Chief Lending & Investment Officer

Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) seeks an experienced and talented Chief Lending & Investment Officer to strategically lead RCAC’s complex lending portfolio and engage as a thought partner with the executive team to advance RCAC’s mission at a time of unprecedented growth and mission impact. The CLIO will bring deep understanding of community development financing institutions, an enterprise-wide perspective to organization planning and decision-making, an engaging and collaborative approach to team leadership, and experience with rural communities.

Reporting to Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Chief Lending & Investment Officer (CLIO) is a new position in RCAC’s infrastructure and serves on the executive leadership team that includes the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Lending & Investment Officer, and Chief Impact and Policy Officer. Leading a team of 24, the CLIO will provide strategic direction in growing and implementing RCAC’s loans for affordable housing, water and wastewater infrastructure, community facilities, small business, household wells, and septic systems.

The CLIO will step into an organization with a reputation for excellence in the community development space, strong financial health, and a culture that values collaboration and innovation. In addition to leading a strong team, the CLIO will provide organization-wide leadership and contribute to decision making at a high level. Key priorities for the position include:

• Lending Leadership: Responsible for leading RCAC’s lending strategies as well as setting and meeting RCAC’s annual lending goals. Manage RCAC’s complex loan portfolio, overseeing the entire loan lifecycle from origination and underwriting to closing and servicing. Identify opportunities to design and implement new products to respond to market changes, community needs, and increased organizational capacity. Collaborate with the rest of the organization to maximize synergy and community impact.
• Strategic Leadership: In alignment with RCAC’s strategic goals for mission impact, develop and implement strategic plans, lending policies, and new loan products for the CDFI. Collaborate with executive team to expand the loan portfolio management to drive community impact.
• Capital Raise & Deployment: Support RCAC’s work to secure investment capital from government entities (e.g., CDFI Fund), banks, foundations, and private sources. Develop and manage investment strategies that effectively leverage capital. Represent RCAC on panels and at workshops regarding lending, loan products, community development finance, and underwriting. Assist and advise loan applicants by educating them on the loan process, responding to questions and requests and following up regarding incomplete documentation.
• Risk Management & Compliance: Identify, monitor, and mitigate loan portfolio risks. Monitor loan performance from closing through repayment, including managing delinquencies, restructurings, and workouts. Ensure compliance with internal policies, investor requirements, and federal/state regulations, including providing loan and impact data for various compliance reports and various funders. Maintain RCAC’s AERIS rating.
• Policy & Advocacy: Act as subject matter expert on RCAC’s lending activities to further RCAC policy goals and as a resource to RCAC’s Policy team.
• Relationship Management: Collaborate with the executive team and across RCAC to build opportunities for the loan fund to be one of multiple products and services that support clients and communities. Serve as a thought partner on the executive team, using an enterprise-wide decision-making lens. Represent RCAC at conferences and other meetings.
• Team Leadership: Lead and grow the Loan Fund team, ensuring high performance and continuous professional development.

RCAC uses a range of technology and software platforms to support its work including SharePoint, Unanet, Microsoft Office, Lanteria, Teams, and One Drive. The organization is converting to Abrigo (Sage Works), CLCS.

Successful candidates for this position will bring a…