Senior Investment Associate

Who We Are

Culdesac is a real estate and technology startup that builds cities for people, not cars. Our goal is to create the first car-free city in the US. We started by creating the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US - Culdesac Tempe, a $200 million mixed-use neighborhood development for 1,000 residents that opened in 2023. The neighborhood covers 17 acres and features 55% open space, shared courtyards, and abundant bookable spaces. Culdesac is the co-developer and tech-enabled property manager.

Read more about our vision, our product, and how we are changing how people live, work, and move:

Introducing Culdesac: Building car-free neighborhoods from scratch by Ryan Johnson (CEO & Founder)

The Capital of Sprawl Gets a Radically Car-Free Neighborhood by The New York Times

Watch New Car-Free Neighborhood in Arizona - NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt

Paying Rent Will Get You Wheels in New Car-Free Complex by Bloomberg

Listen to the conversation about designed environments to improve healthspan, mobility, and positive habits - Ryan Johnson and hall-of-fame basketball player Steve Nash on the Good Traffic podcast

11 rules for buying an ebike. Ebikes are about to change the world. By Ryan Johnson (CEO & Founder)

We’re headquartered in Tempe, AZ and were founded in 2018. CEO Ryan Johnson was previously on the founding team of Opendoor and has been managing property since 2003. Our investors include Khosla Ventures (led OpenAI’s seed round), Lennar (#2 homebuilder in the US), Zigg Capital, and Y Combinator.

The Role

As a Senior Investment Associate at Culdesac, you will help drive data-driven decisions by maintaining and building upon our financial infrastructure and investment processes as we scale the company. You will be a key part of our real estate strategy by helping in the analysis of existing and potential locations and related outreach, design, and planning. You will report to the Chief Investment Officer of the company but also interface with other disciplines within the company, including the Chief Executive Officer, and our investment partners, lenders, and other key relationships.

The Requirements

While this list represents what we are ideally looking for, we encourage you to apply even if your resume includes strengths and experiences that don’t match everything listed here. We expect most to need at least 4 years of relevant experience to fulfill this position.

Experience in conducting due diligence on land acquisition opportunities. Strong experience in creating and maintaining custom pro-forma underwriting models, evaluating financing alternatives, and understanding what “makes a deal work.”

Experience in organizing the preparation and review of quarterly financial statements and annual operating budgets and forecasts, including review of market analysis, real estate tax forecast, and disposition strategy.

Experience preparing and reviewing recurring investor, partner, and/or lender financial reports and communications. This includes supporting the preparation and creation of quarterly board documents, presentations, and pitch deck materials on Culdesac projects for partners, and local stakeholders.

Able to monitor cash flow, distributions, and returns of existing projects. Ensure adherence to operating and capital budgets and business plans and effectively identify and communicate changes, variances, or concerns.

Experience or ability to learn how to review and understand complex legal documents and work with counsel to effectively negotiate key deal terms. Understanding or ability to develop skills in closing transactions, including the title process. Familiarity with zoning and/or entitlement processes.

Ensure assets are operating in a manner consistent with management agreements, joint-venture operating agreements, loan documents, etc.

Comfortable establishing and meeting critical timelines and deadlines for tasks and activities related to capital raises or transactions. Identify and effectively address issues or problems that could otherwise adversely affect closing capital.

Locations

We are headquartered in Tempe, AZ, and our office is located in the heart of downtown Tempe. We encourage employees to visit and work in our beautiful Tempe office and offer relocation assistance to those who’d like to move to Tempe. We also have remote positions, and we work hard to create a first-class, remote-friendly environment.

Benefits & Perks

🏥 Benefits Package - Includes options for medical, dental, and vision.

🥚 Family Planning Benefits

🐣 Parental Leave - Up to 12 weeks paid time off for qualifying events.

🏦 401K Savings

🖥️ Work From Home Stipend - Up to $500 for equipment paid by the company.

🌎 Co-Working Stipend - $100 per month paid by Culdesac for space intended for work productivity directly related to Culdesac business (e.g., co-working space pass for the day). Remote employees only.

🚲 Mobility Stipend - Up to $500 to invest in employee micro-mobility setup (e.g., e-bike, e-scooter, micro-mobility accessories).

🛴 Car-Free Commuter Benefit - $200 per month paid by Culdesac. Tempe employees only.

🏡 On-Site Living Discount - 25% discount on base rent for 1 unit at a Culdesac managed property.

Our Values

As sprawl became commonplace in our cities, we felt less connected to each other. We normalized hour-long commutes, even as private vehicle ownership became the largest source of carbon emission pollution. Private vehicles and roads limited and dictated development decisions and urbanism. Our cities thus blend technology, real estate, and culture to reimagine our daily lives. Come help us make our residents happier, healthier, and more productive in the years they spend with us and the moments they spend together.

At Culdesac, we:

Work as a team

Be inclusive, drawing on the strengths of people who bring a different perspective.

Find ways to work together that overcome disciplinary and geographic separations.

Act from ownership

Be output oriented. When we see a problem, we roll up our sleeves and fix it.

Don’t let blockers stop you from seeing your work through to the end.

Rule 0, then iterate

Don’t start from scratch: learn from our own and others’ previous attempts.

Before mass private car ownership, all cities were models of walkability. We learn from the designs of the past and make them beautiful and relevant to today.

Then, we learn from our own designs to continually improve.

Design for humans

Ask people for feedback and observe behavior. Only users know if we’re creating value for them.

Human paradoxes and contradictions are our opportunity to create joy.

Respect the limits of what we can know and plan. In the complex organism of a city, emergent behavior rules.

Create and capture value

Focus on what our residents value: profitability is essential for sustainability and allows us to scale.

Great places create positive externalities for ourselves and our neighbors, unlike the negative externalities of cars.

We build value by executing on the fundamentals and excelling at mobility, community, and open space.

Next Steps

If you think Culdesac might be a good fit, we encourage you to apply! You have nothing to lose, and we'll respond to you within a week. If we move forward, here's our typical process:

1. A 20-minute call with a Recruiter to understand your high-level background and cover logistics & expectations.

2. A 2.5 hour take-home assignment.

3. A 30-minute video call with our Finance Leader to learn more about your background & experience.

4. A 30-minute video call with our CIO to review a list of company scenarios.

5. A 30-minute video call with our Head of People.

6. A 30-minute video call with our CEO overviewing how you would fit in Culdesac’s mission, vision, and culture.

At each step, we leave time for you to ask us questions. We look forward to hearing from you!

As required by pay transparency laws in California, Colorado, New York, and Washington, Culdesac provides a reasonable range of compensation for roles that may be hired in these locations. Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $115- $130k. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise. An overview of benefits is provided on our careers page.

Culdesac is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.