Lafayette Square is an impact-driven, minority-owned investment platform. Founded by Damien Dwin in 2020, the Firm confronts critical societal challenges with capital and services in three core areas: housing, jobs, and financial inclusion. For more information about Lafayette Square, please visit lafayettesquare.com
Vice President/Director, CRE Underwriting
Reports to: Managing Director, Impact
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Job Summary**
The team is seeking a Vice-President / Director level, commercial real estate underwriting professional for Lafayette’s impact division, LS Impact, to play a key role the due diligence review and underwriting of commercial real estate transactions as they relate to Lafayette’s impact strategies. This is an opportunity to join the organization on the ground floor to build the infrastructure of a well-capitalized asset management company with ample deployable capital.
Responsibilities
- Assessing initial investment opportunities for affordable housing and commercial real estate transactions
- Conducting due diligence and underwriting of new investments across national markets, evaluating and modelling property level cash flows and completing extensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of project sponsors, tenants and markets to include credit and market risk
- Identifying and assessing project and property impact focusing upon affordability, sustainability, livability and equity
- Managing portfolio assets post investment
- Identifies, investigates and establishes risk mitigation strategies for credit concerns or questions
- Ensures all fund investments conform to Lafayette’s impact strategies and credit framework on a product-by-product basis
- Prepares investment memorandums summarizing transaction fundamentals, credit analysis and due diligence for new and existing commercial real estate transactions
- Works in tandem with the Managing Director to corresponds with regional field teams to obtain and clarify property and sponsor-related information for origination or existing portfolio management
- Works with regional acquisition teams to resolve credit-related issues during origination, review and closing processes
- Analyze data and create special reports for senior management
- Build relationships with subject matter experts internally and externally
- Receive, track and respond to informational requests from internal and external sources, coordinating with LS Impact leadership to ensure consistent and comprehensive responses. Informational requests will be completed quickly and accurately, position will work cross functionally with other team(s) to clarify
requests and manage client expectations when necessary
- Optimize existing processes for completing requests and gathering data. Contribute to the development of new processes and procedures ensuring the use of
approved internal technologies to the fullest extent.
- Contribute to the training and development of team members
- Assist with strategic initiatives of the Lafayette Square platform, including general firm strategy, technology adoption and implementation, and fundraising.
Requirements
- Experience: 6 – 8 years’ experience in progressively responsible roles in underwriting, acquisitions, finance and asset management. Experience with impact strategies is a benefit; experience with affordable housing is strongly desired.
- Strong academic credentials – Bachelor’s Degree is required. Advanced degree is strongly preferred.
- Deep experience in creating real estate investment packages, a sample credit / investment memo may be requested.
- Strong financial modelling skills for real estate transactions, a sample of modelling experience may be requested..
- Understanding of impact reporting under various impact report frameworks.
- Mature, responsible, and entrepreneurial qualities to complement the existing team.
- Must have demonstrated excellent oral, written, interpersonal, organizational and follow-through skills.
- Experience with and commitment to utilizing technology for streamlining processes, workflows and efficiency.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate cross-functionally to translate ideas into conception and ultimately execution.
- Must possess understanding of the job at the strategic as well as tactical levels. Must be able to work well with people at all levels of the organization.
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365 suite of applications (Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, SharePoint and PowerPoint), and Salesforce
Compensation
Competitive with market