Senior Regional Acquisition Manager

The opportunity

The Associate will be responsible for oversight, day-to-day management and development of MIMTA’s acquisition activities in the Pacific West region.  It is envisioned that this role and team members will coordinate with and support, from time to time, other acquisition activities occurring within MIMTA and will assist as needed with Disposition activities.  

The successful candidate will:

• be required to negotiate and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders and must have strong communication and leadership skills;
• be effective at completing an acquisition; structuring, negotiating, completing timely and accurate due diligence and closing;
• have a detailed knowledge and understanding about agricultural economics and real estate in terms of geographic areas, local customs, crop suitability, soil types, water sources and access, climate characteristics, and proximity to infrastructure, in addition to a general understanding of contract and real estate transaction law;
• have experience in evaluating and modeling the financial viability of agricultural real estate investments;
• demonstrate proficiency in analytical thinking and a willingness to take ownership of and expand project-oriented work with limited oversight and information; and  
• be a self-starting teammate with meticulous attention, able to multitask while keeping their work organized.
• The candidate is expected to travel on a regular basis and be available for scheduled calls (staff meetings and pipeline calls) as requested.

Position Responsibilities: 

• Responsible for sourcing, identifying, evaluating agricultural real estate properties for potential acquisition by MIMTA through broker relationships, direct outreach, industry networks, and other reliable intermediaries
• Responsible for leadership and assisting in development of processes designed to enhance and increase MIMTA’s effectiveness with respect to acquisition sourcing, underwriting, and closing transactions
• Develop an acquisition pipeline with farmland operations counterparts consistent with investor objectives in partnership with the Portfolio Management and Client Services team
• Manage the acquisition underwriting process to assess investment viability and return expectation. Coordination with local farm operations team to assess underwriting assumptions based upon current and expected market conditions.
• Ownership of the due diligence process with the support of the Transaction Management team. Ability to review all due diligence materials, identify material risks, communicate risks to key stakeholders, and provide acceptable resolution to the risks prior to closing the acquisition
• Lead investment presentations to both various internal investment committees for transaction approvals
• Management of any integration and/or post-closing items as needed
• Assist Transaction Managers in permanent crop dispositions when necessary, including coordination with local brokers, client communication, contract negotiation, property site visits, property information gathering, due diligence resolution, and/or closing
• Implementation of acquisition strategy into new areas and commodity types as identified by MIMTA
• Responsible for assisting in the development of Acquisition and Disposition Group policies and procedures as appropriate. Periodically review process documentation and templates to ensure content and form are up-to-date and follow current investment needs
• Develop, contribute to, and implement strategic initiatives as determined by MIMTA
• Provide accurate and timely information to MIMTA management concerning progress toward investment goals and specific planned and in-progress acquisitions
• Prepare presentations, financial analyses, management memorandums, and other documents for the Managing Director, North American Acquisitions and Dispositions on an ad hoc, project basis
• Populate and use the software required to track transaction opportunities and provided GIS system
• Attend industry conferences and other networking events as appropriate and needed

Required Qualifications:

• Ten years of progressive experience in agricultural property management, real estate lending or acquisitions and a proven track record of strategically identifying attractive agricultural real estate investment opportunities while building investor value through acquisitions
• A Bachelor’s degree, preferably in agriculture, real estate, business or finance
• Firm grasp of investment strategy and financial and risk analysis, and agricultural operations.
• Professional designation such as CFA, CAIA, AFM, ARA would be an asset
• Maturity and willingness to approach