loanDepot announced this week that Tammy Richards will join its executive team in the newly created role of chief operations officer for enterprise mortgage operations.

"As I help our industry move into the modern digital era, there is only one team I wanted to join," said Richards. "loanDepot—with its current positioning and recent launch of sister company mello Home to expand services for customers—is the best place to bring my expertise, and I'm thrilled to join the leading fintech team."

Richards, who has more than 30 years of experience has served as a C-level executive as the industry shifted into more contemporary times, the company noted. Richards has served in senior roles at Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and most recently Caliber Home Loans.

"Leaders like Tammy who truly understand how to blend technology and high-touch service are rare in the mortgage industry," said Jeff Walsh, loanDepot's chief operating officer. "She gets our vision of expanding to meet customer needs with new offerings beyond mortgage, and is the best person to drive tech-enabled process improvement."

Richards will report to Walsh and oversee about 1,600 of the company’s team members and be responsible for the growth and refinement of  loan production, as well as managing underwriting, processing, credit policy, funding/closing processes, and quality controls, the company explained.

Additionally, Richards will collaborate closely with loanDepot’s newly launched mello Innovation Lab—which houses 450+ developers and engineers—to simplify and improve the loan process, the company said in a press release.