Senior Program Officer, Underwriting
Company: Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Location: Chicago, IL
Job Function: Community Outreach
Background
What We Do
With residents and partners, LISC forges resilient and inclusive communities of opportunity across America – great places to live, work, visit, do business and raise families.
Strategies We Pursue
- Equip talent in underinvested communities with the skills and credentials to compete successfully for quality income and wealth opportunities.
- Invest in businesses, housing and other community infrastructure to catalyze economic, health, safety and educational mobility for individuals and communities.
- Strengthen existing alliances while building new collaborations to increase our impact on the progress of people and places.
- Develop leadership and the capacity of partners to advance our work together
- Drive local, regional, and national policy and system changes that foster broadly shared prosperity and well-being.
Over the last 40 years, LISC and its affiliates have invested approximately $24 billion in businesses, affordable housing, health, educational mobility, community and recreational facilities, public safety, employment and other projects that help to revitalize and stabilize underinvested communities. Headquartered in New York City, LISC’s reach spans the country from East coast to West coast in 38 markets with offices extending from Buffalo to San Francisco and in 2,400 rural counties across 49 states and Puerto Rico. Visit us at www.lisc.org
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), is seeking a lending professional to join the Chicago LISC team. This is a full-time position based in Chicago, IL. Some travel will be required locally and nationally.
Summary
Background
A core function of LISC is its lending programs, providing varied loan products to a diverse array of project types. All loans are subject to oversight by LISC’s Lending Department. In 2021 LISC approved $200 million of new loan commitments. LISC is looking to continue this strong lending volume in the years ahead.
The Commercial Lending and Underwriting Senior Program Officer will be responsible for working with Chicago LISC staff to perform lending business development, loan originations and underwriting activities. The program officer will also be responsible for developing relationships with partners, lenders and small business to build a robust pipeline of small businesses that meet LISC lending criteria and ultimately become lending clients. Lending | Local Initiatives Support Corporation (lisc.org)
Responsibilities
- Create and support a small business lending pipeline including identifying project opportunities; providing technical assistance to local borrowers; initial vetting of projects and financing needs; and developing key relationships and partnerships with public and private leaders in local markets.
- Work with LISC partners on the full-cycle of activities related to business and real estate based lending and development, providing technical assistance and identifying appropriate LISC resources as needed. This includes assessing project feasibility and the financing request, developing financing strategies and helping partners access other forms of capital including philanthropic contributions and/or public subsidies.
- Manage relationships with other strategic partners, including for-profit and nonprofit financial institutions and local, state, and national governmental subsidy programs, that could support potential permanent financing structures for LISC borrowers.
- Work with the Executive Director and other partners to develop a strategic approach to support the growth of lending and real estate based transactions, create related marketing, informational and application materials.
- Coordinate between National Lending and local program staff through regular pipeline meetings and other channels.
- Gather information from prospective borrowers to support the underwriting process
- Perform analyses to evaluate financial capacity, project viability, and projected financial performance versus LISC loan underwriting benchmarks
- Prepare credit memo and supporting spreadsheet documents to be used in the LISC National loan approval process
- Present loan opportunities in local and national credit committee settings
- Responsible for managing the relationship with the client and continuing to provide the full range of resources available from LISC.
- Performs additional duties, as required.
Requirements
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university preferred.
- Minimum five (5) years of relevant experience in lending, finance, community development or related field.
- Familiarity with the small business ecosystem in the Chicago region as well as familiarity with city, state and federal financing programs available to support projects and business owners.
- In addition to or in lieu of small business experience, familiarity with project finance for commercial real estate and/or housing development finance.
- Knowledge of financing products such as predevelopment, acquisition, construction, bridge and permanent loans; lines of credit; working capital; and tax credit equity.
- Experience evaluating financial statements.
- Experience in underwriting loans preferred.
- Experience identifying financing opportunities and to creatively solve problems.
- Effectively work on multiple tasks and projects and prioritize a challenging workload.
- Work collaboratively with others.
- Excellent writing and verbal communication skills are essential.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, particularly Microsoft Excel.
Job Specifications
The position will be based in Chicago. Estimate 5% annual travel is required, nationally.
Compensation and Benefits
LISC offers a competitive salary and excellent fringe benefits.
LISC is an equal opportunity employer. LISC does not discriminate in employment on account of actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, military status or veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, protected medical condition as defined by applicable state or local law, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances.
We will endeavor to make a reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified applicant with a disability unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business.
LISC IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND JUSTICE
How to Apply
To apply please submit your application using this link: Senior Program Officer, Underwriting