Denver Metro Community Loan Officer

Who We Are:

Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF) is a nonprofit business lending organization dedicated to the success of small businesses in Colorado. We target our financing resources to underserved communities – primarily Black, Latino, women, and veteran owned businesses, especially those located in low to moderate income areas. We’re committed to creating meaningful impact in Colorado’s communities by providing equitable and affordable business financing for entrepreneurs who cannot access bank loans and other financial resources.

At CEF we see our community impact through job creation, wealth building for disadvantaged populations, and the growth and success of the businesses we fund. As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), we offer loans, grants, and free business coaching to entrepreneurs to help them succeed. Learn more about our mission and team at https://coloradoenterprisefund.org/careers

Who We Are Looking For:

We have an immediate opening for an exceptional, experienced Community Loan Officer (CLO)-Denver. This is an important role with the ability to make a large impact in the Colorado small business community. We need someone who understands that serving others will make them the most successful. We are looking for a great CLO who fits well within our dynamic culture of “urgent teamwork” and who believes deeply in providing the right products and services to prospects and customers.

The main duties of our CLO at CEF are to connect with referral sources such as banks, SBA offices, SBDC’s and other community organizations in the Denver area to cultivate and manage loan applications to completed funding. Your ability to actively stay visible in the community and build trust will be critical to your success both with referral sources and Denver small business owners. Your sense of urgency, flexibility, persistence, and mission focused people-centric mindset will be your primary differentiators. This role requires a self-motivated driven individual who is comfortable building relationships across a wide variety of spectrums. The CLO will report to our Director of Strategic Lending. Key attributes for success include sales ability, flexibility, and a people-centric mindset.

• Highly Relational… You will need to connect with and build trust relationships with others every day. You will need to have incredible listening skills, the ability to tune into the conversation your counterpart is willing to have, and a healthy dose of humility to make this work.
• Critical Thinking… Even when identifying multiple “correct” options, the ability to quickly determine if a business can be supported through a CEF loan will be critical to customer satisfaction.
• Positive Attitude… With a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
• Self-Confident… Comfortable talking with anyone and having conversations on topics where they may know more than you.
• Attention To Detail… Yes, that’s right … a sales job that requires you to be accurate, both in your activity reporting and the exactness of your solutions.
• Urgency… We need someone who gets busy, right now. If you like to drive action and activity, this is the right job for you.
• Empathy… The ability to put yourself into your counterpart’s shoes and understand how the world must look to them.
• Excellent Communications Skills… Spoken and written communications skills are tremendously important to be effective in this role.
• Organized and CRM proficient… If you think you can keep the details of your activities and your solutions in your head or on paper notes, you can’t handle the level of activity in this job.
• Flexible… Comfortable with change and working under pressure.

What We Offer:

• Best People– One of our goals is to bring together high integrity people from their respective area of expertise and assemble them as a team to drive success across the board. That starts with being highly selective in our hiring process and supporting the culture required to ensure that success.
• Dynamic Working Environment – It’s not quiet here. You won’t notice the hours flying by. We believe in our mission to accelerate community prosperity. We do that by being active not passive.
• Established Brand and Solid Track Record – We’ve been around, so you’ll have a team behind you delivering the financing solutions that you work with, that has repeatedly and successfully “been there and done that”.
• Personal Growth– Regardless of your experience level or your seniority walking in the door, we are committed to the growth of our people. Great leadership, support and education for you in your role, with the ability to personally grow your influence, your position and your compensation.
• Right-Sized Company – We are a large enough organization to have sufficient resources to make a difference, but small enough to be nimble.
• Make an Impact in your community – You are a key factor in helping Colorado small business owners realize their dreams. It’s an awesome feeling to talk with others about having made an impact to businesses in your local area, to be able to say, “I was a part of that”.
• Benefits, Vacation, Etc.– As an established CDFI, we offer the following:
• Health, vision, dental and life insurance, as well as short-term disability coverage. CEF also offers a 403b retirement plan with employer matching up to 3% of an employee’s contribution. CEF also offers a Flexible Spending Account for childcare and health care. Our paid time off policies include ten (10) paid holidays per year, paid vacation, and paid health and wellness time.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Colorado Enterprise Fund is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We encourage anyone,

regardless of race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and length,

protective hairstyles), age 40 and over, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability,

military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, or any

other status protected by applicable state or local law to apply.

Education/Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree preferred, especially in Business, accounting, finance, economics, or other similar areas. Coursework in these areas will be considered.
• Minimum 2 years of direct small business lending experience, business development, and or sales experience including commercial real estate lending, mortgage lending, fixed asset financing, working capital loans or accounts receivable financing
• Working knowledge of business financial statements and tax returns is essential
• Experience with SBA lending programs (7a and/or 504) is a plus!

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• A strong sense of urgency, ownership, accountability, critical thinking skills; must also be able to work successfully in an autonomous environment
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills that can drive action and influence decision making activity
• A respectful, flexible and collaborative approach to work with a broad range of cultures, personalities, and work styles
• Experience with client relationship management (CRM) software
• Experience with Microsoft Office suite; particularly Excel

It Would Be Great If You Had

• In-depth knowledge of credit and cashflow assessment
• Existing referral partner relationships throughout Denver area

Workspace/Physical Requirements

• CEF is a hybrid workplace; CEF provides all employees with essential home office equipment such as a monitor if needed.
• CEF conducts regular meetings, collaboration days and training for employees in our office headquarters in Denver, Colorado
• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer

Travel Requirements

• 65-70% travel within Denver Metro and surrounding areas to establish and maintain business relationships with bank partners, community leaders and current / potential borrowers