CRA and Community Development Officer

HomeTrust Bank•Asheville, NC

About The Position

The CRA & Community Development Officer leads HomeTrust Bank’s enterprise-wide Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and community development strategy across the Bank’s assessment area within a five-state footprint. The Officer is the Bank’s central CRA subject matter expert and strategic coordinator, partnering with executive leadership, market presidents, branch and lending leaders, Compliance, Community Development, Marketing, and other business lines. Business lines and market leadership retain responsibility for carrying out CRA-related activities in their areas. The Officer advises senior management on CRA performance, community needs, regulatory expectations, and ways to strengthen the Bank’s community impact. The role develops and executes the Bank’s CRA strategy and annual operating plan; sets assessment-area priorities; establishes measurable lending, investment, and service objectives; analyzes performance; supports continuous examination readiness; and coordinates CRA reporting and documentation. It also builds relationships with community organizations throughout the five-state footprint, identifies opportunities to address community needs, and provides CRA education and training to Bank employees. The position provides leadership for an assigned team, including recruitment, training, work planning, goal setting, professional development, and performance management. It also requires compliance with corporate policies and applicable laws and regulations, including BSA, AML, CIP, OFAC, lending, and consumer compliance requirements. The role is based in a professional office environment, uses standard office equipment, and requires travel up to 50% to markets within the Bank’s footprint.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, public policy, or a related field.
7–10+ years of experience in banking or a related field.
Experience managing CRA programs for a large or multi-state bank.
Experience with CRA data analytics and assessment-area analysis.
Familiarity with nonprofit and community groups supporting affordable housing finance, CDFIs, community development financial structures, or economic development.
Experience preparing for or managing a CRA examination.
Experience developing enterprise CRA strategies and performance dashboards.
Ability to travel to all markets within the Bank’s footprint.
Excellent attention to detail, organizational skills, and communication skills.
Highly effective verbal and written communication skills and demonstrated ability to work as a team player.
Ability to work independently with strong initiative and results orientation.
Excellent relationship-building and relationship-maintenance skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office products.

Nice To Haves

Previous experience with Kadence administration.
Previous experience in volunteer and event coordination.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the Bank’s enterprise-wide CRA strategy, objectives, and annual operating plan.
Establish CRA priorities for each assessment area based on local market conditions, demographic trends, community needs, lending opportunities, and regulatory expectations.
Translate the CRA strategy into measurable objectives for lending, investment, and service activities.
Partner with market and business-line leaders to integrate CRA objectives into business plans and market strategies.
Analyze CRA performance throughout the year by assessment area, product, geography, business line, and CRA activity, and identify potential areas of concern.
Provide senior management with regular reporting on CRA performance, trends, opportunities, and emerging risks.
Serve as the Bank’s primary enterprise subject matter expert on CRA and community development.
Maintain continuous CRA examination readiness; coordinate examination preparation, responses to examiner requests, and remediation of examination findings.
Coordinate with Compliance to ensure CRA-qualified activities are identified, documented, categorized, and supported appropriately.
Maintain processes for comprehensive inventory and documentation of CRA-qualified lending, investments, grants, donations, and community development services.
Track regulatory developments and assess their potential impact on the Bank’s CRA program.
Partner with commercial, CRE, residential mortgage, small business, and specialty lending teams to identify lending, service, and investment opportunities that address community needs.
Meet with community organizations to understand changing needs; represent the Bank at community development meetings, conferences, industry events, and civic organizations; and facilitate connections with Bank business lines.
Represent the Bank with community organizations and external stakeholders and develop relationships with organizations serving LMI individuals and communities.
Maintain relationships across the five-state footprint with organizations focused on affordable housing, small business, economic and workforce development, financial education and inclusion, neighborhood revitalization and stabilization, community facilities and essential services, and disaster recovery and resilience.
Develop educational materials and training for lenders, branch employees, relationship managers, and other associates.
Ensure management reporting provides a reliable view of CRA performance and prepare regular reports for executive management and the Board or appropriate Board committee.
Lead assigned team recruitment, interviewing, and employee training.
Plan, assign, and direct departmental work in alignment with the Company’s strategic direction.
Set measurable performance goals, provide professional development opportunities, and manage performance through consistent feedback and support.
Coordinate interdepartmental goals to align with company goals and vision.
Maintain confidentiality and security of sensitive information; follow corporate policies, procedures, and applicable laws and regulations; and complete mandatory annual compliance training.
Follow BSA, AML, CIP, OFAC, lending, consumer compliance, and fair lending requirements to help identify, detect, and deter unlawful activities.
Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.