Same Mission, Different Uniform: Jake Harris Serves Clients and Country
11/5/2026 - By Rachel Ham - Stories and Insights
A typical week for Jake Harris may include client calls, inputting loan requests into nCino, mission planning, and medical readiness tracking. Half of these duties coincide with his job at SouthState Bank in Huntsville, Alabama. The rest come into play when he’s serving as one of approximately 170,000 soldiers in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Harris works as a sales portfolio specialist, where he’s an integral part of the credit analysis and underwriting aspects of commercial lending, as well as learning the sales side.
He runs the numbers for deals to help relationship managers determine the best course of action and, if a deal moves forward, aids the loan assistants with the nCino loan process. He’s also going on calls with the commercial relationship managers and engaging with clients.
“My role is to make the process more efficient and offer clients a quicker answer about their loan on the front end,” he adds.
Harris has enjoyed learning in his hybrid role but desires to transition eventually into a commercial relationship manager position.
One weekend a month, plus two weeks of additional training during the year, Harris trades in his business casual for a rucksack and boots. And he’s already received significant recognition.
Harris, currently a First Lieutenant, was commissioned into the Army Reserves in 2024 after completing Army ROTC at the University of North Alabama.
As a medical operations officer, Harris handles the logistics and administration that support the physicians providing medical care. He is tasked with mission planning, medical readiness tracking, preparing supplies, and managing maintenance.
He is currently assigned to a veterinary services detachment handling military working dog exams and conducting food safety audits.
The job isn’t always logistics and schedules. In summer 2026, Harris joined his detachment in a training exercise. He was assigned as the officer in charge for the range, during which his team ran the rifle range for all units attending the training exercise.
Under his leadership, roughly 200 soldiers completed training on the M4 Carbine rifle over the course of three days with no reported injuries. Leading a training event of this size as a junior officer is rare, Harris says, and the Army recognized his efforts with the Army Achievement Medal.
Harris is quick to share the honor with his fellow Soldiers.
On the surface, Harris’ two jobs couldn’t be more different. When looking at his goals, however, he sees common threads.
“In both areas, I am leveraging people and assets to make a process more efficient.”
SouthState supports team members with connections to the Armed Forces through its Military and Veterans Team Member Network Group , including participating in Wreaths Across America. Read more about Careers at SouthState.
