Financial Analyst

Merrimac Ventures; Fort Lauderdale (FL); On-site; USD 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Merrimac Ventures seeks a Financial Analyst to own underwriting for acquisitions and development. You will build and maintain models, analyze cash flows, and support diligence, capital raising, and closing. This high-volume, high-visibility role screens opportunities across asset classes in the Southeast, with performance read by lenders and equity partners.

Familiarity with Florida markets is a plus. The ideal candidate is fast, precise, and able to defend assumptions while communicating

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in finance, real estate, accounting, economics, or a related field.
• 2+ years of CRE investment, development or valuation experience with underwriting responsibility.
• Exceptional Excel and modeling skills.
• Knowledge of NOI, cash flow mechanics, debt sizing and amortization, cap rates and DCF, waterfalls and promote structures, development budgeting and draw timing.
• Experience underwriting across multiple asset classes, not just one.
• Ability to manage multiple live deals with strict deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication; present analyses clearly to principals and partners.
• Attention to detail and intellectual honesty; able to clearly state what a model proves or does not prove.

Responsibilities

• Build, maintain, and improve dynamic Excel models for acquisitions and ground-up development across mixed-use hospitality, multifamily and condominiums.
• Produce multi-year cash flow projections, development budgets, and returns analysis (IRR, equity multiple, yield on cost, cash-on-cash).
• Run sensitivity and scenario analyses on key drivers (rents, absorption, exit cap, costs, schedule, interest rates).
• Screen opportunities and deliver a clear pursue-or-pass recommendation with rationale.
• Model JV structures, waterfalls, and partner distributions; maintain version control.

Skills

Excel modeling

Financial modeling

Underwriting

Real estate finance

Multi-asset underwriting

Communication

Attention to detail

Market research

Education

Bachelor's degree in finance/real estate/accounting/economics

Tools

CoStar

Yardi Matrix

Real Capital Analytics

Moody's Analytics

MS Office

Job description

Merrimac Ventures is a multi-strategy real estate investment and development firm focused on value-add transitional assets, ground-up development, and opportunistic investments. The firm invests primarily in the Southeast United States and pursues opportunistic returns across mixed-use hospitality, multifamily, condominiums, retail, office, and self-storage. We will pursue opportunities out of the Southeast when the deal size and returns justify the commitment.

We are a small, principal-led team. Decisions are made quickly and without layers, which means an analyst here sees the whole deal rather than one slice of it.

The Role

The Financial Analyst owns the underwriting behind every acquisition and development Merrimac pursues. Working directly with the Principals and Development team, you will build and maintain the models that determine whether a deal is worth pursuing, and then carry that analysis through diligence, capital raising, and closing.

This is a high-volume, high-visibility seat. You will screen a steady flow of opportunities across multiple asset classes and geographies, and your work product will be read by lenders, equity partners, and the Principals. We are looking for someone who is fast without being sloppy, comfortable taking a defensible position when the information is incomplete, and able to explain the two or three assumptions that actually drive a deal.

What You Will Do

Underwriting & Financial Modeling

Build, maintain, and improve dynamic Excel models for acquisitions and ground-up development across mixed-use hospitality, multifamily and condominiums.

Produce multi-year cash flow projections, development budgets, and returns analysis, including IRR, equity multiple, yield-on-cost, development profit margin, and cash-on-cash, at both the deal level and the partner level.

Run sensitivity and scenario analysis that isolates the variables the return is most exposed to: rents, absorption and sales pace, exit cap rate, hard and soft costs, schedule, and interest rates.

Screen inbound opportunities quickly and deliver a clear pursue-or-pass recommendation with the reasoning behind it.

Model joint venture structures, promote waterfalls, and partner distributions.

Maintain a consistent modeling standard and version control across the pipeline so that any model can be picked up and understood by someone else.

Gather and evaluate economic, demographic, and submarket data, including rent and sale comparables, the competitive supply pipeline, absorption, and employment and population trends, and translate it into the assumptions in the model.

Support due diligence by reviewing rent rolls, operating statements, and third-party reports, and reconciling them against the underwriting.

Track and document the sources behind key assumptions so that any number in a model can be traced back and defended.

Capital Markets & Transaction Support

Prepare investment memoranda, equity packages, and lender presentations for existing deals and new opportunities the firm is pursuing.

Assist the Principals through debt and equity closings, including debt sizing, coverage and covenant testing, sources and uses, and draw schedules.

Respond to lender and investor diligence requests with accurate, well-organized analysis under tight timelines.

Business Planning & Reporting

Assist with the preparation of business plans and annual operating budgets for assets under management and in development.

Compare actual performance against underwriting and budget, flag variances, and reforecast.

Support disposition efforts, including hold-versus-sell analysis, refinance alternatives, and review of broker valuations.

Assist Managers and Controllers with financial and reporting functions, including expense comparisons and resolving reporting discrepancies with third-party management companies.

Take on special projects as the pipeline requires.

What You Bring

Bachelor's degree in finance, real estate, accounting, economics, or a related field.

Greater than two years of commercial real estate investment, development or valuation experience, with direct responsibility for underwriting.

Exceptional Excel and modeling skills. You can build a model from a blank sheet, not just operate someone else's template.

Command of real estate finance fundamentals: NOI and cash flow mechanics, debt sizing and amortization, cap rates and discounted cash flow, waterfalls and promote structures, and development budgeting and draw timing.

Multiple asset classes. Demonstrated ability to underwrite across property types rather than a single specialty.

Volume management. A track record of running several live deals at once and holding deadlines without being chased.

Strong written and verbal communication. You can present analysis clearly to Principals and outside capital partners.

Precision and intellectual honesty. Attention to detail, and a willingness to say plainly what a model does and does not prove.

Proficiency in Microsoft Office and internet-based market research tools, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a small team where roles are not rigid.

Preferred, Not Required

Experience underwriting ground-up development, condominium sell-out, or hospitality assets.

Familiarity with Florida markets, particularly South Florida.

Working knowledge of CoStar, Yardi Matrix, Real Capital Analytics, Moody's Analytics, or comparable data platforms.

Exposure to construction budgets, draw processes, or GMP contracts.

Experience preparing materials for institutional lenders or equity partners.

Selection Process

Candidates who advance past the initial interview will be asked to complete a timed Excel modeling exercise based on a representative Merrimac deal. The exercise is designed to reflect the actual work of the role, and we discuss it together afterward.