Zoe Catherall, a Royal Air Force veteran, is set to begin her placement at the Brightstar Group.
The Mortgage Jobs for Heroes initiative, launched by Working in Mortgages and the Brightstar Group, has moved forward as Armed Forces Day marks the first service leaver scheduled to start a career in the mortgage industry.
The programme is designed to help service leavers and veterans enter the UK mortgage sector by highlighting transferable skills and offering structured routes into intermediary roles.
Earlier this year, the Brightstar Group and Working in Mortgages attended the National Transition Event at Silverstone, which brought in more than 1,000 service leavers, veterans and their families.
Since then, a database of interested candidates has started to build, with Zoe Catherall, a Royal Air Force veteran, set to begin her placement at the Brightstar Group.
Catherall will work alongside Lee Payne, national account manager, who also joined the company after serving as a regimental sergeant major in the Royal Engineers.
Mortgage Jobs for Heroes is looking for organisations in the sector to offer short-term placements, guaranteed interviews for job vacancies, permanent roles, apprenticeships and support for industry qualifications.
Payne said: “Mortgage Jobs for Heroes is not just about becoming a mortgage adviser or a business development manager – there are a wide range of roles within the industry that are well suited to service leavers.
“The sector offers opportunities across a variety of areas that align strongly with the skills developed in the forces, including marketing, sales, health & safety, facilities management, HR, and IT – highlighting that there is a place for a wide range of experiences and career ambitions.”
Clare Jupp, chief people officer at the Brightstar Group, said: “We have seen time and time again that talent does not always emerge through traditional recruitment channels.
“Therefore, the industry should continue to champion imaginative and unconventional routes into the mortgage sector.
“If we are serious about strengthening and diversifying our workforce for the future, we must be bold about where we look for talent.”
Stephanie Charman, CEO of the AMI, said: “Mortgage Jobs for Heroes is a fantastic initiative which seeks to broaden representation within the mortgage industry.
“This aligns perfectly with the stated objective of Working in Mortgages which is to make the mortgage industry a fairer and more accessible place to work and to do business with.
“The mortgage industry must continue to take a proactive approach to succession planning and workforce renewal and this new initiative will support that ambition.”
Charman added: “We encourage organisations to step forward and become part of this innovative project.”