Vice President, Climate Training & Capacity-Building

Background

Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) is the nation’s leading investment intermediary and network CDFIs serving rural, urban, and Native communities across the United States. With over $1 billion in total assets under management, OFN manages a national membership network of over 410 mission-driven lenders and CDFIs, including community development loan funds, credit unions, green banks, community development banks, minority depository institutions, and venture capital funds. OFN is a trusted investment partner to the public, private, and philanthropic sectors – foundations, corporations, banks, government agencies, and others. For more than 30 years, our team has helped partners invest in communities to catalyze change and create economic opportunities for people and places traditional finance doesn’t reach.

To learn more, visit www.ofn.org

People who work at OFN come from a variety of professional and academic backgrounds. If you have:

• Passion for the mission and true believer in our core purpose.
• Courage to be a fearless advocate who is confident and resilient in our fight to drive capital into low-income communities.
• Smart, quick seekers of knowledge who thrive on creating and developing new strategies, products, and programs for increasing capital to communities we serve.
• Desire to be a collaborative team player who possesses humility and a willingness to lean in all areas of our work.

Come be a part of our growing diverse, highly committed, skilled, and collaborative staff. At OFN, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive workplace, so if you are excited about this role but your experience does not align perfectly with every qualification, we encourage you to apply nonetheless. You may be the right candidate for this or other roles.

Summary

OFN seeks a collaborative and results-oriented professional with experience in climate lending and/or delivering programs and services related to climate finance solutions to lead the execution of climate-focused training and capacity-building for community lenders within OFN’s network. This is an exciting opportunity within OFN’s Development Services team to contribute to a new program and partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to transform the community development finance industry with new clean financing ecosystems.

This role will manage the implementation of OFN’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) technical assistance programming for its members, primarily related to its Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) award. Working closely with the SVP, Development Services as well as internal and external partners, the VP, Climate Training & Capacity-Building will build a team to lead the execution of training tailored to lenders with different levels of experience and monthly communities of practice; the buildout of a climate lending practitioner resource library; and development of content and programming for a new Clean Communities Investment Forum.

This position is based in Washington, D.C. All staff currently work a hybrid schedule.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the Climate Training & Capacity-Building team within OFN’s Development Services department.
• Lead project management of all Development Services CCIA-related program deliverables, including but not limited to, coordination and collaboration with internal teams, members, external partner organizations, contractors, and vendors to ensure climate lending training for OFN’s network and development of climate practitioner resource library are achieving program goals.
• Manage procurement processes for contractors and consultants to execute on climate training and capacity building programs; ensure ongoing compliance with policies and timely delivery of contracted deliverables.
• Lead and facilitate engaging climate trainings and programming for adult learners primarily in virtual settings, and in-person as needed.
• Support the development of customized climate lending training and resources for mission driven community lenders, including instructional materials, presentations, tools, product modules, case studies, and guides in a variety of formats.
• Curate climate lending content for breakout sessions at OFN events, particularly the new Clean Communities Financing Forum.
• Develop evaluation metrics and feedback mechanisms to assess the effectiveness of climate-related climate lending program offerings.
• Utilize and build expertise with a variety of digital platforms, including Cvent, Zoom, and Salesforce, to facilitate the activities of the Development Services team related to climate training and capacity-building programming.
• Assist with other activities of the Development Services team as requested.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or 5-7 years of work experience in lieu of a degree; master’s degree a plus.
• Minimum 5+ years of relevant experience is required, including at least 5-7 years of direct professional experience in climate finance and/or programs as well as project management.
• Experience in the development and management of projects, programs, products, and resources required.
• Experience in managing staff preferred.
• Experience in community development finance strongly preferred.
• Experience and expertise in presentation and educational platforms such as Cvent, Zoom, and Salesforce preferred.
• Experience in presentation and adult education skills such as public speaking, meeting facilitation, event design, curriculum development, training delivery, and technical assistance provision highly desired.
• Detail-oriented, with a focus on accuracy and precision in execution.
• Customer-focused mindset and solution-oriented attitude with a commitment to delivering a positive experience.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills required with emphasis on clarity, conciseness, relevance, and the ability to appropriately adjust for different audiences.
• Self-starter with experience prioritizing and managing multiple projects, assignments, and meeting tight deadlines.
• Ability to think strategically to adapt to evolving needs and work collaboratively and flexibly within a dynamic team to support the overall success of trainings and programs.
• Comfort working in a nonprofit environment preferred.
• Limited travel required <10%.
• Job involves normal physical requirements for an office position.

How to Apply

To apply, submit cover letter and resume here

EEO Employer – Disability/Veteran/Minority/Female/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

Supervisor: SVP, Development Services

FLSA Status: Exempt