Department: Investments / Credit & Portfolio Management
Location: San Diego, CA – Hybrid, on-site San Diego, CA HQ Office on Tuesday thru Thursday
Reports To: Credit and Portfolio Management Department
Compensation: $95,000 to $125,000 base salary range, plus quarterly production and annual portfolio performance incentives
About Founders First
Founders First Capital Partners provides flexible growth capital and business growth advisory support to employer-based, service businesses. Our work is designed to help growth-minded small businesses access appropriate capital, strengthen their financial capacity, create quality jobs, and build long-term enterprise value.
As Founders First continues to scale its investment platform, we are targeting approximately $12 million in new loan originations in 2027. Maintaining strong credit discipline, portfolio performance, borrower relationships, and efficient underwriting processes is critical to achieving these objectives responsibly.
Position Overview
The Portfolio Specialist / Senior Underwriting Associate is an experienced credit and portfolio management professional responsible for managing the performance of Founders First's existing loan portfolio and underwriting new small-business investments. The role combines approximately 50% portfolio management and 50% underwriting and credit analysis, and requires demonstrated direct underwriting experience, sound credit judgment, and ownership of assigned transactions and borrower relationships.
The successful candidate will contribute immediately as an experienced underwriter, independently managing assigned credit analyses and portfolio monitoring activities with appropriate oversight from senior credit leadership. This position is more advanced than Associate I and is expected to exercise strong judgment, take initiative, and improve credit and portfolio processes.
Portfolio Management & Monitoring (Approximately 50%)
- Monitor the financial and operating performance of assigned portfolio companies.
- Review borrower financial statements, bank activity, payment performance, and other key indicators.
- Track loan payments, covenant compliance, documentation requirements, and borrower reporting obligations.
- Identify early warning indicators and proactively escalate deteriorating credits or emerging risks to investment leadership.
- Conduct regular borrower check-ins and maintain strong working relationships with portfolio company leadership.
- Own scheduled annual and periodic portfolio reviews and recommend risk-rating updates for assigned credits.
- Track and calculate late payments at the individual borrower and portfolio levels.
- Maintain complete and accurate electronic borrower and loan files.
- Support loan modifications, restructurings, renewals, payoffs, and other portfolio-management activities.
- Prepare portfolio performance reports, dashboards, and analysis for internal leadership and investor reporting.
- Monitor portfolio trends and identify opportunities to improve performance and mitigate risk.
- Collaborate with investment, advisory, finance, servicing, and legal/compliance teams.
- Recommend improvements to portfolio-management policies, procedures, reporting, and internal controls; share effective practices with junior associates.
Underwriting & Credit Analysis (Approximately 50%)
- Complete an average of 4 to 8 underwriting packages per quarter, or up to approximately 32 annually, subject to qualified pipeline availability and transaction complexity.
- Analyze historical and projected income statements, balance sheets, and cash-flow statements.
- Review business and personal tax returns, bank statements, credit reports, debt schedules, accounts receivable, and other underwriting documentation.
- Evaluate repayment capacity, profitability, liquidity, leverage, cash flow, debt-service coverage, and overall financial condition.
- Assess management strength, business model, customer concentration, industry conditions, and existing debt obligations.
- Identify and clearly articulate borrower strengths, weaknesses, key risks, and mitigating factors.
- Perform financial modeling, cash-flow analysis, and sensitivity or scenario analysis.
- Coordinate underwriting due diligence and conduct relevant industry, company, and market research.
- Prepare decision-ready credit memoranda, investment summaries, and well-supported recommendations; present assigned transactions to Investment Committee.
- Recommend transaction structures, conditions, covenants, and risk mitigants, escalating complex decisions to senior underwriting leadership.
- Independently underwrite assigned transactions within established credit policies and delegated authority, and provide technical guidance to less experienced colleagues.
- Coordinate with Expansion Advisors and borrowers to monitor underperforming loans, develop workout strategies, and support timely resolution of distressed credits.
- Ensure completion of pre-funding due diligence, including UCC searches, lien priority and collateral reviews; coordinate UCC filings and verify lien perfection.
Incentive Compensation
The position is eligible for two distinct incentives that separately recognize near-term underwriting production and longer-term portfolio performance.
Quarterly Production Incentive rewards consistent underwriting throughput, timely execution, and quality credit analysis. Incentives are based on quality underwriting completed, not simply the number of loans approved or funded; the Associate is expected to recommend against transactions that do not meet Founders First's credit standards.
Annual Portfolio Performance Incentive rewards contribution to a healthy, well-managed loan portfolio, including payment and delinquency trends, risk-rating accuracy, and impairment and loss performance relative to organizational targets. Decisions consider both actual portfolio results and the quality of the Associate's portfolio-management practices and credit judgment.
Equal Opportunity
Founders First is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to characteristics protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Founders First values a range of professional experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives and encourages qualified candidates who are passionate about small-business finance, investment, and economic opportunity to apply.