Overview:
PenFed is hiring a (Hybrid) Commercial Real Estate Lending Associate at our Tysons, Virginia or New York, New York location. The primary purpose of this job is to provide analytical support across the underwriting and asset management functions of the Commercial Real Estate department. Reporting to the Senior Manager of Credit Underwriting, the individual will support the evaluation, structuring, and ongoing monitoring of commercial real estate loans across multiple property types, with a heavy emphasis on building detailed Excel-based financial models, using Argus Enterprise, preparing sensitivity analyses, drafting credit request memoranda, and producing loan-level, portfolio-level, and market-level analytics to support sound credit decisions aligned with PenFed’s policies, procedures, and risk appetite.
Responsibilities:
Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of job duties, and the position will perform other duties as assigned.
Underwriting and Financial Analysis:
- Support the underwriting and analysis of commercial real estate loans, including acquisition, refinance, bridge, typically ranging from $15 million to $50 million across multiple property types.
- Conduct comprehensive property-level and market due diligence including review of rent rolls, operating statements, appraisals, rent comparables, sale comparables, market fundamentals, property condition reports, environmental reports, and other 3rd party reports as necessary.
- Evaluating borrower financial capacity, collateral quality, market dynamics, and overall creditworthiness.
- Prepare and maintain detailed Excel-based financial models to evaluate property-level and loan-level cash flows, rent roll assumptions, lease-up timing, capital expenditures, debt service, loan sizing, pricing, debt yield, debt service coverage, loan-to-value, and other key credit metrics.
- Use Argus Enterprise to review, build, and sensitize property-level cash flows assumptions, including market rent, contractual rent steps, downtime, renewal probability, tenant improvement allowances, leasing commissions, expense reimbursements, recoveries, and terminal valuation assumptions.
- Run downside, breakeven, and sensitivity analyses to assess the impact of changes in occupancy, rental rates, operating expenses, interest rates, capitalization rates, exit values, and debt structure on borrower performance and loan risk profile.
- Assist with preparing clear, comprehensive, and well-supported credit request memoranda, underwriting analyses, transaction summaries, and recommendations for review by the Assistant Vice President, senior management, internal investment committees, and credit approval authorities.
- Assist with property site visits, inspections, borrower calls, lender calls, and diligence meetings as needed to support underwriting conclusions and credit recommendations.
Asset Management and Portfolio Analytics:
- Support asset management through periodic loan-level reviews, borrower reporting analysis, covenant compliance monitoring, risk rating support, watchlist analysis, maturity tracking, refinance analysis, and comparison of actual financial performance to underwritten projections.
- Prepare portfolio-level analyses, dashboards, and reporting materials covering exposure by borrower, sponsor, geography, property type, maturity profile, risk rating, loan performance, covenant status, concentration risk, and other portfolio monitoring metrics.
- Assist in identifying emerging portfolio trends and potential credit concerns by analyzing borrower operating results, rent roll changes, leasing activity, market data, valuation trends, debt service coverage, and other relevant performance indicators.
Market Intelligence and Market-Level Analytics:
- Assist with preparing market-level analytics and research covering supply and demand fundamentals, leasing trends, vacancy, absorption, rent growth, concessions, capital market conditions, sales activity, capitalization rates, market economic drivers, and competitive lending dynamics impacting PenFed’s CRE lending program and broader commercial real estate debt markets.
- Maintain and update market data, loan pricing trends, rent comparables, sales comparables, capital markets benchmarks, and other reference materials to support underwriting assumptions, portfolio reviews, and strategic discussions.
Team Support and Collaboration
- Provide analytical support for ad-hoc projects and initiatives across the broader CRE lending team as needed.
- Contribute to team knowledge sharing by helping maintain underwriting templates, market data, precedent materials, and transaction best practices.
Qualifications:
Equivalent combination of education and experience is considered.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in finance, Real Estate, Economics, or related field preferred.
- Experience: 2 to 6 years of total professional experience, preferably in commercial real estate lending, debt underwriting, debt asset management, real estate private equity, valuation, appraisal, brokerage, investment banking, or related credit and analytical functions. Experience analyzing commercial real estate loans, property-level cash flows, operating statements, rent rolls, valuation assumptions, market data, and debt metrics across multiple property types is preferred.
- Technical Skills: Advanced Excel-based financial modeling skills required, including the ability to build, audit, and maintain detailed property cash flow, loan sizing, sensitivity, and portfolio analytics models. Experience with Argus Enterprise is strongly preferred; experience with CoStar, Green Street, or similar market data and reporting tools is a plus. Proficiency with Microsoft Applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook) at a level that allows independent work. Experience in using A.I. tools preferred.
- Communication: Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to clearly articulate complex financial and real estate concepts.
- Analytical Skills: Strong quantitative and analytical skills with the ability to interpret financial statements, rent rolls, operating reports, and other reports with ease.
- Execution-Oriented: Proven track record of executing deliverables within tight timelines, meeting deal deadlines, proactively finding solutions to issues that arise during projects, and proactively escalating potential delays to completing projects.
- Detail-Oriented: Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities.
- Experience using AI tools preferred.
Supervisory Responsibility
This position will not supervise employees.
Licenses and Certifications
There are no additional certifications required.
Work Environment
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to an indoor office setting with moderate noise.
*Most roles require working in an office setting with moderate noise and the ability to lift 25 pounds.*
Travel
Ability to travel to perform property site visits / inspections and be on call will be required for this role.
Pay Transparency
The anticipated starting salary range for this role is $79,400.00 - $147,921.00.
This position is eligible for an organizational performance based annual bonus, subject to board discretion and approval.
This position is eligible for an individual performance based annual bonus.
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