Chief Financial Officer

Are you a strategic and innovative financial leader passionate about building a more equitable society? If so, please join Pacific Community Ventures (PCV), a nonprofit community development investor that supports small business entrepreneurs and their communities to build economic mobility through the power of inclusive entrepreneurship and a good quality job. PCV is invested in addressing racial and gender wealth gaps and climate justice through small business owners as local changemakers in our communities. We are seeking a CFO to lead our Finance & Operations team and be a key thought partner to the CEO, leadership team, and Board during a period of significant growth. PCV is one of the U.S.’s first impact investing funds and, over the past several years, we have become a leading statewide Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in California, while scaling a nationwide mentorship platform for under-estimated small business owners and providing innovative product design and policy advocacy for our Good Jobs Innovation Lab. Our audiences and clients include small business owners across the United States; volunteer business experts; leading foundations and impact investors; other CDFIs; and policymakers at the state and local level.

Why You’re Needed

PCV is a dynamic impact-first CDFI with a growing Loan Fund that supports more and more small business entrepreneurs with patient capital and pro bono mentoring, helping create good jobs in low-and-moderate income communities to address racial wealth gaps. Since PCV’s founding in 1998, we have deployed over $100 million in capital across California; including $56 million in the years since becoming a small business lender. In 2023 alone, PCV disbursed $10 million to small businesses, with over 90% of capital and assistance going to low- and moderate-income communities, entrepreneurs of color, and women, all while ensuring the most affordable rates. Evidence of our meteoric growth can be seen as recently as November of 2024 when we received an unrestricted gift of $7 million from Yield Giving, the philanthropic organization established by Mackenzie Scott. With our expansion, we are adding loan products and support software; blended capital with small grants; and streamlining our processes and procedures to reach entrepreneurs and assess impact more efficiently.

Over the past several years, PCV has worked with an outsourced CFO and Accounting company and, as we grow, we are looking to bring these essential roles in-house. You will be a dedicated leader with strong managerial, analytical, and interpersonal skills who is passionate about investing in under-estimated communities and bringing your lived experience to advance our mission. You will be unintimidated by growth and scale and equally adept at big picture thinking and modeling as you are at codesigning and implementing changes to enhance systems capacity. You will be comfortable taking initiative, challenging the status quo, and identifying blind spots alongside solutions to minimize risk and shore up systems for growth.

Position Overview

In this dynamic, innovative, and expanding nonprofit, the CFO will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) bringing proven team leadership, emotional maturity, nimbleness, an ability to learn quickly, and fresh ideas as you apply your expertise in small business lending, community development, or related fields. You will be a dedicated teammate with strong analytical, writing, and interpersonal skills who is passionate about investing in underserved communities. This is a wonderful opportunity for a financial maverick who wants to partner with a visionary CEO in creating lasting organizational and community change centering civil rights in impact investing and supporting BIPOC and other systematically excluded and underestimated small business owners.

Position Description

The CFO will play a pivotal role in ensuring the financial health and sustainability of PCV, leading financial planning, analysis, reporting, and strategy. This role requires strong experience in nonprofit and/or financial services sectors with deep understanding of and/or transferable skills related to the unique needs of a nontraditional nonprofit CDFI. The CFO will work closely with the executive team, Board of Directors, and three three direct reports on the Finance & Operations team to advance the organization’s mission while overseeing all fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities.

The CFO has oversight of the following functional areas: 1) nonprofit accounting; 2) financial management, including financial controls, budgeting, financial planning and analysis; 3) debt, and cash management; and 4) Operations and IT (IT, office, etc.). The CFO is responsible for evaluating and executing PCV’s financial strategy, working in close collaboration with the CEO, Chief Lending Officer (CLO), Chief Impact Officer (CIO), Finance & Operations, and HR team. The CFO is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and participates in strategic and organizational planning, as well as quarterly Board representation. The CFO will work closely with the Finance, Lending, and Audit Committees of the Board of Directors and will have confidence managing multiple projects and deadlines with strong communication skills.

Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities

Internal/Strategic Financial Planning

• Serve as thought partner to CEO and leadership team in aligning PCV’s strategy, growth, and mission with readiness to scale through systems and financial planning.
• Build and manage a multi-year financial health model for PCV against our 4-year strategic plan and organizational KPIs to ensure financial sustainability and impact of mission.
• Partner with the CEO and executive team on strategic initiatives, including expansion into new markets, development of financial products, and partnerships.
• Work with the CEO and program teams to build and enhance financial and program dashboards for improved management and Board quarterly reporting.
• Represent PCV with key investors, funders, and externally, as appropriate, including to industry organizations.
• Work with the CLO on debt management activities including asset-liability matching, interest rate risk, and negotiating and managing financial covenants.
• Work with the CEO and Investment Manager to manage PCV’s investment fund and strategic reserve to be values aligned.

Audit

• Oversee the audit process, RFPs, tax function, and general nonprofit accounting operations, including maintaining and establishing (as needed) policies, procedures, and internal controls.
• Oversee the annual audit process, coordinating with external auditors to meet all compliance and regulatory standards.

Controller

• Provide financial guidance on funding opportunities, ensuring a balance of mission-driven projects and financial sustainability.
• Manage monthly financial statements and financial management reporting, including analysis of operating results, key performance indicators, and financial forecasting.
• Improve PCV’s monthly and quarterly close cycles to be more streamlined, in partnership with the Director of Finance and other lending-finance staff.
• Prepare and present timely financial statements, analysis, and reports for board and senior management.
• Manage the annual operating budget process, develop an annual budget with the Director of Finance, and create a multi-year financial projection plan in close coordination with Program Directors and the CEO.
• Manage cash flow, investment, and liquidity strategies to ensure operational and capital needs are met.
• Oversee treasury management including bank administration; managing operating and loan fund cash; investment accounts; and optimizing debt and grant capital with the leadership team.
• Ensure compliance with federal and state regulatory requirements, CDFI Fund requirements, and other funder agreements in partnership with the CLO.
• Work with the CLO to develop and implement risk management policies related to financial activities including credit risk, interest rate risk, and operational risk, ensuring sound capital and loan fund management.
• Lead the finance team providing mentorship, professional development, and performance management.
• Foster a collaborative, adaptable, and innovative culture within the finance team and with other departments to achieve organizational objectives.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with other leaders, staff, and board members.
• Manage PCV’s procurement and supplier diversity policies and practices.

Investor Diligence

• Conduct financial analysis and modeling to support funding, lending, and investment decisions.
• With the CLO, manage relationships with investors - including banks, foundations, and government agencies - to secure and structure investment capital.
• Review tracking and reporting on capital deployment, loan performance, and impact on metrics to stakeholders and investors.
• Support the Lending team, helping to improve portfolio management, loan servicing, portfolio risk assessment, and calculation of allowance for loan loss.

IT

• Review and recommend technology platforms across PCV - particularly for payroll/benefits, accounting, financial management, and grants - and ensure integration between Finance, Lending, and Business Advising as part of PCV’s integrated technology strategy, in close collaboration with the Director of Finance, CIO, and our outsourced technology consultants.

Additional duties, as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has supervisory responsibilities over the Finance & Operations team.

Education and Experience - The ideal CFO will bring the following or other related expertise:

• 10+ years of work experience in nonprofit accounting (including earned income models), GAAP, financial management, investment banking, impact investing, Fintech, and/or other transferable fields required with demonstrated experience in creating and assessing financial models, financial statements, budget documents, and financial forecasting for CEOs and Boards as well as experience in corporate finance including asset-liability management; cash flow management; interest rate management; asset and enterprise valuation; investment; and budgeting.
• Strong writing, financial, and analytical experience with exceptional oral presentation, communication, and negotiating skills required.
• 7+ years in a supervisory or managerial capacity required with the ability and desire not to just delegate but also to roll up one’s sleeves, model, and coach for excellence.
• Experience with nonprofit finance and in the CDFI industry highly preferred and experience with lending, entrepreneurship, microfinance, social enterprise, program development, evaluation, and/or small business a plus.
• Strong interpersonal skills, a high degree of self-awareness, a flexible growth mindset, and an open minded, low-ego approach will support a strong culture fit.
• Personal commitment to pursuit of racial and economic justice; experience working for and with communities of color; and an active consciousness about race and racism with a desire to take action to counter and end racial prejudice, systemic racism, and oppression.
• Comfort with a fast-paced working environment with multiple competing deadlines.
• Experience and proficiency with financial technologies - particularly in small business lending, accounting (QuickBooks online) and business intelligence - highly preferred.
• Experience supporting raising of capital from institutional investors, foundations, and financial institutions and/or the ability to talk to investors in a way that endears confidence and trust and inspires partnership.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

We strive hard to be a diverse and inclusive place to work. We value new perspectives, original ideas, and different ways of working. You must have the ability of working with dynamic teams and projects, as well as excellent analytical and communications skills that you are eager to apply to complex social problems. You should demonstrate a deep commitment to creating social and environmental benefits for under-represented people and places. You must also demonstrate the following:

• Mission Alignment: Commitment to community development and financial inclusion.
• Analytical Thinking: Ability to analyze financial trends and identify potential risks and opportunities.
• Leadership: Proven ability to lead and develop a team and work collaboratively with senior leaders and external stakeholders.
• Adaptability: Comfortable working in a dynamic, mission-driven environment with changing priorities.

Physical and Mental Requirements

• Ability to stand for extended periods of time, walk, talk, crouch, kneel, crawl, bend, hear, and use hands to finger, grasp, handle, feel, push, pull, reach, and perform repetitive motions of the hands and/or wrists.
• High mental and visual attention required for planning difficult work methods and sequences to obtain size, shape, or physical qualities of product. AND/OR Extremely close visual attention such as making delicate adjustments to control high speed operations to exercise very precise muscular control.
• Disclaimer: All requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) occupying this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by their supervisor. The company reserves the right to add to or revise an employee’s job duties at any time at its sole discretion. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at will” employment relationship.