Director, Development Finance

Arizona Cardinals•Tempe, AZ

7d•Onsite

About The Position

The Arizona Cardinals Football Club is seeking a Director, Development Finance to lead financial analysis, development underwriting, and capital structuring for the Rawhide Project, a multi-phase, master-planned mixed-use development encompassing land development and horizontal infrastructure, retail, office, multifamily, hospitality, and structured parking. This is a high-visibility, high-trust role supporting and working directly with the fast-moving, newly formed organization of Rawhide Development Company, created to develop a 217 acre mixed use development in the north Phoenix area. The Director will serve as the analytical lead for the Rawhide Project, working closely with the CFO of the Cardinals and the CEO of Rawhide Development Company on the master pro forma, the development underwriting, the capital stack, and the materials that carry the project to ownership, lenders, joint venture partners, and public agencies. This is a highly hands-on individual contributor role. The successful candidate will be comfortable operating with independence and functioning as the dedicated development finance resource for Rawhide, personally building and maintaining the analyses and models that support key decisions rather than relying on a team of analysts. The role will collaborate extensively across Enterprise Finance, Accounting, Legal, Project Management and other internal and external partners. This role requires the highest level of confidentiality and discretion. The Director, Development Finance will regularly be exposed to sensitive financial, transactional, and strategic information — including land transactions, partner and lender economics, ownership discussions, and organizational planning — and must handle all such information with absolute discretion, both inside and outside the organization.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Real Estate, Finance, Economics, Accounting, Business, or a related field required
At least seven (7) or more years of progressively responsible experience in commercial real estate development, acquisitions, real estate private equity, or real estate investment banking or a related real estate investment/finance role.
Principal/sponsor-side experience strongly preferred.
Ability and desire to operate as a hands-on individual contributor and independently own the analytical work
Meaningful involvement across multiple stages of the development lifecycle.
Experience spanning feasibility, capitalization, construction and/or stabilization strongly preferred
Demonstrated ownership of ground-up development underwriting
Experience in leveraging AI tools to achieve increased production and quality
Advanced Excel skills and demonstrated ability to build complex dynamic, multi-phase development models from scratch; modeling ability will be evaluated as part of the process
Hands-on experience building and analyzing joint venture equity waterfalls with the ability to understand and translate governing economic terms into financial models
Experience closing or directly supporting debt and/or equity financings
Experience with ground-up development across multiple real estate product types; experience with large-scale mixed-use or master-planned development strongly preferred
Demonstrated track record of handling confidential and sensitive information with absolute discretion
Must successfully complete pre-employment screening, including a background check.

Nice To Haves

advanced degree or CFA, CCIM, or CAIA preferred

Responsibilities

Build and own the master development pro forma, a fully integrated, multi-phase model consolidating horizontal land development with vertical product across retail, office, multifamily, hospitality, and structured parking, with parcel- and project-level roll-ups
Underwrite individual components: rents, absorption, hard and soft costs, escalation, lease-up, operating expenses, reserves, exit cap rates, and residual value
Produce land residual analyses and test alternative land-use programs, densities, and phasing sequences
Calculate and stress project and partner level returns (IRR, equity multiple, yield-on-cost, development spread) through sensitivity and downside analysis, and maintain rigorous model governance and documentation
Own market research across the Phoenix/Scottsdale MSA - comparables, absorption, vacancy, pipeline, tenant demand, and demographics, and translate it into underwriting assumptions defensible to internal and external stakeholders
Conduct highest-and-best-use and product-positioning analysis by parcel, and support tenant-mix strategy for the retail component
Manage and analyze third-party consultants (market studies, appraisals, feasibility and fiscal impact analyses) rather than accept deliverables that cannot be reproduced internally
Model joint venture equity waterfalls, including preferred returns, hurdles, promote tiers, catch-ups, clawbacks, and capital-account tracking
Read and translate LLC and JV operating agreements into working models, flagging where drafted economics diverge from intent under downside scenarios
Support partner and investor negotiations with quantitative back-up, and maintain partner-level cash flow reporting, capital calls, and distributions
Model the capital stacks as required, construction debt, mezzanine, preferred and common equity, bridge and permanent financing, and refinance/recapitalization options
Analyze and compare alternative financing mechanisms (bonds, credit tenant lease, etc.) as required
Prepare lender and equity packages, manage diligence, and reconcile third-party reports against the underwriting
Model potential public finance and incentive and their effect on tenants, landowners, and development returns.
Build and maintain the project development budget, cash flow forecast, and equity draw projections, reconciled to the development pro forma on a regular basis
Collaborate with internal accounting and project management teams to ensure the tracking of actual-versus-budget performance, change orders, and cost-to-complete, and review recurring ownership reporting packages
Build ownership and investment committee presentations that are analytically airtight and visually disciplined, translating complex modeling into a clear recommendation
Support entitlement and public-approval processes with economic and fiscal impact analysis
Support land acquisition and parcel disposition, and model build-to-suit, ground lease, and pad sale structures for individual parcels and users
Underwrite leases as negotiated (percentage rent, TI/LC, net effective rent) and confirm terms clear the underwriting before signature
Build working relationships across departments (Legal, Finance, People, Project Management) and with outside counsel, tax advisors, and consultants to keep information and approvals moving
Other duties as assigned.