Closing Team Associate

About the role

The Closing Team Associate will report to the Head of Underwriting and will be responsible for closing all debt and equity investments (including senior loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, common equity, and acquisitions) working in tandem with Canyon Partner’s Real Estate originations teams, while working closely with Canyon’s legal counsel, asset management, and treasury departments and third party consultants to complete due diligence and close on commercial real estate investments that the firm is making.

Key Responsibilities

• Process Ownership & Coordination
  • Run the closing process from start to finish once a term sheet is signed, serving as the central process driver across all workstreams.
  • Draft and continuously maintain the due diligence checklist as the operational tracker for ownership, status, notes, and document location.
  • Send the kickoff email package and process instructions to the sponsor/borrower team, including data room access and upload conventions.
  • Facilitate the weekly checklist call and produce internal weekly “Closing Notes” covering top blockers, decisions needed, and critical path actions.
• Diligence & Third-Party Management
  • Launch and track third party engagements, including insurance, construction (PCA), environmental, appraisal, zoning, tax, and specialty reports, with scope, reliance language, and delivery dates.
  • Reviewing the deliverables provided by the third parties in concert with the origination team to identify risks and ensure completeness of the reports.
• Insurance Leadership
  • Introduce the borrower’s broker to the firm’s consultant, serve as an intermediary to negotiate Canyon’s requirements with the Sponsor’s requested coverage levels, and ensure binding is completed.
  • Achieve internal approvals for any deviation from standard requirements and ensure final terms are reflected in transaction documentation and the closing statement.
• Closing Economics
  • Maintain the deal budget workbook covering project line items, closing costs, and required reserves and contingencies.
  • Perform equity reconciliation on costs spent to date.
  • Build the sources & uses closing statement and ensure the escrow settlement statement ties out.
  • Track third party fees against budget to prevent surprises near closing.
• Cash Management & Funding
  • Orchestrate cash management structure and account setup with sponsor accounting, treasury, and servicers, and confirm legal docs reflect the structure.
  • Coordinate capital call readiness and wire mechanics, submitting wire requests to the authorized approver.
  • Track rate cap / hedging where applicable, ensuring premiums are integrated into sources/uses.
• Post Closing Transition
  • Support the transition memo and assist Asset Management with cash flow models.
  • Coordinate servicer onboarding and custodian/note delivery.
  • Maintain the post-closing tracker for trailing documents, recorded items, final policies, hedge docs, opinions, and ESG items.

Professional Experience

• A minimum of 4 years relevant experience, within a transaction or loan closing, debt originations support, capital markets, or real estate legal function.
• Direct experience closing commercial real estate debt and/or equity transactions including managing due diligence checklists and critical path timelines from executed term sheet through closing.
• Demonstrated experience engaging and coordinating third-party diligence providers including title/survey, appraisal, environmental (Phase I), property condition/construction, zoning, tax, and insurance from scoping and engagement through review of deliverables and reliance language.
• Experience with closing economics, including deal budgets, sources & uses, settlement statements, reserves and contingencies, and equity reconciliation.
• Exposure to loan documentation, organizational structure and guarantor review, and cash management or funding mechanics strongly preferred.
• Legal experience preferred; client-facing experience working directly with sponsors, borrowers, counsel, and consultants preferred.

Essential Skills & Competencies

• Process & Project Management
  • Proven ability to drive multiple parallel workstreams to a hard deadline, keeping checklists, owners, and due dates current and accurate.
  • Strong organizational discipline, updating trackers before every call and internal update, and identifying the items that must move each week.
• Technical & Domain Expertise
  • Solid understanding of CRE debt structures, including bridge, senior construction, and preferred equity deals.
  • Familiarity with diligence streams: title/survey, third party reports, construction documents, insurance, environmental, and entitlements.
  • Financial fluency to build and reconcile budgets, sources/uses, equity spent to date, and settlement statements with precision.
• Communication & Stakeholder Management
  • Clear, concise, action-oriented communication that always specifies what is needed, why it matters, who owns it, and when it is due.
  • Ability to run calls that open with a clear agenda and close with a defined action list, owners, and deadlines.
  • Skill in aligning diverse parties (sponsors, counsel, consultants, treasury, and Asset Management) around a shared timeline.
• Judgment & Problem Solving
  • Sound judgment on when to escalate, reserved for matters affecting closing date, risk profile, economics, or client relationship, while bringing solutions, not just problems.
  • Attention to detail in documentation, reliance language, and economic reconciliation to avoid surprises late in the process.
• Tools & Collaboration
  • Proficiency with data room platforms (ShareFile), budget and reconciliation models in Excel, and AM reporting templates (iLevel).
  • Collaborative working style across Legal, Originations, Accounting/Treasury, and Asset Management throughout the deal lifecycle.

Position Details

• Classification: Exempt
• Status: Regular / Full Time
• Reports To: Head of Underwriting
• Direct Reports: No
• Physical and Mental Demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, and walk. Must be able to sit at an office workstation for an extended period of time. May need to reach, stoop, or kneel to access items. Must be able to talk, hear and use wrists, hands and/or fingers frequently and repetitively to operate a computer, telephone and other office productivity machinery. Must frequently prepare or inspect documents, and convey details or important instructions or ideas accurately, loudly, or quickly. Ability to work independently, and prioritize duties to ensure timely completion. The ability to collaborate is also imperative. Requires active listening, critical thinking, making decisions, time management, as well as administration skills. Ability to interact in a courteous professional manner at all times. Regular, predictable attendance is required.
• Work Environment: No hazardous or significantly unpleasant conditions (such as in a typical office). Moderate noise (i.e., business office with computers, phones, printers and light traffic) Indoor business office environment with windows; light foot traffic within work areas