Leadership Team

Thomas G. Zernick is the Chief Executive Officer of BayFirst. Prior to joining BayFirst in 2016, Mr. Zernick served as Florida Market President for Stearns Bank, and as an SBA Product Manager for HomeBanc in Tampa. Before relocating to Florida, Mr. Zernick served as a Community Bank President and SBA President for Republic Bank in Michigan. Mr. Zernick received his BBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Robin L. Oliver serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer for BayFirst and BayFirst Financial Corp. Prior to joining BayFirst in 2018, Mrs. Oliver served as Controller for a financial institution in Kentucky, and for the first 16 years of her career, she served multiple financial institution clients in public accounting as an auditor with Crowe LLP. Mrs. Oliver is a Certified Public Accountant and received her BA in Accounting from the University of Kentucky.

Brandi N. Jaber serves as the EVP, Chief Production Officer for BayFirst. Ms. Jaber joined the Bank in November, 2017 and most recently served as the Chief Administrative Officer. Prior to joining BayFirst, Ms. Jaber spent over 17 years in various management roles in the residential mortgage industry. She has served as an executive team member for the past 2 years, leading numerous cross-functional initiatives. Ms. Jaber holds a BS in Finance from the University of Florida and an MBA from the University of Tampa.

Lewis Benner serves as EVP and Chief Credit Officer. Mr. Benner joined BayFirst in 2018 and previous to joining BayFirst, Mr. Benner served in leadership roles from multiple financial institutions. Mr. Benner’s experience includes serving as President and CEO of 1st Manatee Bank, EVP and Chief Lending Officer of Sabal Palm Bank, Community Bank President of Gold Bank, and President of Lancaster Region for Lebanon Valley National Bank/Fulton. Mr. Benner received his BA in Business Administration from Elizabethtown College.

Scott is a successful financial services veteran having served as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, and Chief Lending Officer.  Spanning more than 25 years, Scott has helped grow small and large credit unions and banks by strategically executing innovative ways to deliver lending solutions to customers, managing and raising wholesale funding, building, and growing large investment portfolios, and managing compliance and risk in all forms.  Scott is skilled in advising and preparing business leaders and owners for what to expect when they are pursuing working capital in the form of loans and investments.  He has prepared the presentations and sat at both sides of the table with business owners and numerous lenders and investors.  Scott holds an MBA from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Bowling Green University.
 

Thomas G. Quale joined BayFirst National Bank in 2018 and serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Lending Officer and Market President. Mr. Quale began his career nearly 40 years ago as a teller in his hometown bank in Wisconsin. He has since held various leadership positions at multiple financial institutions including Centennial Bank, Seaside National Bank and Trust, and LandMark Bank of Florida, amassing expertise in all areas of community banking and business development. Mr. Quale holds a BS in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
 

John Macaluso serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of BayFirst National Bank. Mr. Macaluso joined BayFirst in the fall of 2020 with 37 years of experience in information technology having served as Senior Vice President, Product and Market Strategy and Chief Technology Officer for Fiserv, Inc., Director of Information Systems for New York Yankees, and Vice President, Emerging Technologies for Kforce.com. Mr. Macaluso received his B.A. in Business Administration from the University of South Florida.