Bond Program Manager

DESCRIPTION:

BACKGROUND

In support its core mission to expanding the supply of affordable housing located within the City of Los Angeles, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (“HACLA”) maintains and staffs a Capital & Debt Unit.  The Capital & Debt Unit develops, implements, and manages a variety of conventional and creative financing programs, including:

• Issuance of multifamily mortgage revenue bonds;
• Establishment of a revolving line of credit, to provide ready capital for fast deployment;
• Issuance of tax-exempt private activity bonds; 
• Conventional construction and permanent debt financing;
• Debt financing for innovative and strategic initiatives that may include establishing partnerships with not-for-profit and for-profit entities.

HACLA is authorized to issue taxable and tax-exempt debt that supports the delivery of its core mission. During 2020 and 2021, HACLA issued $42 million of tax-exempt multifamily mortgage revenue bonds.  The bonds were issued to finance or refinance the costs of acquisition or rehabilitation of properties owned and operated by HACLA.

 

In addition, HACLA is authorized to request and to issue private activity bonds.  In 2019, the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (“CDLAC”) conferred upon HACLA the authority to apply for private activity bond allocations and to issue such bond allocations on a conduit basis—HACLA as the debt issuer. 

 

The conduit bond program is a relatively new program for HACLA, and its initial conduit bond issuance was successfully executed in October 2020.  To date, HACLA has issued conduit bonds in support of four affordable multifamily housing developments.  In aggregate, $118 million of tax-exempt private activity bonds were applied for, allocated, structured, documented and issued.  HACLA’s conduit bond program has successfully achieved private activity bond allocations equal to 100% of the bond allocation amount requested.  In addition to the $118 million of tax-exempt private activity bonds, HACLA simultaneously issued $19 million of taxable debt (taxable tails) in conjunction with the issuance of tax-exempt debt.    

 

POSITION PURPOSE

Under the general guidance of the Chief Strategic Development Officer (“Chief”) and the Director of Development (“Director”), and reporting directly to the Capital & Debt Officer (“Officer”), the Bond Program Manager (“Bond Manager”) assists with executing all of the duties and responsibilities assigned to the Capital & Debt Unit.  The Capital & Debt Unit also assists HACLA’s Development Services, Asset Management, Legal, and Finance Departments by developing, implementing, expanding and maintaining HACLA’s internal bond program, the internal debt portfolio, the conduit bond program, and the conduit debt portfolio.  The Bond Manager is expected to execute a prominent role pertaining to the issuance of conduit (private activity) debt, mortgage revenue debt, and general obligation debt.  The Bond Manager also coordinates and liaisons with bond counsel and tax counsel, financial consultants, municipal advisors, trustee and fiscal agent banks, and nationally prominent credit rating agencies.  In addition, the Bond Manager will interface with the HACLA Executive Office and other internal staff, federal agencies, state agencies, local government agencies, commercial banks, investment banks and professional service providers that specialize in affordable multifamily residential housing development.  The Bond Manager will also interface with national and regional real estate development firms, their legal counsel and others that comprise a project finance team.

 

NATURE AND SCOPE

The Bond Manager oversees major components of HACLA’s interim and long-term, construction to permanent debt financing activities on behalf of HACLA and/or its affiliates. Such components include but are not limited to assembling developer applications for conduit debt financing, performing due diligence, regulatory review and coordination, and post-issuance project compliance with respect to federal, state and local laws and regulatory agreements. In addition, the Bond Manager ensures that all debt financing activities are performed in compliance with the Housing Conduit Bond Policy, Debt Management Policy and, as applicable, the Policy for the Acquisition and Disposition of Real Property.  The Bond Manager, together with the Officer, represents HACLA in all bond-related meetings and conference calls.  

 

The Bond Manager also drafts reports and resolutions recommending approval for project inducement, finance team selection, TEFRA, debt issuance authorization, waivers and amendments, and other authorization requests that must be obtained from HACLA’s Board of Commissioners and/or instrumentalities or affiliates, as necessary.  The Bond Manager is also responsible for establishing, managing and renewing contracts with professional service providers that assist the Capital & Debt Unit  with executing HACLA’s debt and development finance activities.  In addition, the Bond Manager assists in developing a five-year plan for the growth of the conduit bond program and ensures, with legal counsel, that HACLA is meeting all regulatory requirements and establishes procedures to conform to federal, state and local regulations as necessary. The Bond Manager assists with marketing the conduit bond program to affordable housing developers, lenders and housing advocates. The Bond Manager performs other bond, finance, reporting, compliance and program-related duties as assigned.  

EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

Essential and other important responsibilities and duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Processes and reviews all developer applications and due diligence forms, including background checks;
• Reviews and submits QRRP applications to CDLAC;
• Submits, on a timely basis, all required reports to federal, state and local agencies and bond counsel, including the IRS, CDIAC (including Annual Debt Transparency Reports), CDLAC and TCAC as necessary;
• Prepares bond-related board reports and resolutions, including inducement resolutions, TEFRA resolutions, bond document approval resolutions, reimbursement and other resolutions;
• Reviews and edits all bond legal documents;
• Assists in the preparation of bond and related legal documentation;
• Manages TEFRA hearings and obtains jurisdictional approvals as required by law;
• In coordination with the Officer, participates in project development and project debt financing meetings and conference calls
• In conjunction with HACLA’s municipal advisor, monitors schedules and deliverable items, and ensures that debt financing closings are accomplished according to schedule and meet closing deadlines as specified per state and federal law;  
• Prepares continuing disclosure notices, reportable/material event notices, and annual reports pursuant to continuing disclosure agreements;
• Submits all required reports and notices to the MSRB’s EMMA web portal and applicable bond trustees/fiscal agents and legal counsel;
• Communicates with Development Services and Asset Management staff regarding future bond financing needs, including interim and long-term new money or refunding financing, and potential private activity bond program requirements;
• Assists internal legal  and procurement staff in assembling a team of bond counsel firms, municipal advisory firms, trustees, fiscal agents and underwriters, as necessary;
• Assists the Officer with initiatives and communications between HACLA and LAHD regarding matters pertaining to the issuance of affordable housing private activity bonds in the City;
• Monitors arbitrage rebate requirements and arranges for arbitrage reports from 3rd parties;
• Collects/calculates and reports required annual certifications pursuant to bond covenants;
• Monitors debt service coverage ratios as necessary, but no less than on an annual basis;
• Monitors credit rating assignments on all HACLA debt;
• Updates existing debt policies as needed, in coordination with internal counsel, bond counsel and executive staff;
• Ensures that transaction-specific and total debt portfolio risk is minimized and is within the parameters of HACLA’s debt, acquisition and other policies;
• Ensures that bond proceeds are used for the purpose for which they were authorized, per the bond legal documents and authorizations obtained;
• Prepares project information checklists to quantify and monitor project structural details, schedules, sources and uses, owners, investors and other information;
• Ensures that HACLA’s post-issuance tax compliance procedures for tax-exempt bonds is followed, as applicable; Completes a post-issuance bond compliance checklist for each bond issuance;
• Provides support for HACLA’s response to state, federal or local inquiries regarding HACLA’s bond issuances or bond programs;
• Establish control procedures with trustees to monitor and track disbursement of bond proceeds;
• Maintains accurate and well-ordered records for bond accountability reporting for all bond and material documents for each transaction; follows internal record retention policies;
• Consults with bond counsel, internal counsel and financial advisors to ensure that all applicable post-issuance requirements are met;
• Monitors outside third-party compliance or other consultants as necessary if such tasks are outsourced;
• Monitors whistle-blower and/or fraud hotline for conduit borrowings;
• Assists the Officer in developing a five-year plan for the Capital & Debt Unit and reports to executive management on the status or completion of program goals;
• Maintains knowledge of state law revisions or amendments regarding private activity bonds and other HACLA debt issuances;  
• Maintains knowledge of federal law revisions, such as Issue Price Regulations, municipal advisor duties, and municipal advisor certification requirements;
• Responds to inquiries regarding HACLA’s bond programs, in coordination with the Officer;
• Performs other bond, finance, reporting, compliance and program-related duties as assigned.  

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Basic knowledge of government accounting and financial reporting, per the Government Accounting Standards Board (“GASB”) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”);
• Ability to lead and direct conduit and internal bond projects to completion in a timely manner;
• Ability to coordinate activities of professional consultants, internal staff and developer teams;
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing, including writing correspondence and memos to multiple external and internal parties;  
• Ability to present financial and bond information to local constituents, HACLA executives and Commissioners, industry professionals, and rating agency credit analysts;
• Ability to analyze bond structures, cash flows, proformas, bond credit ratings, bond documents;
• Awareness of general best practices in bond issuances;
• Ability to quickly analyze and understand government financial statements, including (i) Statements of New Position, (ii) Statements of Revenues, Expenses and Changes in New Position; (iii) Statements of Cash Flows, and (iv) Notes to Basic Financial Statements;
• Ability to produce, modify, refine and error-check intricate financial models that are instrumental to debt financing, debt service, portfolio management, real estate development, real estate acquisition;
• Ability to train staff in project/developer compliance and due diligence matters;
• Highly developed organization and project management skills;
• Highly skilled using Office 365, Microsoft Office, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, flow chart software.

 

TYPICAL QUALIFICATIONS:

QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelors degree in Real Estate Development, Accounting, Finance or a comparable college program. Completion of five or more semesters of college coursework in accounting and/or finance is required.        

 

Experience: Seven or more years of full-time work experience centered on the financial or credit analysis of large-scale multifamily affordable housing or capital  facilities.   Qualifying work experience should have been attained through employment with a state or local government entity, a public or private corporation, a nationally recognized credit rating agency, a major bank or financial institution, or a not-for-profit agency. Prior experience should demonstrate advanced knowledge of affordable housing finance, private activity bonds, LIHTCs, structured finance, credit rating metrics, capital improvement programs, and the issuance of tax-exempt debt including debt issued on a conduit basis.

 

In addition, prior experience must include working with the regulations and procedures implemented by the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (“CDLAC”), the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (“CTCAC”) and/or the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (“CDIAC”), or the equivalent public entities performing similar roles in other states.

 

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications will be reviewed for relevant experience, education, and/or training. Applications must be detailed and complete for proper evaluation. Resumes may be included but may not be submitted in lieu of application content. Only the most-qualified applicants will be considered and may be invited to the interview and selection process.

 

SELECTION PROCEDURE
Applications will be reviewed for relevant experience, education and training.  The application must be detailed and complete for proper evaluation.

 

HIRING INFORMATION
All job offers are contingent upon providing proof of full vaccination against COVID -19 and successful completion of a pre-employment evaluation, which includes: a post-offer medical examination (includes drug and alcohol screening), criminal records check, employment history and education verification, and documentation of the right to work in the United States. Fully vaccinated means 14 days have elapsed since receiving the second dose of the two dose vaccine or 14 days since receiving the one dose vaccine.

Candidates will start at step one of an eight step salary range unless there are special exceptions in accordance with agency Personnel Rules.

 

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION
Testing Accommodations: If you require an accommodation due to a physical, mental or learning disability, please call (213) 252-5400 for special assistance.  Special testing accommodations may be arranged if verification of the disability is provided by a physician, rehabilitation counselor, or other authority.

 

Mandatory Vaccination Accommodations: If you are unable to submit proof of vaccination at time of acceptance of a job offer due to medical and/or religious reasons, you will need to submit a request for a reasonable accommodation to engage in an interactive process. Fully vaccinated means 14 days have elapsed since receiving the second dose of the two dose vaccine or 14 days since receiving the one dose vaccine.

 

As a condition of new and continued employment, employees in this classification must participate in mandatory direct deposit of payroll.

 

We are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Candidates who require a reasonable accommodation in any portion of the selection process should state their need in writing when submitting an application.

NOTE: The provisions of this announcement do not constitute an expressed or implied contract and any provisions contained in this announcement may be modified or revoked without notice.

Pursuant to the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles' Conflict of Interest Policy, new and existing employees are required to refrain from participating in activities, employment or enterprises, which are in conflict with public interest and/or with his or her duties as an employee of the Authority.  A copy of the Conflict of Interest Policy may be obtained by visiting our website at:

http://www.hacla.org/Portals/0/Attachments/Others/ConflictofInterestPolicy.pdf 

Please call NeoGov Toll-Free Applicant Support telephone line (855) 524-5627 if you forget your password, have application login problems or get an error message during the application process.