Community Development Officer

Job Function –
Responsible for leading strategies to support the fulfillment of the bank’s CRA Business Plan in coordination with the Bank’s CRA Officer within the assigned market assessment area with a focus on low/moderate income borrowers in low/moderate income CRA assessment areas. Develops referral sources including realtors, homebuyer counseling agencies, builders, and branch bankers with an emphasis in non-profit institutions.

Job Responsibilities –

Establishes strategic partnerships with Community Development and Economic Development organizations that yield tangible CRA opportunities for the bank.

Identifies and supports community development lending and investment opportunities that:

• Provide affordable housing,
• Revitalize or stabilize underserved communities,
• Promote economic development for small business,
• Create jobs for LMI individuals,
• Provide social services to LMI individuals and communities.

Identifies opportunities to provide financial literacy training and engages/enlists the assistance of employee volunteers within the various sub-markets.

• Supports the Bank’s philanthropic efforts through charitable giving and employee volunteerism in the designated market area. Works closely with the Accounting department, Marketing Officer and CRA Officer to review the Charitable Giving budget and periodically assess areas needing additional contributions and provides recommendations.
• Supports the culture and brand strategies of market leadership Business Unit Leaders as well as Back Office department managers to coordinate and document employee volunteerism.
• Identifies assesses the financial service needs of LMI geographies; develops and implements strategies that help meet the credit needs via bank products and services with a targeted focus in markets where the CRA Officer has identified a need for additional resources to improve the outcomes of our efforts to meet the objectives to support the fulfillment of the Bank’s CRA goals.
• Increases the bank’s visibility and commitment to community development through outreach activities that engage all applicable areas, markets and departments of the bank.
• Identifies business development and partnership opportunities for the Banks’s business lines, i.e. the local chambers and small business lending consortia’s, community development organizations including for profit and nonprofit organizations, small home builders, and organizations that provide social services to LMI individuals and communities etc.
• Responsible for initial review, vetting, reporting and obtaining approval from the Investar Bank CRA Officer in advance of any expenditures and most importantly for tracking employee volunteerism so the bank can recognize individuals who make extraordinary effort and commitment to fulfill CRA goals.
• Assists with identifying non-profit service providers for CRA Community Impact grant funding and corporate sponsorships, including conducting the initial due diligence, as well as evaluating social impact of the service provided; assist the Bank’s CRA Officer with collection of additional data/documents as may be required for periodic regulatory review.
• Identifies financial literacy training and/or strategic partnership opportunities that would deploy Market employees across line of business and back-office personnel to volunteer and assist with the delivery this training.
• Supports various Retail and Commercial teams as well as the Bank’s CRA Officer, and Marketing Director with volunteer activities within the assigned assessment area(s), including monitoring the logging of volunteer hours, (CRA-related and non-CRA related).
• Identifies community development, volunteer or board opportunities for Regional Presidents, Commercial/Retail Market Managers and Back-office staff, including service on non-profit boards, finance committees, or in a development/grant writing for non-profit organizations.
• Ensures that own work is in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, policies and guidelines.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Education and Related Experience –

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience required.
• 5 years’ experience in banking, and/or non-profit work
• Previous experience networking with and generating loan volume form non-profit institutions

Skills and Abilities –

• Knowledge of affordable housing and economic development opportunities and programs (preferred)
• Superior communication skills (oral/written) and comfortable with public speaking.
• Ability to develop and maintain internal and external relationships.
• Ability to provide Financial Literacy Training classes.
• Work independently in a fast-paced environment with minimum supervision.
• Must have flexible schedule and be available to participate in outreach activities that will be conducted in the evening and/or on weekends.
• Travel required with occasional, overnight travel; valid Texas, Louisiana or Alabama Driver’s License is required.
• Proficient in MS Office products (Word, Excel, Power Point).
• Proficient in call reporting software
• Thorough knowledge of personal computers with intranet and internet access and office equipment operation.
• Thorough knowledge of lending principles, practices, rules, regulations, and sales.
• Knowledge of industry compliance requirements.
• Ability to effectively plan, lead and manage to assure successful completion of the departmental sales and service goals and bank objectives.
• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a diverse group of people including vendors and other bank employees.
• Ability to act independently and confidentially, using discretion and tact.
• Ability to analyze situations and recommend workable solutions.
• Ability to coordinate a variety of activities simultaneously and prioritize work.
• Ability and desire to work in a team environment.

Working Conditions and/or Physical Requirements –

• Ability to work under stress and meet deadlines.
• Ability to operate a keyboard if required performing the essential job functions.
• Ability to read and interpret a document.
• Ability to travel if required to perform the essential job functions.
• Ability to lift/move/carry approximately 20 pounds if required to perform the essential job functions. If the employee is unable to lift/move/carry this weight and can be accommodated without causing the department an “undue hardship” then the employee must be accommodated; hence, omitting lifting as a physical requirement