In an effort to expand its wholesale lending channel, Total Mortgage Services, a Connecticut-based mortgage lender/broker, hired Michael Dimech as the company’s new head of operations. Dimech will be responsible for managing the operation of Total Mortgage by creating efficiency models and devising operation scalability. He will also focus on risk management and team building. Dimech joins Total Mortgage from Wells Fargo Mortgage Corp. where he served as sales loan administration manager. Before that, he spent nine years at CitiMortgage Inc. and held several operational and underwriting positions including vice president of operational risk and senior underwriter. “Michael’s extensive background in both operational management and underwriting processes will help balance Total Mortgage’s production growth and back office compliance as we expand our wholesale channel, TMS Funding and geographic footprint,” said John Walsh, president of TMS. Dimech will be based at TMS’ main office in Milford, Conn. TMS is a direct mortgage lender and mortgage broker. Since the firm’s launch in 1997, TMS has funded more than $6 billion mortgage loans. Write to Christine Ricciardi.