Director, Small Business Lending Product Strategy

THE ORGANIZATION: 

Accion Opportunity Fund is an unparalleled financial support system that provides small business owners with access to capital, networks, and coaching. We work to build inclusive and accessible options for these determined business owners. For over 25 years we have served a client base that is nearly 90% from underserved communities. 

In addition to providing resources and loans to small businesses, we also conduct original research, advocate for policy changes, and finance community construction projects in low-income neighborhoods through our New Markets Tax Credit program.

AOF is on a journey to both scale our impact and become financially sustainable.   We’re building a better system for underserved small businesses and a workplace where passionate problem-solvers, data-driven thinkers, and small business champions thrive.  

For more information about us, visit https://aofund.org/

ROLE SUMMARY: 

Reporting to the Chief Product, Marketing and Communications Officer, the Director, Small Business Lending Product Strategy will lead and shape the future of AOF’s small business lending product line strategy —that aligns with our mission to meet the needs of underserved entrepreneurs nationwide and our ambition to become financially sustainable while scaling our impact.
 
This new role is responsible for understanding the unique needs of underserved small businesses, the current and long range strategic plan, and the technical and financial aspects of secured and unsecured lending product and program features in order to recommend, secure buy-in and facilitate the go-to-market commercialization of a broad product portfolio.   

Key to success will be strong collaboration across the Product Engineering, Credit, Operations, Legal, Finance, Marketing and Sales, Impact teams and external partners to ensure direct as well as SBA and government-guaranteed products are impactful, compliant, scalable, and financially sustainable.
 
 This is a mission-critical role for AOF as we expand our reach and deepen our impact

JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead lending product line strategy and roadmap with a deep focus on customer insights, impact, market trends, and financial sustainability
• Optimize and scale existing products such as our unsecured term loan through price, term and offer testing in partnership with Sales and Digital and Partnership marketing teams
•  Support the growth of newly launched SBA program with a focus on partnering with internal teams and external SaaS platform provider partners
• Develop and launch new state SSBCI guaranteed loan programs 
• Collaborate with Customer Experience and Business Insights teams on understanding customer insights through surveys, interviews, and data analysis to inform product strategy and digital user journeys
• Build and maintain KPIs and dashboards for product portfolio impact, performance and mix targets in partnership with Finance to drive multi-year goals
• Facilitate lending pricing task force, leading recommendations and feature testing strategies
•  Stay current with small business lending external market, innovations, SBA & SSBCI program guidelines and policy developments
•  Represent AOF and manage external SaaS, SBA, SSBCI and related mission aligned community partnerships 
•  Collaborate with internal teams such engineering, risk, marketing, sales, finance, compliance and operations

MUST HAVES: 

• 10+ years of experience working in financial services and small business lending 
• Passion for AOF’s mission and for small businesses
• Proven track record managing and profitably growing digital small business loan product portfolios
• Experience running SBA programs and state SSBCI small business lending programs
• Deep understanding of credit, strong track record of collaboration with risk management teams 
• Strong relationships in federal and state-backed lending programs and with mission aligned organizations along with compliance and reporting protocols
• Strong analytical skills and focus on driving outcomes using data to create insights, inform recommendations and secure decisions
• Have a proven record of clear, concise communications and successfully influencing and evolving complex projects across many functional areas
• Skilled at developing and presenting impactful material to executives and stakeholders 
• Strong problem solver who can use frameworks and principles to make clear recommendations and influence to drive swift decisions and execution
• Track record of flexibility/adaptability (ability to change direction based upon team and stakeholder consensus)
• Have impeccable interpersonal, communication and people management skills, a proven drive for success, and deep professionalism in their work
• Thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative, team-oriented, cross-functional environment with a proven ability to develop and sustain effective and cooperative working relationships with direct reports, peers, managers and other internal or external team members/stakeholders.

PERKS AND BENEFITS:

Our mission is what motivates us to come to work each day. We know that happy employees are productive employees, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience.
• An environment that values work-life balance and monthly remote work reimbursements.
• 100% company-funded Medical, Dental, Vision, Life & Disability coverage for employees (Based upon your plan selection). 90% company-funded dependent coverage (Based upon your plan selection) as well as Flexible Spending Accounts.
• Voluntary benefits with payroll deduction for Supplemental Life & AD&D insurance and legal plans.
• Tax deferred & Roth 403(b) Retirement Plan with employer match.
• Unlimited paid vacation days, 12 paid holidays, 1 floating paid holiday, 10 Sick days, and paid parental leave.

We are an equal opportunity employer and committed to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion at Accion Opportunity Fund. AOF does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.

Salary Range*: $158,900 - $194,200

*Please note that the above salary range is a national range, and compensation is dependent upon the candidate’s experience and skill level.