Position SummaryCEJJF seeks a senior leader for its lending and investment function. Reporting to the Executive Director, this position's portfolioincludes designing CEJJF's financial products, building its project pipeline, and underwriting and closing the transactions CEJJF originates on its own account. They structure the participation, co-lending arrangements, and partner channels that extend CEJJF's lending beyond its own balance sheet. They attract the private capital that funds deployment.
CEJJF was created to design innovative financing tools and products that compensate for the barriers to capital for frontline communities and disadvantaged businesses. As one of two senior positions reporting to the Executive Director, this person will help set the strategic direction of a growing institution and is expected to build and lead CEJJF's investment team as the balance sheet grows.
ResponsibilitiesProduct Design and Capital Strategy- Lead the design of CEJJF's financial products that address market barriers, including loans, guarantees, credit enhancement, and debt and equity investment structures.
- Bring CEJJF's current product set to market and carry it through its first cycles, including the residential, predevelopment, contractor, and municipal offerings now in development.
- Build and prove underwriting approaches that make a credit decision possible where conventional criteria may not be available, drawing on alternative repayment sources, cash flow evidence, and guarantee and reserve structures.
- Develop and execute CEJJF's private capital strategy, securing funding from banks, CDFIs, and institutional investors.
- Structure credit enhancement, loan loss reserve, and first-loss arrangements that enable private capital to lend alongside CEJJF.
- Negotiate co-lending, participation, and syndication arrangements with banks, CDFIs, and peer institutions.
- Build and maintain the financial models supporting cash flow, loss and pricing assumptions, and the deployment plan.
- Assess market needs, financing gaps, and product performance to set priorities for the development and evolution of CEJJF's financial products.
Origination and Partnerships- Grow the project pipeline through strategies to increase awareness and utilization of CEJJF's products among contractors, developers, project sponsors, and units of local government, and build the borrower, referral, and capital-partner relationships that generate qualified opportunities.
- Cultivate strategic financing partnerships with municipalities, counties, public agencies, and peer institutions, including fee-generating engagements.
- Negotiate and manage partner origination, underwriting, and servicing agreements.
- Direct the delivery of technical assistance that strengthens capacity of clean energy businesses and borrowers.
Underwriting and Transaction Execution- Conduct underwriting of CEJJF's loans and equity investments.
- Establish, develop, and maintain CEJJF's credit and investment policies and the procedures for underwriting and approving financial assistance required by statute.
- Originate, structure, negotiate, and close transactions in coordination with the Executive Director and external counsel.
- Recommend the allowance for credit losses methodology and the periodic determinations made under it.
Portfolio Management- Oversee CEJJF's portfolio management and risk strategy, including credit monitoring, covenant compliance, risk rating, delinquency and workout strategy, and asset management.
- Recommend the portfolio loss tolerance that follows from CEJJF's policies, objectives, and values.
- Establish CEJJF's approach to investment performance measurement, including the metrics and methodology used to evaluate financial, product, and portfolio performance.
- Define the requirements for, select, and implement CEJJF's loan origination and servicing systems, including the data standards and origination-stage data capture necessary to support portfolio reporting.
Leadership and Representation- Serve as a senior representative of CEJJF to financial institutions, investors, units of local government, and peer green banks, and track the market and clean energy finance developments that bear on CEJJF's strategy.
- Supervise assigned staff and help define and build CEJJF's investment capacity as organizational needs and resources evolve.
- Produce funder and capitalization materials in partnership with the Executive Director.
- Help shape CEJJF's organizational and programmatic strategy as a member of the leadership team.
RequirementsThe Ideal CandidateThe ideal candidate brings experience in both product design and loan originations. They understand underwriting in a mission-driven or community development context and know how to say yes to a borrower that a conventional lender would decline while identifying, structuring around, and appropriately managing underlying risks. They have raised capital and can build confidence in CEJJF's capacity and approach with financial partners, and they view deployed capital as an instrument rather than an outcome.
They are comfortable in a growing organization where they may be designing a product in the morning and walking a contractor through a loan application in the afternoon. They bring connections across the community development finance, clean energy, affordable housing, and public sectors, or the ability to build them quickly. They are comfortable working independently with limited direction from leadership.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in finance, business, economics, public policy, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience. Advanced degree or equivalent experience preferred.
- A minimum of eight years of experience in community development finance, clean energy finance, banking, or a related lending or investment field, including progressively responsible leadership experience.
- Hands-on credit underwriting and portfolio management, with a record of transactions closed and managed through repayment, including structuring and negotiating transactions alongside legal counsel.
- Proven success raising capital from banks, CDFIs, institutional investors, or public and philanthropic sources.
- A record of designing and managing financing products, credit policies, or underwriting frameworks, including products built for borrowers who fall outside conventional credit criteria, supported by strong financial modeling skills across unit economics, cash flow, loss, and pricing.
- Supervision and development of staff, including building organizational or functional capacity.
- Familiarity with the Illinois clean energy landscape, including the incentive and program environment created under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, Illinois Shines, and Illinois Solar for All.
- Demonstrated understanding of the barriers that frontline communities and disadvantaged businesses face in accessing capital, including how conventional collateral requirements, credit history standards, and underwriting criteria operate to exclude them.
- Working proficiency with Microsoft 365 and with the systems used to run a lending operation, including loan origination or servicing software, customer relationship management systems such as Salesforce, and project management platforms such as Monday.com.
Preferred Experience- Background in clean energy finance and green bank models.
- Working knowledge of Illinois communities and markets beyond the Chicago region.
- Depth in structured, guarantee, or equity investment products.
- Prior work with public sector counterparties, including units of local government and state agencies.
- Involvement in building or scaling a startup, growing, or evolving lending or investment platform.
- Success setting pipeline strategy and building partnerships that generate deal flow, and using market and performance data to direct where capital goes next.
Work Location & TravelThis role requires approximately 25% travel throughout Illinois.
CEJJF operates in a hybrid work environment. Employees based in the Chicago area are expected to work in person 1-2 days per week, while employees based outside the Chicago area are expected to work in person 2-3 days per month. Business travel and other required in-person work are counted toward these expectations.
BenefitsCEJJF offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support employees' health, financial well-being, and work-life balance. Benefits for eligible employees include:
- Four weeks of paid time off, in addition to paid holidays
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Company-paid life and disability insurance
- 401(k) retirement plan with employer contributions and matching
- HSA and FSA options
- Employee assistance and wellness resources
- Professional development opportunities
- Additional voluntary benefits and employee discounts
CEJJF also offers a flexible work environment that supports employees in doing meaningful work while maintaining work-life balance.
Priority Application DateApplications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. For priority consideration, please apply by
October 19, 2026. Interviews may begin before the priority application date, and the position will remain open until filled.
Our Hiring ProcessOur hiring process is designed to give candidates an opportunity to learn more about CEJJF, the role, and the people they would work with. Candidates selected to move forward can expect a three-stage hiring process that includes:
- An initial phone screen.
- An interview with a panel of subject matter experts.
- A final interview with the Executive Director.
Candidates will also be asked to prepare a response to a scenario-based prompt, which will be shared in advance and incorporated into one of the interview stages.
