Director, Structured Finance

THE ORGANIZATION

The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is a leading nonprofit venture philanthropy fund dedicated to identifying the nation’s best public charter schools, investing in their expansion, and helping to increase their impact. Our “portfolio” includes 200+ charter school networks that operate 1,700+ schools and serve more than 725,000 students. We are committed to expanding the impact of schools that are closing achievement and opportunity gaps. CSGF operates with the same strategies, discipline, and focus as a venture capital firm by awarding multi-year grants and loans to talented education entrepreneurs building networks of high-quality charter schools that enroll traditionally underserved students. Ultimately, we think the portfolio can grow to serve ~1,000,000 students within a decade.

This is an exciting time to join the Charter School Growth Fund. We are midway through a philanthropic fund building on our 15-year track record of success. CSGF’s five-year “Fund IV” is larger in size and scope than previous funds, with a goal to continue to fuel charter sector growth, accelerate innovation, and strengthen long-term outcomes for students, particularly students of color and those from low-income backgrounds. Our new fund will continue to prioritize investments in leaders of color as our current portfolio is led by more than 50% leaders of color and more than 50% female leaders. We believe it is vital for the networks we support to be proximate to the lived experiences of the students and communities they serve.

THE OPPORTUNITY

CSGF’s Structured Finance (SFin) Team strives to alleviate finance, facilities, and governance as barriers to the growth and success of high-quality charter school networks across the country.  The SFIN Team’s role blends aspects of a strategy consultant—providing strategic support, serving as a trusted thought partner, solving mission‐critical problems—and those of an impact investor—sourcing and structuring deals, conducting due diligence, investing capital, and supporting investments.  CSGF is seeking a Director to join our SFin team as we launch Fund IV and look to invest in the next generation of high performing charter management organizations throughout the country. 

The Director will collaborate across CSGF and with investment candidates to conduct deep due diligence and support the development and implementation of the Structured Finance Team’s Fund IV strategy. We are seeking a results-oriented candidate with exemplary financial and analytical skills along with the ability to manage complex projects, think strategically, and collaborate effectively with diverse groups of stakeholders. The ideal candidate is entrepreneurial, passionate about K‐12 education, and interested in leveraging public and private capital to create long‐term social impact.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 

Below is a general outline of responsibilities. CSGF is a fast-moving organization, roles and responsibilities  may change to meet the needs of the organization and the charter networks we are privileged to support. 

• Lead end-to-end due diligence, investment hypothesis development and underwriting for high-performing charter school operators (grants and loans), including evaluation of financial performance, multi-year financial models, key risks & mitigants, governance, and facilities strategies.
• Prepare and present investment proposals and evaluation reports to CSGF Partners and Board of Directors to support funding decisions.
• Own ongoing loan monitoring, including analysis of board materials, audits, and covenant compliance, with proactive engagement to address risk and support borrower performance.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to support charter operators through technical assistance and by identifying and sharing financial, governance, and facilities best practices.
• Contribute to strategic planning, internal operations, and fund-level work, including portfolio tracking, cash flow management, and investor reporting.
• Build and apply sector knowledge by engaging in team check-ins, state strategies, and ecosystem investments to inform grantmaking and lending practices.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS 

Skills and Characteristics 

• Deep commitment to CSGF’s mission and our Commitment to Diversity
• Passion for creating social change through the impactful investment of public and private capital
• Demonstrated expertise in financial and debt modeling and financial statement analysis 
• Strong strategic thinking, analytical, and creative problem-solving skills 
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, particularly the ability to build strong relationships with diverse groups of stakeholders
• Ability to work seamlessly between high-level strategy and detail-oriented work; develop an early hypothesis and test it through a diligence process 
• Strong project management experience that drives efficiency and excellence in all aspects of work 
• Demonstrated proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint

Educational Background and Work Experience 

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Five to eight years of work experience, including investment banking, finance, private equity, venture capital, impact investing, management consulting, or similar experience
• Experience in education/non-profit field is a plus

WORKING AT CSGF

We are focused on hiring and developing great people and believe that building diverse perspectives across our team makes us more effective in expanding our impact. (This is reflected in Our Commitment Statement.) Our core values are:

Results

• We believe that student success is the ultimate measure of our performance.
• We work with urgency and intentionality for the portfolio and their schools. 
• We hold ourselves accountable to strong outcomes.
• We relentlessly prioritize our resources to drive positive, measurable, attributable impact for the charter leaders, their schools, and ultimately students.
• We believe strong results come from good decisions, and the best decisions are made when we use data - both quantitative and qualitative - and gather input from diverse perspectives, especially those most impacted by the work.  
• We celebrate our wins and learn from our losses.

Teamwork

• We value organization over team, and we value team over individual.
• We actively break down silos and collaborate across teams.
• We believe building strong, healthy relationships is critical to move our work forward.
• We seek to proactively communicate across teams to strengthen our outcomes and add value for the portfolio.

Integrity

• We believe that trust is our most important asset, and we must earn and maintain the trust of the portfolio member leaders, investors, and our team to achieve our goals.
• We are often entrusted with sensitive and confidential information about the portfolio - we do not ever violate these confidences.
• We show ownership for our successes and our failures. 
• We speak directly to the person, even when it's messy and hard, and get ahead of potential problems.
• We do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

Respect 

• We understand and acknowledge our place in the value chain – the students, teachers, principals and other leaders at portfolio networks are doing the hardest, direct and most impactful work in their schools each day.
• We prioritize humility and embrace getting better every day.
• We are curious and open-minded.
• We are aware of our own biases and how they might affect our judgment, and we take ownership to mitigate their impact.

Entrepreneurship

• We take calculated risks, looking for new ways to add value and improve how we work.
• We are problem solvers in all aspects of our work.
• We actively connect people and ideas in strategic ways to foster new ideas and learning. 
• We acknowledge not all investments will succeed and embrace failure as it facilitates deeper learning for our organization and the portfolio.

COMPENSATION 

Compensation is commensurate with experience and education. The target salary range for this role is $100,000-$130,000 annually. CSGF offers a very competitive package of benefits, including: health, life, disability, and dental insurance coverage; vacation/holidays and parental leave; and participation in CSGF’s 403(b) plan. Candidates must have permanent authorization to work in the US.

START DATE

CSGF is seeking candidates who can start as soon as possible.

E-VERIFY STATEMENT

This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you. Including terminating employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 form.

Charter School Growth Fund provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees.