Investment Manager

Ecotrust • Washington, DC

4d • Remote

About The Position

The Investment Manager will play a key role on Ecotrust’s Upwell Community Capital team. This position will support Ecotrust’s non-extractive and reparative capital approach by supporting lending and underwriting activities for Ecotrust’s Upwell Fund, as well as our Healthy Food Financing Initiative work. The Investment Manager will also provide project management and coordination across multiple financial products and projects, contribute to compliance and reporting systems, and help strengthen Ecotrust’s partnerships with community lenders and borrowers.

This role is both analytical and relational, combining financial acumen with a commitment to social and racial equity in finance. The Investment Manager reports to the Director of Community Capital and collaborates closely with team members, CDFI partners, and other program staff.

Requirements

• 5 years transferable experience or equivalent combination of academic, lived, professional experience with a minimum 2 years of experience underwriting loans, either as a loan officer or through equivalent relevant experience.
• Character Based Lending: Have a personal and professional commitment to advancing social and racial equity, with experience centering racial equity when analyzing credit risk and underwriting.
• Lending and Financial Analysis. Ability to evaluate financial statements, develop payment and repayment structures, and align financial tools with mission outcomes.
• Social Finance. Understands and is willing to operationalize non-extractive, reparative frameworks in lending and investment.
• Compliance & Reporting. Familiarity with loan documentation, compliance processes, and reporting to internal and external constituents.
• Planning. Ability to Identify strategies, tactics and priorities that balance short-term needs with long-range goals. Organizes actions, plans, and resources.
• Programmatic Proficiency. Ability to apply deep topical knowledge, cultivates partnerships and provides support, training, and technical assistance to impacted parties for the advancement of program goals.
• Learning From Mistakes. Experience extending trust by displaying vulnerability in taking ownership for mistakes and harm, even when the harm is caused at the group or community levels. Applies a trauma-informed approach to taking risks, addressing harm, and engaging in repair work
• Trauma-Informed Action. Willingness to provide notice and context when making requests of others' time and energy. Understands and actively seeks to avoid actions that retraumatize. Offers support to identify what individuals and groups need to feel supported, safe, and empowered.
• Cultural Humility. Experience building partnerships that strengthen capacity to address racial inequity, oppression, and power imbalances. Leverages lived experience of marginalization to advocate for impacted individuals and groups
• Collaboration. Experience seeking ideas and perspectives from colleagues, partners, and impacted parties with an open mind and responds to input with curiosity. Shares own ideas and perspectives to support effective organizational outcomes.
• Patience. Ability to arrange and commit to work based on timelines, priorities, and changes that can realistically be followed through and followed up on. Applies processes that seek input from impacted parties and prioritizes an inclusive process over artificial timelines.
• Transparency. Can develop messages with consideration for timing, audience, accessibility, and needs. Transfers information and knowledge to colleagues, partners, and impacted parties, even when it is unpopular or challenging.
• Project Management. Experience coordinating, tracking, and organizing tasks and deliverables of others as part of broader projects and programs. Drafts project or program updates and follow up on action items or next steps.

Nice To Haves

• Experience lending to small or medium-sized businesses in food, forestry, aquaculture, farming, or agriculture sectors.
• Experience lending to non-traditional entities, like cooperative or non-profits
• Experience using Blackbaud Grantmaking or other lending software.
• Experience providing technical assistance such as developing proformas, financial documents, business planning, feasibility, market assessments or pre-development activities.
• Familiarity with community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or impact investing.

Responsibilities

• Project management and coordination across multiple projects and programs including Ecotrust’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative, Upwell Fund, and Community Asset Development projects.
• Lead lending and underwriting for Upwell and related investment initiatives, evaluating opportunities and structuring loans that advance equitable, reparative economic systems.
• Partner with borrowers and community partners to co-design underwriting criteria and loan terms centering our approach to non-extractive and reparative finance.
• Manage loan and investment processes from intake through closing to ensure documentation, compliance, and reporting systems are transparent, efficient, and accessible.
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with borrowers, partners, and colleagues through consistent communication, coordination of meetings and site visits.
• Support administrative functions related to grant fund deployment, documentation, and compliance.
• Responsibilities and tasks outlined in this document are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the organization or employee.

Benefits

• Ecotrust offers equity-centered benefits that strive to recognize employees as whole people and prioritize their overall wellbeing.
• Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance with employee contributions scaled to income, tax-deferred and Roth retirement plans with employer base contributions, term life insurance, and disability coverage.
• Ecotrust invests in employees' professional development and personal growth.
• We also offer plentiful paid time off, retreats, and summer fun days.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: No Education Listed