Senior Loan Officer

Background:

Community Vision’s service area is Northern and Central California, with a focus on historically disinvested communities. Communities on the margins of opportunity deserve a trusted partner on their journey towards financial growth and stability. As a locally invested, collaborative partner in social justice and financial equity, Community Vision provides nonprofits, small businesses, and social enterprises with strategic investment and guidance deepening work, scaling impact, and strengthening our communities.

Community Vision’s Lending Department provides loans and New Markets Tax Credit financing, with an emphasis on achieving greater racial and economic equity. Our borrowers have made use of our financing to develop affordable housing, build and acquire community facilities, create economic development projects, support access to healthy foods, and strengthen their operations in order to make a difference in the lives of the communities that they serve.

Position summary:

Community Vision is looking for an experienced commercial lender for a vital role in our expanding economic development practice area. The Senior Loan Officer will be our lead commercial loan underwriter, responsible for structuring and negotiating loans, conducting thorough written credit analysis, and partnering with our Loan Administration team to ensure a high quality of customer service. The Senior Loan Officer will also apply their experience to developing loan products and processes to better serve small businesses and social enterprises. The position will also contribute to strategy development for this segment of our work, helping Community Vision to further define where our capital is most needed, and what types of borrowers we can best serve.

The ideal candidate is someone who understands the unique needs of small businesses owned by, employing, and serving under-invested individuals and communities. The successful candidate will be both a thinker and a doer, equally enthusiastic about assessing an individual borrower’s request and contributing to our strategy for serving this segment. Finally, the candidate should enjoy working in an active and expanding nonprofit and should be able to thrive in a friendly, cooperative, and fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities include:

Business Development (20%) 

• Guide potential borrowers through the application process, including screening against impact and credit guidelines, and ensuring application packages are completed thoroughly and on agreed timelines
• Clearly explain Community Vision’s lending products, process, and terms
• Cultivate and develop strong relationships with aligned partners

Commercial Loan Underwriting (60%)

• Determine borrowing needs and propose appropriate loan structures
• Determine repayment capacity by analyzing historical business and personal financial statements, and creating and analyzing financial projections, including traditional and Uniform Credit Analysis (UCA) cash flow
• Conduct comprehensive risk assessment, and industry and management analysis
• For real estate and construction projects, evaluate project feasibility and client’s development capacity
• Prepare written credit memorandums with detailed analysis and recommendations for terms and credit structure, following Community Vision loan policy and guidelines
• Present credit analysis for review and approval to Loan Committee or other appropriate levels of authority within Community Vision
• Work with the borrower and external parties through loan commitment terms and loan closing
• Assist the Loan Administration team with loan closing and ongoing monitoring activities 

Program Development (20%)

• Help to identify the borrower and product segments where Community Vision’s capital is most needed. Identify underserved areas of the market, and evaluate the fit with Community Vision’s capabilities and impact objectives.
• Actively contribute to loan product development, taking new loan products through a process from concept, to definition, piloting, and rollout.
• Actively contribute to loan process improvement, with the goal of continuously improving clarity and efficiency. Identify opportunities to incorporate industry best practice and emerging approaches, draft proposed changes to process, and help to document and train for team members. 

Candidates for the Senior Loan Officer position typically have /are:

• At least five to seven years of loan underwriting experience at a CDFI, bank or other financial institution, with a strong preference for formal credit training and significant commercial lending experience
• Ability to conduct thorough financial, industry, management, and project analysis of credit requests
• Solid financial skills required, including ability to develop and interpret financial statements and forecasts
• Strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills
• Customer service orientation, with a track record of applying initiative and interpersonal skills to solve problems for clients
• Committed to continuous improvement, comfortable giving and receiving feedback. Self-reflective and eager to learn.
• Shows initiative in accomplishing goals, and takes accountability for results
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent experience
• Valid California Driver’s License for required driving
• Ability to conduct site visits throughout Northern and Central California

Desired Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

• Formal credit training is a strong plus
• Hands-on experience working with underserved small business owners from systematically disadvantaged communities is a strong plus
• Prior work-related experience and knowledge of community development lending, including federal and state loan guarantee programs, is a plus
• Language ability in languages commonly spoken in our service area (such as Spanish, Chinese, or Tagalog) is a plus

Relationships: 

• Reports to Lending for Economic Development 
• Attends and participates in Loan Committee meetings
• Interacts extensively with the Lending team and staff/management in other Community Vision departments
• Interacts regularly with current and potential borrowers
• Communicates with referral sources
• Presents Community Vision to outside constituencies.

Hours & Location: 

• Full-time position, exempt
• Located in San Francisco and/ or Oakland; Due to Coronavirus/pandemic all staff are working from home until further notice
• Work hours will be predominantly during regular business hours, although occasional evenings and weekends will be required
• A flexible schedule may be accommodated 
• Out of area travel, and spending time away from home, is required for up to 5% per year

Salary & Benefits:  

Starting salary is $98,000-$125,000  depending on experience, plus an excellent benefits package including health, dental, retirement plan and three weeks vacation.

We realize that the impact of discriminatory policy, institutionalized financial neglect, and systemic racism have resulted in a deep sense of distrust felt among communities on the margins of opportunity, including people of color, folks of various abilities, genders and sexualities, and communities with low financial wealth. We believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.  

Community Vision provides equal employment opportunities to all employees, volunteers and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

All positions at Community Vision involve frequent use of a computer and telephone. This position at times, may need to lift boxes and equipment. Reasonable accommodations can be made to enable individuals with differing abilities to perform the essential functions of their position.