Chief Credit Officer

About City First Enterprises

City First Enterprises (CFE) is a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides flexible financing solutions for projects including affordable housing, commercial real estate, small businesses, nonprofits, and clean energy initiatives. Based in Washington, DC, CFE primarily serves the DMV and wider Mid-Atlantic region and collaborates nationally to offer tailored funding options that promote economic empowerment for underserved communities and individuals.

Position Overview

The Chief Credit Officer (CCO) will lead CFE’s credit risk management, underwriting, and portfolio monitoring efforts. Reporting directly to the CEO and a member of the senior leadership team, the CCO is responsible for overseeing credit policies, underwriting criteria, approval systems, risk evaluation, and reporting on loan portfolio health to leadership and the board. This role aims to maintain high portfolio quality while facilitating responsible capital deployment aligned with CFE’s mission to support historically disinvested communities.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Direct all credit functions including policy development, underwriting standards, credit governance, and approval authorities.
• Align credit strategies and risk appetite with CFE’s mission, capital sources, and financial sustainability, working collaboratively with senior leadership.
• Monitor and respond to changes in market conditions, emerging risks, and sector concentration to recommend necessary credit guidelines and policies.
• Supervise underwriting quality and credit evaluation across diverse lending sectors such as affordable housing, commercial real estate, small business, nonprofits, and clean energy projects.
• Review and approve loan transactions, ensuring comprehensive and decision-ready credit memoranda emphasizing borrower capacity, project viability, and mission alignment.
• Provide expert guidance on complex credits, exceptions, workout strategies, and risk management practices to lending and portfolio teams.
• Maintain disciplined yet flexible credit standards including pricing, terms, collateral, covenants, and documentation to serve community needs effectively.
• Collaborate with external counsel and loan teams to guarantee all loan documentation and conditions are satisfied for funding.
• Lead modernization of underwriting by incorporating AI and advanced data tools to enhance credit analysis, automate routine tasks, and accelerate decisions with appropriate governance and oversight.
• Oversee portfolio risk through proactive monitoring of credit ratings, delinquencies, covenant adherence, and watchlist management.
• Conduct regular portfolio reviews, trend assessments, and stress testing to identify potential problems early.
• Coordinate with portfolio management and finance to implement allowance for credit losses (CECL) and ensure reserve adequacy.
• Manage troubled credits including workouts, restructurings, and charge-offs, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders.
• Lead credit committee functions, ensuring thorough preparation, clear decision documentation, and compliance with all policy and regulatory requirements.
• Prepare and deliver comprehensive credit and portfolio risk reports for leadership, board committees, auditors, funders, and investors.
• Partner across functions including lending, finance, operations, and impact teams to improve lending processes, credit tools, reporting, and staff credit knowledge.
• Demonstrate CFE’s values through sound judgment, transparent leadership, and a commitment to measurable community impact.

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of 10 years in credit and lending roles with at least 5 years in senior credit leadership involving policy and approval authority.
• Strong expertise scoped across credit underwriting, risk management, portfolio oversight, commercial lending, community development, affordable housing or real estate finance, or nonprofit lending segments.
• Proven ability to lead credit policy, underwriting, transaction review, and governance within a mission-driven or comparable institution such as a CDFI, loan fund, or community bank.
• Technical proficiency in cash flow analysis, borrower and guarantor evaluation, collateral assessment, loan structuring, covenants, and credit risk ratings.
• Experience in complex loan review and providing clear recommendations to credit committees, boards, funders, or regulatory bodies.
• Familiarity with CECL methodology, reserve management, and portfolio reporting.
• Interest or experience applying artificial intelligence or advanced analytics to credit underwriting with awareness of model governance, fair lending, and risk considerations.
• Strong analytical and communication skills, able to produce concise executive and board-level presentations and clearly explain intricate credit topics.
• Collaborative leadership approach fostering trust across multiple teams including lending, finance, operations, portfolio management, and impact.
• Understanding of CDFI Fund requirements and capital programs, with added preference for knowledge of clean energy and community facilities finance.
• Preferably experienced with Washington, DC and Baltimore urban markets or similar environments impacted by historic disinvestment.
• Deep commitment to CFE’s mission to increase equitable capital access for communities affected by historical discrimination and disinvestment.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience required; advanced degrees in finance, business, real estate, public administration, community development or related fields preferred.

Compensation and Benefits

The role offers a competitive salary range of $160,000 to $200,000 annually, commensurate with experience. Benefits include employee health, dental, and vision insurance; life insurance; health savings account with employer contributions ($2,800 annually for family, $1,400 for individual plans); retirement plan with matching contributions; paid time off starting with 16 days increasing after three years; 13 paid holidays; 7 sick days; paid winter break; disability insurance; paid commuter benefits; and professional development support. The position requires a minimum of two days onsite weekly in Washington, DC, with flexibility and occasional travel for meetings and events.