the MSME and retail segments. "This investment represents an important step that underscores MUFG's long-term commitment to the Indian market, and we believe it will contribute to India's sustainable economic growth and the advancement of financial inclusion. Going forward, we will support SFL's sustainable growth by leveraging MUFG's customer network and experience cultivated through partner bank management," Hanzawa added. In December, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) signed definitive agreement to acquire a 20 per cent minority stake in non-bank lender Shriram Finance Ltd for Rs 39,618 crore (around USD 4.4 billion).