Senior Associate - Investments

Posting Duration: This posting will close at the end of November and will only be extended if we need to see more candidates to fill the position.

Position Summary

Responsible for supporting the Investments Team in sourcing, evaluating, and underwriting prospective developments, financings and acquisitions of real estate investments — primarily multifamily and other residential property types.  These investments will include mezzanine loans, preferred equity, joint venture equity, and common equity structures.

Key Responsibilities:

• Supporting a team of real estate private equity investment professionals, responsible for the origination, underwriting and closing of investments on behalf of institutional funds and separate accounts.
• Research, analyze, and underwrite potential development, financing, or acquisition of real estate investments – primarily multifamily and other residential property types. Financing investments may include mezzanine loans, preferred equity, whole loans, bridge loans and joint venture equity.
• Evaluate new investment opportunities utilizing data from both the firm’s existing portfolio and third-party providers in order to present structure recommendations to Investment Directors.
• Manage the team’s pipeline tracker for potential real estate investments throughout the country.
• Identify, monitor, and evaluate local and regional markets, asset class trends, and general economic conditions as they relate to the various investment strategies that Forum is managing or pursuing.
• Communicate with investments team members and external market participants to discuss investment opportunities, coordinate travel schedules, and organize property tours.
• Help structure business plans, perform due diligence, and produce well-organized investment memos, models and other materials for presentation to Investment Committee, Investors, or other internal teams supporting the business.
• Assist in all phases of the due diligence and closing processes
• Aid in and coordinate the negotiation of various legal agreements including purchase and sale agreements, joint venture documentation, loan documentation.
• Additional duties as needed and assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

None.

Skills & Qualifications:

• 2 -5 years of related experience in an analytical role, preferably real estate focused.
• A demonstrable enthusiasm and commitment to the real estate industry.
• Must have strong verbal and written skills, and a demonstrable ability to construct compelling theses through meticulous research skills.
• Excellent writing skills is imperative – candidates will be asked to submit a writing sample.
• A keen attention to detail with a thorough understanding of financial applications.
• An ambitious and positive attitude – flexible work hours are sometimes required.
• Willingness to attend industry conferences and be involved in industry organizations with aspirations of growing into a senior leadership position.
• Must be self-motivated, resourceful, and able to assume a high level of individual responsibility.
• Travel may be required as needed.

Education & Technical Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, real estate, economics, or accounting; or equivalent career experience
• MBA preferred, but not essential
• Strong financial, analytical, and modeling skills – high proficiency in MS Excel a must

Competencies:

To perform this job successfully, the individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

1. Analytical Skills: Collects and researches data; designs workflows and procedures; identifies data relationships and dependencies; synthesizes complex or diverse information; and, uses intuition and experience to complement data.
2. Quality: Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; looks for ways to improve quality; applies feedback to improve performance; monitors own work to ensure quality.
3. Judgement: Displays willingness to make decisions; exhibits sound and accurate judgment; supports and explains reasoning for decisions; includes appropriate people in decision-making process; makes timely decisions.
4. Planning & Organization: Integrates changes smoothly; plans for additional resources; prioritizes and plans work activities; sets goals and objectives; uses time efficiently; and, works in an organized manner.
5. Achievement Focus: Demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles; measures self against standard of excellence; recognizes and acts on opportunities; sets and achieves challenging goals; takes calculated risks to accomplish goals.
6. Dependability: Commits to doing the best job possible; follows instructions, responds to management direction; keeps commitments; meets attendance and punctuality guidelines; responds to requests for service and assistance; and, takes responsibility for own actions.
7. Business Acumen: Understands business implications of decisions; displays orientation to profitability; demonstrates knowledge of market and competition; aligns work with strategic goals.

In addition to the above job-specific competencies, all Forum employees are expected to demonstrate these Forum core competencies:

1. Adaptability: Accepts criticism and feedback; accustomed to a culture of rapid and constant change and easily adjusts to changing priorities and conditions; manages competing demands.
2. Innovation: Develops innovative approaches and ideas; displays original thinking and creativity; generates suggestions for improving work; meets challenges with resourcefulness.
3. Collaboration: Recognizes and cultivates strong interpersonal relationships and cross-functional collaborations; generates value and uses motivation to influence and create change; seeks not to control but to inspire; facilitates dissemination and sharing of knowledge and information.
4. Accountable: Keeps and follows-through on commitments; readily takes ownership of achieving results by exhibiting responsibility and initiative; displays open, proactive communication that builds trust.
5. Initiative: Asks for help when needed; looks for and takes advantage of opportunities; seeks increased responsibilities; takes independent actions and calculated risks; undertakes self-development activities; volunteers readily.
6. Respectful: Displays integrity and honesty; maintains professional demeanor and composure in tense situations; exhibits fairs and generous behavior; readily owns up to mistakes and admits when wrong; strives to “get it right”; displays loyalty even when tough to do so.

Forum Values:

• Blaze the Future (Entrepreneurial): Take initiative. Push what’s possible. Own your path but stay nimble. Embrace change and challenge the status quo.
• Make it Better Together (Collaborative): Go all in.  Get Messy. Welcome new ideas and share yours freely. Be a sponge. Bump heads. Talk it out. Listen. Learn. Repeat.
• Stay Open (Vulnerable): Have the courage to make yourself vulnerable. Communicate honestly and respectfully. Share mistakes and trust one another.
• Dare to be Clear (Clarity): Certainty is impossible, but clarity is essential. Eliminate the noise and focus your strategy to achieve something better, something great.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl and talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision.

Work Environment: 

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Compensation Information:  Base salary range is $90,000 to $120,000. This range is estimated for this role; actual pay may be different.

Benefits for full-time employees include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance, employee assistance program, Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, 401(k) with company match program, 12 paid company holidays, self-managed PTO, anniversary milestone program/awards, gift matching program.