Chief Credit Officer

ABOUT CITY FIRST ENTERPRISES

City First Enterprises (CFE) is a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) specializing in flexible lending for affordable housing, commercial real estate, small businesses, nonprofits, and clean energy projects. With a mission to create financial solutions to support people and communities in achieving their economic aspirations, we envision a future where all individuals and communities thrive through access to capital.

CFE, headquartered in Washington, DC, with a core market focus on the DMV metro region and the broader Mid-Atlantic, partners nationwide to deliver tailored financial solutions that advance economic opportunity.

To learn more about our organization, please visit our site at City First Enterprises.

THE POSITION

City First Enterprises (CFE) seeks an experienced Chief Credit Officer (CCO) to lead the organization's credit risk management, underwriting, portfolio oversight, and credit governance. Reporting to the CEO and serving on the senior leadership team, the CCO owns CFE's credit policies, underwriting standards, approval processes, risk-rating discipline, and reporting on loan portfolio status to leadership and the board, safeguarding the quality of CFE's growing loan portfolio while enabling responsible capital deployment in historically disinvested communities. The role partners closely with lending originations, portfolio management, finance, operations, and impact teams to keep lending aligned with CFE's mission, risk appetite, funder and investor requirements, and financial sustainability.

The ideal candidate is a practical, strategic credit executive with deep experience in commercial lending, community development finance, and affordable housing and/or commercial real estate finance. Experience in small business lending, nonprofit lending, clean energy finance, or community banking is a plus but not required. The ideal candidate brings strong technical credit judgment, policy discipline, analytical rigor, and collaborative leadership, and balances prudent risk management with a flexible, borrower-centered community development lending approach.

This role requires a minimum of 2 days/week in our downtown office, with flexibility for additional on-site days as needed. Occasional travel required for external partner and client meetings and events.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Credit Strategy, Policy, and Risk Appetite

• Lead CFE's commercial credit function as the primary executive owner of credit policy, underwriting standards, approval authorities, risk-rating methodology, and credit governance.
• Translate CFE's strategic goals, capital sources, and risk appetite into clear credit policies, underwriting guidance, exception protocols, and approval thresholds.
• Partner with senior leadership team to align lending growth with credit quality, capital deployment goals, and financial sustainability.
• Monitor emerging risks, market conditions, and concentration trends, and recommend timely credit guardrails and policy updates.

Underwriting, Approval, and Transaction Review

• Oversee underwriting quality and credit analysis across CFE's lending, including affordable housing, commercial real estate, small business and nonprofit lending, community facilities, and clean energy.
• Review and recommend transactions for credit approval, partnering with loan committee members and senior leadership to ensure well-reasoned, timely credit decisions across all approval tiers.
• Ensure credit memoranda are complete and decision-ready, grounded in borrower capacity, project feasibility, cash flow, collateral, repayment sources, and mission alignment.
• Provide hands-on guidance to lenders, underwriters, and portfolio managers on complex credits, exceptions, workouts, and higher-risk transactions.
• Maintain disciplined standards for pricing, terms, collateral, covenants, and documentation while preserving CFE's ability to provide flexible capital where it is most needed.
• Partner with external counsel and lending teams to oversee loan closing, ensuring all documentation and conditions are satisfied before funding.

Underwriting Innovation and Credit Technology

• Methodically modernize CFE's underwriting and credit practices by identifying and responsibly deploying artificial intelligence and advanced data tools that strengthen analysis, automate routine review, and speed decisioning. This will be done in close coordination with and with full support from the rest of the leadership team.
• Pilot and scale AI-enabled capabilities — such as automated document and financial-statement analysis, cash-flow spreading, and risk scoring — while preserving rigorous, mission-aligned credit judgment.
• Establish governance and controls for the use of AI in credit, including data quality, model validation, fair-lending and bias review, explainability, and human oversight.

Portfolio Risk Management and Asset Quality

• Ensure portfolio soundness through proactive monitoring of risk ratings, delinquencies, covenant compliance, and watchlist credits.
• Lead regular portfolio reviews, trend analysis, and stress considerations that surface emerging issues and sector concentrations early.
• Work closely with the portfolio management team on implementation of the allowance for credit losses (CECL) methodology and reserve adequacy, in partnership with finance and external auditors.
• In close collaboration with leadership team, work on troubled credits, including workouts, restructurings, modifications, and charge-offs, working with internal teams and external counsel as needed.
• Partner with portfolio management, servicing, and finance to keep portfolio data accurate and audit- and diligence-ready.

Credit Committee, Governance, and Board Reporting

• Lead and continuously improve credit committee processes, from agenda setting and materials review through decision documentation and follow-up on conditions.
• Prepare and present clear credit, portfolio, and risk updates for senior leadership, board committees, auditors, funders, and investors.
• Ensure credit decisions comply with CFE policies, approval authorities, funder and investor requirements, CDFI obligations, and applicable regulatory standards.
• Strengthen documentation, internal controls, credit files, and covenant tracking to support transparency and audit readiness.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and the board on credit risk, portfolio performance, and responsible capital deployment.

Cross-Functional Leadership and Continuous Improvement

• Partner with lending leadership to improve the quality, consistency, and borrower-centered execution of the lending process, from intake through servicing.
• Collaborate with impact and data staff so credit and portfolio information supports mission alignment, impact measurement, and funder reporting.
• Advance continuous improvement of credit tools, underwriting templates, portfolio dashboards, and reporting systems.
• Build credit capacity across the organization by coaching staff, clarifying decision rights, and training teams on policy and risk standards.
• Model CFE's values through sound judgment, transparent decision-making, and commitment to measurable community impact.

Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, and EDUCATION

• At least 10 years of progressive experience in credit and lending, including a minimum of 5 years in a senior credit role (e.g., senior credit officer, credit risk director, or chief credit officer) with policy and approval-authority responsibility.
• Depth in several of these areas: credit underwriting and risk management, portfolio management, commercial lending, community development finance, affordable housing or real estate finance, or small business and nonprofit lending.
• Demonstrated success leading credit policy, underwriting standards, transaction review, and credit governance in a CDFI, loan fund, community bank, or similarly mission-driven institution.
• Strong technical credit expertise, including cash-flow analysis, borrower and guarantor analysis, collateral and project-feasibility evaluation, loan structuring, covenants, and risk ratings.
• Experience reviewing and approving complex loans and presenting clear recommendations to loan committees, boards, funders, or regulators.
• Working knowledge of the allowance for credit losses (CECL) methodology, reserve adequacy, and related portfolio-risk reporting.
• Interest in, and ideally experience with, applying artificial intelligence or advanced data tools to underwriting and credit, along with an understanding of the associated model-risk, fair-lending, and governance considerations.
• Excellent analytical and communication skills, including the ability to prepare concise executive- and board-level materials and explain complex credit issues clearly.
• Collaborative leadership style, building trust across lending, finance, operations, portfolio management, impact, and executive teams.
• Familiarity with CDFI Fund requirements, public or philanthropic capital programs, or clean energy and community facilities finance is a plus.
• Knowledge of the Washington, DC, and Baltimore metropolitan markets, or experience lending in comparable urban markets affected by historic disinvestment, is preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to CFE's mission of expanding equitable access to capital in communities historically affected by discrimination, disinvestment, and redlining.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required; advanced degree in finance, business, real estate, public administration, community development, or a related field preferred.