Branch Manager

An executive who is in charge of the branch office of a bank or financial institution. A branch manager is responsible for all of the functions of a branch office, like hiring employees, approving loans and lines of credit, marketing the branch, building a rapport with the community in order to attract business and assisting customers with account problems. A branch manager is also responsible for making sure that the branch's goals and objectives are met in a timely fashion.

Becoming a branch manager requires so much more than quantitative skills or the ability to crunch numbers. A branch manager should also possess strong sales, people-management and customer-service skills, because a branch manager’s responsibilities include developing and maintaining a good relationship with customers and employees.

The major educational requirement for the position of a branch manager is an undergraduate degree in finance or a related field. However, some companies are willing to accept a candidate with a non-finance-related bachelor’s degree as long as they have a master’s degree in a finance-related field.

Other skills that are implicitly required of a branch manager are diligence, the ability to pay attention to detail, prioritization and multitasking skills and strong analytical skills.