Senior Loan Officer

Department: Lending

Reporting to: Vice President of Lending

About Civic Builders:
Civic Builders is the nation’s leading nonprofit lenders and developers of public charter schools. Since 2002, the organization has invested more than $2 billion into over 100 schools, bringing high-quality educational opportunities to more than 55,000 students annually.

About the Position:
In partnership with the Walton Family Foundation, Civic created the Facilities Investment Fund (FIF) and invested over $355M to finance facilities for high-performing charter schools and networks, impacting over 20,745 students and their surrounding communities.

As the Senior Loan Officer (SLO) you will be responsible for originating, underwriting, and closing loans for approval to support high-quality charter schools with facility financing. The Senior Loan Officer will independently lead transactions through the underwriting and diligence process from intake through final approval, closing, and the transition to asset management. The Senior Loan Officer will represent Civic in the market as they source loans and will use their analytical skills and entrepreneurial energy to support charter school leaders as they navigate a financial closing and what may be their first real estate transaction.

The Senior Loan Officer will report to the Vice President of Lending in support of Civic’s national charter school lending platforms. The Senior Loan Officer will also support the Lending Leadership Team on strategic projects, process improvement efforts, and other corporate initiatives based on organizational needs.

Responsibilities:

• Loan Origination: Source loan and business development opportunities via network partnerships, charter conferences, and ongoing representation of Civic and the FIF. Manage a lending pipeline and portfolio supporting up to approximately $50M in annual loan deployment.
• Underwriting & Risk Management: Lead the underwriting of facility loans to support and develop high-quality charter schools, including diligence review, deal structuring, risk management, and relationship management with third-party partners. Exercise sound credit judgment and risk oversight across a portfolio of transactions.
• Credit Approval: Present loan recommendations to internal team and external stakeholders and manage the loan closing process.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Consistently provide excellent client service and maintain long-lasting positive relationships. Build and maintain positive professional relationships with prospective borrowers, stakeholders, partner organizations, and third-party service providers that will outlast any individual transaction engagement. Develop and contribute presentation-ready content for periodic stakeholder updates.
• Lending Process Optimization: Meaningfully contribute to the management and operations of the Lending Team. Contribute to ongoing efforts to establish and/or improve internal processes.

• You have a passion for our mission to support high-quality education options and financial access for under-resourced communities.
• You have a deep commitment to racial equity in practice and a drive to create equitable solutions with internal and external stakeholders.
• You thrive in environments where you can navigate conversations with stakeholders and forge lasting relationships with a variety of stakeholders such as other lenders, prospective borrowers, lawyers, real estate professionals, foundation staff, etc. with diverse experiences and backgrounds.
• You are a self-starter with a solutions-oriented and growth mindset. 
• You apply logic, reason and creativity to solve problems with imperfect or incomplete information.
• You are action oriented with demonstrated ability to use good judgment when making difficult decisions to drive results.

• Bachelor’s degree required. MBA, similar advanced degree or professional certification a plus.
• 5+ years of relevant experience with credit underwriting, financial analysis, and related operational analysis and/or related functions with relevant transferable experience 
  • Transferable professional experience may include roles in the following functional areas: asset management; new business development/originations; New Markets Tax Credits; technical assistance; and/or accounting/finance/budget roles where the candidate was directly responsible for building and maintaining a budget, generating quarterly reports, and financial projections.
  • The following employment sectors would provide strong foundations for this work: community development lending/finance organizations; charter schools and/or charter school service providers; affordable housing or other real estate developers; commercial or investment banks; private equity firms; and/or public finance professionals.
• Advanced quantitative expertise including advanced Excel modeling skills.
• Advanced project management skills, including experience managing and prioritizing multiple projects and portfolios with similar or competing deadlines.
• Excellent professional communications skills, both written and verbal - easily communicate credit principles and build partnerships.
• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time, will vary month to month

• Civic is located in New York City and has a hybrid, collaborative work environment. Local team members, and the Senior Loan Officer, work at least two days in our NYC office with telework the rest of the week. We will consider remote work for someone with sufficient underwriting experience.
• Civic Builders offers a competitive salary commensurate with relevant work experience, and may be adjusted for cost of living based on location. The salary range for this role is $146,850- $162,000. Actual salaries may be based on several factors including, but not limited to, a candidate's skill set, experience, education, work location and other qualifications.
• We want you to be well and thrive. Our excellent benefits package includes medical, dental, and vision coverage, up to 4% employer match 401(k), and generous PTO. 
• Additional benefits and perks include flexible spending accounts (FSA) and health savings accounts (HSA), short-term & long-term disability insurances, group term life insurance, commuter benefits program, 12 weeks paid parental/family leave, cell phone plan reimbursement and equipment replacement, professional development reimbursement, home office setup, and social and educational outings.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer:
Civic Builders is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes candidates from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Civic Builders provides employees with a safe and welcoming environment free of discrimination and harassment.

As an equal opportunity employer, we prohibit any unlawful discrimination against a job applicant on the basis of their race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, family or parental status, disability, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.

How To Apply:
We encourage you to apply even if your experience is not a 100% match with the job description; we will consider people from a variety of backgrounds and career experiences.