Innovative Finance Senior Specialist

About Us 

Grounded Solutions Network is a national nonprofit dedicated to shaping communities to be equitable, inclusive, and filled with opportunity for all. Where we live matters. It determines what opportunities we have and how our kids grow up. Everyone should be able to live in a place that offers opportunity: access to jobs, parks, public transit, quality schools and stable homes. Strong and inclusive communities provide the foundation that people and families need to thrive, both in the present and for future generations.

As a national membership organization, we support nonprofit and government practitioners, community resident leaders, advocates, elected officials, and other housing professionals with the tools and knowledge they need for success. We promote the creation and preservation of quality housing that remains affordable for generations. Our work specifically targets creating and expanding housing with lasting affordability, using a racial equity lens.

Grounded Solutions Network is committed to fostering an organizational culture rooted in critical thinking and consciousness about race and class. We seek candidates who are dedicated to achieving racial equity as both a process and outcome. We are committed to building a staff team that is as racially and culturally diverse as the communities that we serve. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. 

The Innovative Finance (IF) team is charged with developing capital solutions and real estate strategies to help the field of shared equity housing programs scale their portfolios to 1 million units in the next ten years. We do this by working to use impact capital to create housing with lasting affordability and build wealth in communities of color and by supporting members, developers and community-based organizations in improving their capital access and real estate strategy, identifying or co-creating favorable debt for projects and strategies, and raising and deploying equity-like capital for Grounded Solutions led projects.

About the Position

Innovative Finance is seeking to engage a Senior Specialist to perform a range of project management, process facilitation, and administrative functions. The Senior Specialist will directly report to the Director of Innovative Finance and coordinate closely with the Vice President of Innovative Finance, Innovative Finance Senior Principal, other staff, external partners, vendors, and/or legal counsel, as needed. 

We are seeking a Senior Specialist who is comfortable tracking and identifying potential issues and proposing solutions and who is a naturally organized problem solver and self-starter to support our team of three. If you're adept at managing multiple responsibilities, keeping projects on target, and supporting a small team, you could be the right fit for our dynamic team.

Key Responsibilities

Key responsibilities for this position include: 

Program Operations (60%)

• Schedule and attend meetings, take notes, identify action items and document deliverables.
• Maintain task list and deliverable dates for IF team, and deliverables due to the IF team from other departments and external partners.
• Facilitate communication and follow-up with internal and external partners. Send follow-up materials and ensure timely follow-up communications. 
• Create and maintain project timelines.
• Monitor and report on progress towards completing IF team goals.
• Coordinate data entry and data management activities to support impact measurement and reporting. 
• Track grant reporting due dates, summarize work progress and tailor progress reports to specific funder questions. 
• Create and manage documents, including: 

1. Uploading content to a “data room” and managing permissions.
2. Getting NDAs signed via DocuSign and tracking which firms have signed them.
3. Drafting scope summaries, filling in contract templates, and routing documents for review and signature.
4. Filing and uploading information from emails to cloud storage, Salesforce, etc.

Team and Project Support (40%) 

• Conduct research on assigned topics, including potential funders and funder priorities, industry best practices, and innovative projects and financing structures. 
• Assist in the creation of subsidiary entities as needed, including managing document feedback, summarizing key points in progress memos, and working with our operations department to complete business registrations, establish bank accounts, and secure insurance coverage, etc.
• Support assessment and due diligence of single-family real estate – work with internal and external partners to gather and summarize information on identified properties.
• Occasionally support travel and event logistics.
• Other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications for Entry into this Position

Grounded Solutions believes that our team should reflect, respect, and understand the diversity of backgrounds, identities, and experiences of the communities that we serve. We strongly encourage people of color, people of all gender identities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ candidates to apply.  Studies have shown that men apply for jobs when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women only apply if they meet 100% of them. If you are unsure that you qualify for the position but think you’d be great at the role, we encourage you to apply anyway. If you don’t have the minimum qualifications, you may be offered a different position and title, and we would partner with you to help you gain the skills necessary for the position as posted.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• 5 years of relevant work experience.
• Degree or experience in real estate, urban planning, business or affordable housing is preferred.
• Project management experience is strongly preferred.
• Excellent organizational, time management skills, with ability to independently manage multiple time-sensitive projects by identifying interim activities and deadlines and using sound judgement to prioritize changes and seek assistance when needed.
• Extremely detail-oriented, highly organized with commitment to producing high quality work.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to foster effective working relationships, both internally and externally.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office suite, Asana, Dropbox, Smartsheet, etc.
• Experience using AI tools like ChatGPT in a work capacity is a plus.
• Flexibility to adapt to changing priorities and a fast-paced environment. 
• Able to maintain motivation and self-direction working remotely and embrace teamwork and collaboration.