Director - Credit

National Equity Fund, Inc. (NEF), a leading non-profit syndicator of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), is seeking a Director of Credit to conduct a wide range of new business initiatives. The LIHTC program is the most important resource available today for creating affordable housing in the United States. NEF uses its extensive experience, talent, and resources to create sustainable affordable housing. 

The Director of Credit will play a key role in approving NEF bids for 200+ LIHTC projects/year, as part the NEF Credit team. Provide in-depth written and verbal analysis of sponsor and guarantor entities in a consistent manner that provides clarity in determining approval of LIHTC projects. Work in a collaborative team environment with Project Management, Originations, and Investor Relations departments.

Essential duties: 

•  Responsible for initial credit review of proposed LIHTC projects as part of a dynamic, interactive bid review process. Credit review will include an analysis of project-level underwriting criteria, sponsor and guarantor capacity analysis, investor-specific requirements and deal-specific characteristics to determine critical questions to be raised and addressed prior to bid approval.

•  Analysis of project-level underwriting criteria will include proposed operating expense budgets, market assumptions, required services and tenant targeting, subsidy programs, and rehabilitation scope of work, as well as other project-specific information, prior to bid approval.

•  Participate in initial credit review for investments via NEF’s non-LIHTC businesses, including solar credit investments, preservation loans, preservation equity and other business lines.

•  Utilize NEF’s database system during bid review process to request additional information and coordinate internal responses and signoffs.

•  Take initiative to coordinate outside of the database system, when necessary, with Investor Relations, Originations, and Credit to facilitate review of a project for bid and ensure projects can be ready to launch in a timely manner.

•  Work concurrently with Modeling Managers to troubleshoot technical issues for projects going through bid review.

• For each bid, evaluate previous NEF history with the developer to determine reasonableness of deal terms proposed by originator for the bid.

• Work with manager and Chief Credit Officer to review underwriting exception requests and determine reasonableness of investments prior to authorizing.

• Provide detailed launch memo for each bid with approved terms and language.

• Work on formalizing the bid review analyses, including deal-specific, developer-specific, and investor-specific terms and underwriting considerations.

•  Other duties as assigned.

The ideal candidate:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, real estate, or business; Master’s Degree desirable.

• At least 5 years experience in underwriting and/or structuring real estate projects including credit analysis. Specific knowledge of Section 42 projects required.

•  Experience in financial analysis of real estate developers.

•  Ability to produce accurate and timely information by self-reviewing work and meeting defined time deadlines.

•  Ability to exercise initiative, mature judgment, and work as a strong team player within a collaborative process. Ability to work effectively under time-critical conditions.

•  Significant Excel spreadsheet experience required.

•  Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills and ability to work in a team-oriented environment

We offer a competitive salary, along with a comprehensive benefits package.