LISC Hampton Roads

LISC Hampton Roads forges broad partnerships with community groups, local government, philanthropy, and the business sector in pursuing the creation of affordable housing, equitable economic growth, more racially just systems and policies, and increased community development capacity. For more information, visit our website at www.lisc.org/hampton-roads.

JOB OVERVIEW:

LISC is seeking a skilled and experienced individual with a passion for strengthening communities through effective and thoughtful lending, technical assistance, project management, and related activities. This position will be responsible for managing and expanding LISC’s lending pipeline in Hampton Roads through sustainable business development and loan originations. Primary functions will include identifying project opportunities; providing technical assistance to borrowers; vetting projects and assessing financing needs; determining resources; and developing key relationships and partnerships with public and private leaders in local markets. The Program Officer will successfully promote LISC’s mission and values to borrowers, grantees, funders and community partners.

This position is responsible for the sourcing, underwriting, and administration of all of LISC’s pre-development, acquisition, construction and other bridge financing loans provided for real estate and programs in Hampton Roads. This position is also responsible for evaluating, modeling, sourcing, and underwriting other LISC financial products and services that exist or may be developed such as SBA loans, charter school and healthy food financing, New Markets Tax Credits, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and patient capital pools.

Guided by National LISC requirements and credit committees, this position will continually manage and oversee the LISC Hampton Roads loan portfolios. Also, the position is responsible for providing technical assistance to nonprofit community development corporations on specifics of economic development, the housing development process, subsidy sources and other related fields. 

As part of the LISC Hampton Roads team, the Program Officer for Lending is responsible for contributing to accelerated redevelopment of targeted neighborhoods. The position reports directly to the Executive Director for Hampton Roads and will also assist in the development of new program initiatives, managing the LISC loan portfolio, and other responsibilities, as assigned. Launching of a Hampton Roads homeownership initiative will be one of the first programmatic goals of the position outside of lending-related activities. This position is an opportunity to take a broad leadership role in the community development sector.

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate cultural competency working with diverse communities and a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work. This is a full-time position based in Hampton Roads, requiring regional and occasional national travel.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Executive Director and other partners to develop a strategic approach to expanding lending and real estate-based transactions, designing new lending programs and creating related marketing, informational, and application materials.
• Build a pipeline of projects in such asset classes as affordable housing, community facilities, educational facilities, commercial developments, and economic infrastructure as well as small business financing programs to meet local needs and agreed upon lending goals.

• Serve as primary originator, including working with borrowers to assess feasibility, structuring the transaction, conducting due diligence and financial analyses, drafting credit memoranda, coordinating with LISC national staff, and presenting loan recommendations to LISC's national Credit Committee.

• Manage strategic relationships with for-profit and nonprofit financial institutions and local, state, and national governmental entities to support potential financing structures for LISC borrowers.

• As necessary, collaborate with other LISC staff to identify and secure capital resources from within and outside LISC, including philanthropic contributions and public subsidies.

• Compile and share best practices in community development lending and related policy and program areas from within the LISC community and from sources outside of LISC.

• Work with other LISC staff to identify and meet needs of community partners, for example by facilitating peer gatherings, convening and leading trainings, and providing technical assistance to build partners' capacity and improve access to resources.

• Represent LISC in local, national, and statewide associations and coalitions.
• Work with Executive Director to develop and implement a local lending strategy which responds to unmet needs in the housing, commercial, and small business markets and builds upon past successes and national programs.
• Serve as primary liaison to National LISC office relative to loan monitoring and portfolio management.

• Develop new financing partnerships for loan pools and blended capital investment strategies.
• Develop relationships with other local community development lenders and intermediaries in order to leverage LISC loans and grants.

• Under direction of Executive Director promote lending products & services by speaking at relevant events, sitting on panels, participating on task forces.
• Perform additional duties, as required.
• Work in a hybrid environment (in-office, in field, and remote telework).

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university. Master’s Degree in finance, business administration, urban planning, public administration or similar field preferred. (Additional relevant work experience may be substituted).

• Minimum 5 years of experience with multi-family and/or commercial real estate lending Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Exhibit strong familiarity with principles of affordable housing and commercial funding programs and mechanisms including local, state, and federal housing and community development programs including but not limited to low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC).

• Experience leveraging relationships with roles of architects, contractors, attorneys, syndicators, appraisers, environmental engineers, real estate agents, and other allied professionals in the development process and their impact on real estate lending analysis.

• Knowledge and experience with Hampton Roads community and organizations therein.
• Understand complex underwriting issues with respect to multi-family residential and commercial real estate development.

• Demonstrate familiarity with the economic, underwriting, land acquisition, political, and social environment.
• Demonstrate self-direction, creative problem-solving and successfully working simultaneously on multiple tasks and projects while meeting deadlines.

• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, particularly Microsoft Excel.
• Passion for the mission of LISC.

Compensation

LISC offers a competitive salary and excellent fringe benefits.