Chief Lending Officer

About the Organization Women Venture is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to empower women to achieve their economic goals by building profitable and sustainable businesses that transform communities. We execute on this mission through providing clients access to business capital, coaching, and community. Our core values are to make meaningful change, engage with empathy, and persist boldly, and we seek out candidates who exemplify these characteristics.

EOE Statement We are an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. Women Venture values diversity of background and experience and encourages people from all backgrounds to apply for this position.

Position Title: Chief Lending Officer

Supervisor: Chief Executive Officer

Department: Lending

FLSA Status: Full time, exempt

Salary Range: $126,000 – 140,000

Location: Hybrid (60% virtual, 40% in person)

Must be in Minneapolis/St. Paul area

Applications will be accepted until September 18th, 2026. Phone screens will be conducted from 9/20 – 9/25. In person interviews will occur between 9/27-10/9 with an estimated start date by the end of October 2026.

Women Venture is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to empower women to achieve their economic goals by building profitable and sustainable businesses that transform communities. We deliver on this mission by providing clients access to business capital, coaching, and community. Our core values are to make meaningful change, to engage with empathy, and to persist boldly, and we seek candidates who exemplify these characteristics.

The Chief Lending Officer (CLO) provides executive leadership and strategic direction for Women Venture's lending function. The CLO is responsible for developing and executing lending strategies that expand access to capital, achieve loan production goals, strengthen lending partnerships, and ensure high-quality credit decision-making consistent with the organization's mission and risk objectives.

The CLO oversees lending strategy, credit policy, capital deployment, lending program development, and external lending relationships while providing leadership and accountability through the Director of Lending. This role serves as Women Venture's senior lending executive and primary subject matter expert on lending products, credit policy, market opportunities, and community development lending.

Working closely with the Executive Leadership team, Board of Directors, Loan Committees, investors, banks, and community partners, the CLO helps position Women Venture as a leading source of accessible business capital for entrepreneurs. The CLO collaborates with the CFO to align lending production goals with available lending capital and funding requirements.

This position emphasizes organizational growth, lending innovation, strategic partnerships, and responsible deployment of capital. The CLO is expected to lead with a commitment to equity, expanding access to affordable capital and fostering economic empowerment in underrepresented communities. This commitment, combined with the organizational value to engage with empathy, will be at the core of evaluating risk, implementing team procedures, engaging with volunteer loan committees, and supporting clients who need additional resources.

Develop and execute lending strategies that responsibly deploy capital, grow annual loan production, expand strategic partnerships, and advance Women Venture's mission of increasing access to capital for underserved entrepreneurs.

• Develop and execute the organization's annual lending strategy and production goals.
• Establish loan origination targets aligned with strategic and impact objectives.
• Monitor lending pipeline performance and identify opportunities to increase loan volume and client access to capital.
• Partner with Programs,…