Description:
Ram Realty Advisors LLC ("Ram") is a real estate investment management firm specializing in multifamily, mixed-use, and grocery-anchored retail in select high-growth markets throughout the Southeast. The firm’s portfolio comprises assets across the investment risk spectrum, including core-plus, value-add, and opportunistic strategies. Founded in 1978, Ram and its predecessor entities have deployed over $5.0 billion of capital on behalf of institutional partners. The firm is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and has offices in Tampa, Florida; Charlotte and Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Nashville, Tennessee.
The Director, Portfolio Management & Finance is a strategic, cross-functional leader responsible for three integrated areas: (i) capital markets execution, including the sourcing, structuring, and closing of property-level debt, interest rate hedges, and co-investment equity; (ii) portfolio analytics and fund management, including quarterly asset valuation and forecasting, fund modeling, capital planning, and investment performance monitoring; and (iii) structured finance investments, including the sourcing and execution of preferred equity and mezzanine positions in third-party real estate projects. The Director serves as an integral member of the acquisition, development, and refinancing transaction teams and directly supervises junior team members. This individual must bring strong analytical rigor, sound capital markets judgment, and the communication skills necessary to represent the firm effectively with lenders and capital providers.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
Capital Markets & Debt Execution
- Maintain and actively expand lending relationships across banks, debt funds, life insurance companies, GSEs, asset managers, and debt brokers; attend industry events and conferences with increasing frequency to grow the firm’s capital network.
- Source, structure, and execute property-level debt financings and interest rate hedges across new acquisitions, developments, and refinancings; manage the full transaction lifecycle from initial outreach through closing.
- Prepare and present compelling financing requests and memoranda for distribution to lending relationships; clearly communicate asset-level business plans, risk/return profiles, and financing rationale to lenders and capital partners.
- Coordinate the lender due diligence process, collaborating with deal teams to gather, review, and organize all required information; manage data portals and information flow.
- Analyze financing alternatives and participate in strategic discussions regarding optimal capital structure; provide guidance to acquisitions and asset management teams as investment business plans are formed and refined.
- Assist senior leadership and outside counsel in closing all debt commitments and property-level equity co-investment transactions.
- Ensure timely completion of all borrower and guarantor compliance obligations; review compliance calculations prepared by analysts and post required information to lender portals.
- Coordinate lender escrow release requests in collaboration with Asset Management and Development teams.
- Maintain portfolio-wide and fund-level debt metrics including maturity schedules, interest rates, DSCR, and LTV.
- Monitor the interest rate environment and maintain working knowledge of hedging instruments and pricing; analyze interest rate risk at the asset and portfolio level and provide hedging strategy recommendations to senior leadership.
Portfolio Analytics & Fund Management
- Create and maintain working models for each fund, incorporating key characteristics, benchmarks, leverage tests, concentration and geography weightings, and investment limitations; update models as new investments are made or considered.
- Maintain a capital availability schedule for each fund to address questions regarding remaining investable capital, reserves, and commitments.
- Lead the quarterly valuation and forecast process: coordinate updated cash flows and property business plan inputs with the Asset Management team, critically review all source data, prepare the consolidated roll-up by vehicle/fund, and present findings and recommendations to senior leadership at the quarterly review meeting.
- Coordinate and review third-party asset appraisals to support the valuation process; defend valuations as part of the audit review process where necessary.
- Prepare quarterly roll-up of projected capital calls and distributions by fund; provide recommendations to senior leadership regarding the use of subscription lines of credit and fund-level capital planning.
- Participate in Investment Committee (ICOM) meetings for prospective new fund investments, dispositions, financings, and refinancings; review ICOM memos and models for accuracy and completeness; incorporate closed investments into fund models.
- Prepare hold vs. sell vs. refinance analyses; work with Asset Management and the investment committee to evaluate disposition strategy and timing to optimize returns and fund capital planning.
- Actively participate in quarterly asset reviews (QAR) with a specific focus on fund-level performance.
Structured Finance Investments
- Source and evaluate structured finance investment opportunities, including preferred equity and mezzanine positions in third-party real estate projects, consistent with the firm’s investment strategy and fund parameters.
- Underwrite structured finance transactions, including financial modeling, risk analysis, and return analysis across various scenarios.
- Execute and close structured finance investments in coordination with legal counsel, deal teams, and senior leadership.
- Monitor the ongoing performance and compliance of structured finance investments across the portfolio.
Team Leadership & Collaboration
- Directly supervise and train junior team members at the analyst and/or associate level; set clear performance expectations and provide ongoing mentorship and feedback.
- Identify and champion opportunities to improve processes and leverage technology to increase efficiency across all areas of responsibility.
- Serve as a key cross-functional partner to Asset Management, Fund Accounting, Development, Investor Relations, and Acquisitions teams; communicate directly across functions without requiring senior leadership involvement in routine coordination.
- Maintain a capital markets and investor relations lens when collaborating on materials and analyses that inform senior management and the firm’s investor relationships.
Requirements:
These requirements represent the education, knowledge, skill, and ability required to perform the job satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties noted above.
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university with a major in finance or accounting and no less than six years of relevant work experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Graduate degree preferred.
- Professional experience with financial modeling and analysis, including scenario analyses; demonstrated proficiency in Excel required.
- Quantitative and analytical experience with demonstrated ability to work with large datasets and identify meaningful relationships. Argus proficiency strongly preferred.
- Relevant real estate experience across commercial and multifamily asset types; demonstrated ability to perform financial analysis at both the individual asset and portfolio/fund level, including NPV and IRR methodologies, preferred return structures, catch-up provisions, and promoted interest distributions within property and fund-level waterfall models.
- Experience with capital markets, including debt sourcing, lender relationship management, and loan closing processes.
- Familiarity with structured finance products (preferred equity, mezzanine debt) a plus.
- Demonstrated ability to interpret and communicate both property-level and portfolio-level financial results to internal and external audiences.
- Ability to read, analyze, and interpret financial statements, real estate research reports, and complex legal and financing documents.
- Experience managing or mentoring junior team members preferred.
SKILLS & CHARACTERISTICS ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESS IN THIS ROLE
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal; polished presentation skills with the ability to clearly articulate asset financing opportunities and investment rationale to lenders and capital partners.
- Strong attention to detail and the ability to work independently and within a team environment across various functions, paying close attention to the quality of deliverables.
- Highly organized, methodical, and process oriented with excellent time management skills; able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously and meet deadlines.
- Strong financial modeling skills and in-depth Excel proficiency.
- Critical thinker with a comfort level challenging conventional assumptions and asking tough questions; ability to independently evaluate and defend analytical conclusions.
- Ability to produce, review, analyze, and describe complex financial projections and related schedules.
- Comprehensive understanding of the valuation of retail and multifamily assets.
