Senior Credit & Lending Manager

Community Housing Funding Agency (CHFA), is part of the Community Finance Group which has been operating since 2019. Together they are the leading lender to the community and affordable housing sector, on a mission to help address New Zealand's affordable housing crisis.
By bringing together debt capital markets, impact investors, the government and philanthropists, CHFA supports community and affordable housing providers nationwide. They combine market discipline with social purpose to invest in stronger communities and our country's future.
With over $500m of loans advanced nationwide and a current pipeline to grow over $1bn and beyond, this is a unique opportunity to be part of one of the fastest growing companies in the country with a social mission.

About the role

This is a newly created role reporting to the Head of Lending taking the organisation's most significant transactions from first conversation through to drawdown while deepening borrower relationships and supporting the next phase of growth. In addition, the role will progress the organisation’s special projects working directly with the CEO and SLT, which presents as an attractive opportunity to be heavily involved in shaping new initiatives which will drive the business forward and unlock positive social outcomes in our country.
  

Day to day responsibilities:

Lending origination and execution

• Own transactions end to end, from first conversation through to drawdown, with a focus on high value transactions
• Prepare and model credit papers, modelling loans across 10-to-25-year horizons
• Assess key financial ratios and interest cover (ICR), bringing sound credit judgement to recommendations
• Understand and manage lending risk, including ongoing monitoring and performance
• Support credit approval at SLT and Board level as required
• Act as a trusted, accessible point of contact for borrowers throughout the life of each loan
• Work closely across CHFA’s finance, legal and credit functions

Special projects and growth

• Help design, structure and build new lending initiatives and products, including business case development, establishment and execution

Why Join CHFA?

You will be joining a purpose-driven social enterprise where your lending decisions have a real and lasting impact on communities across New Zealand. This is a rare chance to own significant, complex transactions with genuine autonomy, work directly with the CEO and SLT on shaping new products and initiatives, and help build a lending function as it scales towards $1 billion and beyond. You will be part of a small, agile and collaborative team that treats its borrowers as partners, not transactions.
On offer is a competitive salary plus KiwiSaver, free onsite parking, professional training support, wellness support, team lunches and a genuinely supportive, down to earth culture.

About You

• Strong credit and lending experience gained at a bank or non-bank lender, with a clear understanding of credit processes and parameters
• Relevant work experience, through either or both:

- Property finance background, ideally including multi-unit residential and construction or development lending; and/or
- A property or funds management background with strong finance experience will also be considered

• Well-developed financial modelling and analytical skills, with the ability to build a credit paper from scratch
• Able to understand and assess construction and development risk (advantageous)
• A relevant tertiary qualification in finance, commerce, property or a related field (advantageous)
• Relationship-first and values-driven, genuinely motivated by CHFA's purpose
• Fast, clear-thinking and comfortable operating with high autonomy in an agile environment
• A strong, articulate communicator, credible with borrowers, advisors and investors alike