SENIOR IMPACT INVESTING OFFICER

ABOUT DOGWOOD HEALTH TRUST

Founded in 2018, Dogwood Health Trust (Dogwood) is a private foundation based in Asheville, North Carolina. Its sole purpose is to dramatically improve the health and wellbeing of all people and communities of the 18 counties and the Qualla Boundary in Western North Carolina.

As a funder, Dogwood invests in collaborative, innovative and equitable efforts that address the many factors contributing to overall wellbeing, especially in the areas of housing, education, economic opportunity, and health and wellness. Ultimately, Dogwood seeks to create a Western North Carolina where every generation can live, learn, earn and thrive, with dignity and opportunity for all, no exceptions.

Our Values 

• Compassion with Courage. We will be bold in pursuing our commitment to the people and communities of Western North Carolina by taking smart risks and investing in opportunities for profound impact.
• Sustainability with Integrity. We will bring transparency and humility in stewarding resources to support and strengthen Western North Carolina for generations to come.
• Partnering with Purpose. We will foster collective impact by promoting collaboration and advancing shared learning.

SUMMARY

Reporting to the Vice President, Impact & Community Investing, Dogwood Health Trust (Dogwood) seeks a Senior Impact Investing Officer to develop and execute its expanding impact investing portfolio. The Senior Officer plays a critical leadership role in deploying catalytic capital—loans, equity, guarantees, recoverable grants, and innovative financing mechanisms—to advance Dogwood’s mission of dramatically improving the health and wellbeing of all people in Western North Carolina.

Working in close partnership with cross functional program teams, the Senior Officer will source, structure, manage, and evaluate the portfolio of investments that support Dogwood’s strategic priorities: housing, education, economic opportunity, and health and wellness. This role is central to Dogwood’s vision of creating transformational change through capital attraction and capital access innovations in a predominantly rural region.

Ideal candidates will bring a deep commitment to Dogwood’s anchoring principles of community engagement and community equity, combined with strong technical social/impact investing skills, collaborative leadership, and an aptitude for navigating complexity and ambiguity.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

Investment Strategy & Leadership

• Shape and refine Dogwood’s impact investing strategy in alignment with organizational priorities and regional needs.
• Identify opportunities where debt, equity, and guarantees can address critical capital gaps in housing, broadband, early childhood, rural entrepreneurship, and community health.
• Co design investment strategies with program and community engagement teams to integrate community voice and evidence into investment design 
• Contribute to updates of investment policies and guidelines.

Transaction Sourcing, Underwriting & Structuring

• Lead the end-to-end investment process: sourcing, due diligence, underwriting, structuring, pricing, and recommending transactions.
• Underwrite diverse investment structures (PRIs, MRIs, loan guarantees, credit facilities, equity investments), ensuring strong alignment between financial and social return objectives.
• Evaluate credit risk, management capacity, impact potential, and portfolio fit.
• Present recommendations to investment and leadership committees; steward investments through closing in coordination with legal, finance, and grants management teams.

Portfolio Management & Performance Monitoring

• Manage a growing portfolio of active investments, monitoring financial performance, risk exposure, compliance, payment schedules, reporting requirements, and progress toward impact goals.
• Collaborate with internal teams to develop investment metrics that measure sector specific social impacts.
• Troubleshoot emerging portfolio issues and recommend adjustments as needed.

Community Engagement & Ecosystem Development

• Proactively build relationships with regional and national financial intermediaries, including CDFIs, community lenders, social enterprises, and mission driven developers.
• Expand the investment pipeline by identifying gaps and designing community-centered, equitable solutions.
• Actively represent Dogwood and elevate regional capacity by participating in collaborative tables, convenings, conferences, and peer-learning networks.

Learning, Evaluation & Knowledge Sharing

• Collaborate with Dogwood learning and evaluation team to oversee research to inform investment strategies.
• Develop dashboards and other communications platforms to synthesize lessons learned across transactions and disseminate insights to internal teams, leadership, the Board, and field partners.
• Contribute to thought leadership through presentations, panels, and collaborative work with peer foundations.

Internal Leadership & Collaboration

• Serve as a strategic partner to program and community engagement teams, helping design integrated financing strategies embedded in community priorities.
• Model collaborative leadership, emotional intelligence, transparency, and strong communication.
• Support organizational learning around impact investing, comprehensive rural development, and capital ecosystems.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

Education/Certification

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in finance, business, public policy, community development, or related field strongly preferred.

Work Experience

• 8–10+ years of relevant professional experience in banking, finance, community development, private credit, private equity, impact investing, philanthropy, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience underwriting and managing mission-aligned investments.
• Experience working in or with rural, culturally diverse, or economically marginalized communities strongly preferred.
• Excellent relationship-building, analytical, and project management skills.
• High proficiency with Microsoft Office suite; advanced Excel skills preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes

• Demonstrated ability to incorporate community voice and equity principles into investment decisions.
• Strong understanding of debt, equity, guarantees, and catalytic capital structures.
• Experience underwriting transactions across private credit, community development finance, real estate, or private equity.
• Facility with financial modeling, risk assessment, and portfolio analytics.
• Ability to understand and navigate rural ecosystems, capital deserts, and the structural barriers facing undercapitalized communities.
• Skilled at designing solutions informed by local context, data, and community partners.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication, including the ability to present complex ideas to diverse audiences and committees.
• Highly skilled at relationship building with community leaders, co‑investors, intermediaries, and cross-functional staff.
• Demonstrates sound judgment, intellectual curiosity, and comfort managing ambiguity.
• Brings entrepreneurial energy, disciplined follow-through, and a collaborative mindset.
• Equity-Driven: Demonstrates a commitment to equity as a value, guiding principle and goal—actively working to eliminate barriers and ensure opportunity, dignity, and well-being for all.
• Relationship-Oriented: Seeks to understand before acting, listens deeply, and practices empathy and hope in support of team members, partners, and communities we serve.
• Integrity & Accountability: Acts with transparency, trust, and ethical responsibility; welcomes feedback and takes initiative to continuously grow and improve.
• Collaborative & Curious: Builds positive relationships across teams; contributes to a learning culture through humility, curiosity, and a desire to share and grow together.
• Courageous & Clarifying: Embraces change, takes smart risks, and pursues bold solutions with both urgency and patience in the face of complex challenges. Seeks clarity to move forward with focus, alignment, and improvement. 
• Respectful & Thoughtful: Engages with respect and purpose; listens actively, communicates thoughtfully, adapts and remains curious when encountering differences, assumes best intent, and thereby contributes to a culture of openness and shared understanding.
• Leadership: Leads with humility, clarity, and vision. Demonstrates inclusive, people-centered leadership that builds trust, supports growth, and fosters accountability.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• We work in an office environment, both on-site and home offices that require operating standard office equipment. Office workspaces are designed to be accessible and inclusive, accommodating various physical needs and promoting a healthy work environment.
• Dogwood utilizes a hybrid work schedule requiring staff to be in the office twice or more each week. While there is some flexibility for hybrid work, this is not a remote position, and candidates should expect to work regularly from the office in Asheville, NC, or from home located in the region we serve.
• Moderate travel throughout the region is expected for this role. 
• This position is a full-time, salaried, exempt role.

Dogwood Health Trust is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work and on our teams. We know that the rich diversity of perspectives and wisdom imperative to our purpose can only come from a wide variety of origins and life experiences. We strongly believe that creating a workplace where all team members thrive is critical to fulfilling our purpose in the communities we serve. We intentionally recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.

Qualified candidates are urged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state, or local protected class.