Director of Membership and Partnerships Job Description

Role Purpose

This is a senior leadership role and will work closely with the Responsible Finance team, CDFI members, and the funding/investor community to drive the growth of the CDFI sector.

The purpose of this role is to sustain and grow the Responsible Finance membership, and to build partnerships with banks, foundations and other funders/investors.

The ideal candidate will have a finance background and experience designing and building partnerships.

Responsible Finance is the membership association for the UK’s Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). CDFIs are community lenders which offer affordable finance on fair terms to businesses, social enterprises and to people unable to access it elsewhere.

To enable us to meet our ambitious strategy and deliver our vision for scaling up the sector we need an exceptional candidate to work with both our members and external stakeholders, including but not limited to, funders and investors. The Director of Membership and Partnerships will be responsible for designing and implementing partnerships to meet members’ needs. Responsible Finance has a team of 8 and The Director will manage the Membership team of two, reporting directly to the Chief Executive.

No prior knowledge about CDFIs is required, just a keen interest to learn about the sector. Do not be discouraged from applying if you do not meet all the criteria listed in this job description. If you are passionate about increasing access to fair finance for people, businesses and communities, we welcome hearing from you.

Key Responsibilities

As Director of Membership and Partnerships you will oversee the growth and sustainability of RF’s membership, and lead on facilitating partnerships with banks, foundations and other funders and investors. You will have the unique opportunity to support and lead a network of CDFIs to drive forward their development at a critical time for the sector.

Responsible Finance’s membership base is divided into 3 distinct segments, for members who: lend to individual consumers; lend to small businesses; and lend to social enterprises. A key goal for Responsible Finance is to ensure we provide high quality support and resources to members across these segments, and work to catalyse the growth and development of the UK CDFI sector. This is a varied and dynamic senior-level role, working closely with our membership base and funders and investors such as banks and foundations. This Director will be expected to:

• Engage with CDFI members: understanding the different business models within the sector, and their resource and development needs.
• Oversee and drive the membership growth strategy.
• Identify needs of sector/sub-sectors and develop programmes/proposals to address barriers to growth.
• Be an ambassador for the sector and engage with investors and funding communities to bring more resources into the sector.
• Manage the membership team, currently 2 programme managers.

This job description is not exhaustive; it outlines the key tasks and responsibilities of the post. These key tasks and responsibilities are subject to change. Any changes will be made in consultation with the post holder.

Personal Specification

You will be someone who is energised by meeting and engaging with people. Drawing on your strong communication and listening skills, and through regular meetings with members you will develop a keen understanding of the needs of CDFIs. You will bring this insight to Responsible Finance to help inform how we best use our resources to support our members and their growth. You will also be key to developing our relationships with funders and developing new relationships with potential investors into the sector. In particular, we are looking for:

• Overall strong interpersonal and relationship building/management skills including:
  • strong communication and listening skills in order to develop a detailed and nuanced understanding of the different business models of CDFIs and how Responsible Finance can support them.
  • a demonstrated track record of building relationships and a network with a diverse set of stakeholders.
  • experience communicating complex information in a compelling way.
• Understanding of the financials of lending, and the ability to understand financial statements and business models.
• Experience working in a business development role or team previously.
• Experience managing a team to be high performing.
• Project management experience with the ability to deliver high quality results.
• An understanding of and interest in finance/lending.
• Ability to thrive in a small team with limited oversight.
• Highly self-motivated and able to see projects through by setting and achieving targets.
• Passionate about Responsible Finance’s mission and share our ambition to scale the sector.

To Apply

Equality and fairness are at the core of our organisation and we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can be their best.

Please send your CV and responses to the following 4 questions:

• What appeals to you about this job and Responsible Finance and why do you think you’ll do a great job?
• What have been the biggest obstacles to CDFIs’ growth? What do you think needs to change?
• Describe a specific opportunity that would support the growth of CDFIs and why you think it is a significant opportunity?
• Please describe your ideas for overcoming the barriers above and bringing in new funding to support these growth areas. How will your previous experience help you be successful at this? Please provide examples of how you’ve made change in a situation and/or helped enable growth.

Interviews will be held virtually. The process will comprise:

• Round 1: 30-minute interview with the Responsible Finance CEO and 2 Responsible Finance board members
• Round 2: 1 hour interview with the CEO and 2 Responsible Finance board members
• Round 3: a short informal call with a few members of the Responsible Finance team

You will be asked to complete a pre-interview assignment during the Round 2 interviews.