US Operations Associate

About us:

Kiva is a global nonprofit, founded in 2005, with a mission to expand financial access and help underserved communities thrive. Kiva unlocks capital for borrowers through crowdfunded loans supported by individuals around the world. Lenders on Kiva can start with as little as $25 to support causes that matter most to them, whether that’s gender equity and support for women, refugees, climate change, small businesses, agriculture, and more. Since our founding, over two million people have invested $1.9 billion in real dreams and real opportunity, spanning more than 90 countries and 4.7 million borrowers.

As we work toward our mission, Kiva invests in building and retaining a global team of talent to add to our values-driven and digital-first culture. Our organization is supported by over 700 volunteers and 130+ full time employees dispersed around the world, as well as within team hubs located in San Francisco, Nairobi, Bogota, and Bangkok. Kiva’s team is growing as we pursue exciting new opportunities to scale our impact and create a financially inclusive world.

Kiva's values:

Impact first - This is why we exist. This is the drumbeat we march to. Every day.

Extreme ownership - Own it; you, your relationships, your impact. Insist that others support you and hold you accountable.

Be curious and bold - Never stop learning. Question assumptions. Take Risks and dream big.

Inclusion. Equity. Diversity. - Without reservation and without caveat. In our hiring, in our workplace and in our impact in the world.

Honor and integrity - Do the most right thing in the most right way. Cherish diversity and respect each other.

Love and kindness always - Say what you mean. Mean what you say. And don't say it mean. Clarity. Courage. Kindness.

Team overview:

The Kiva U.S. team provides 0% interest, no-fee loans of up to $15,000 to entrepreneurs and small businesses in the United States that are typically excluded from formal financing products. With no minimum credit score and an inclusive approach to underwriting, Kiva U.S. extends access to capital to small businesses across the country.

In communities and cities where there is an expressed gap in affordable financing options, Kiva offers a plug-in microlending partnership model for small business support centers, city governments, and community development financial institutions called the Kiva Hubs program. In more than 40 cities like Oakland, New York, Detroit, and Pittsburgh, partners are developing small business ecosystems and deepening their impact by making Kiva loans accessible to the entrepreneurs they serve.

Role overview:

This unique role plays a part in the complete lifecycle of a Kiva U.S. borrower, from application to repayment. As a Kiva U.S. Operations Associate, you assume a key role in Kiva’s innovative social underwriting process and support our borrowers with their repayments. In other words, you will be performing the tasks that turn a loan application into capital in an entrepreneur’s hands and then work on ensuring they repay their loan in full so Kiva lenders can support even more borrowers!

You will learn the current processes we use to vet borrowers and to manage their repayment experience, as well as engage with the larger team in suggesting and executing improvements to our processes and tech infrastructure. Once you’re fully onboarded, a typical day might include approving loan applications reviewed by our underwriting team, answering borrower questions, monitoring loan repayment through key metrics, creating repayment reports to be shared with partners, attending team problem-solving sessions on ways to improve the underwriting process and/or strategies to increase repayment, and experimenting with new solutions.

If you’re highly analytical, detail-oriented, mission-driven, and if you’re interested in seeing a financial inclusion program expand and scale, this job is for you!

At this time, we can only consider applicants with authorization to work in the United States on a permanent, full-time basis; unfortunately we cannot provide visa sponsorship.

Key responsibilities include: 

• Lead communications with borrowers whose loans are being repaid, helping them avoid delinquency or default; compile and synthesize feedback from paying back borrowers.
• Develop resources that simplify the repayment process for borrowers.
• Provide advice on how Kiva can improve our technical systems to be more efficient.
• Master and carry out Kiva’s social underwriting process, and become Kiva’s internal expert on our risk management policies, procedures, and tools. 
• Carry out collections, delinquency, and default processes for repaying borrowers