Efficient apartment communities don't just happen. They require high-performance teams of creative, hardworking, analytical people who enjoy serving residents. They understand the profound satisfaction of helping a person find the perfect home.
When you work in apartment operations, you have a deep sense of mission. You play an indispensable, frontline role in attracting and retaining residents to meet financial and customer service goals.
Operators depend on a vast array of skills and talents. Whether you thrive on face-to-face interactions, love to dive into numbers to identify and fix problems, or are mechanically inclined, apartment operators almost surely has a job that will suit you.
Click on the links below to learn about the specializations within multifamily operations and the kinds of jobs available within those specializations:
Property managers are truly on the front lines of the apartment industry. The property management team is responsible for securing new residents, creating great living experiences for residents, helping set rents appropriately and keeping the community looking great.
Sub-specialties:
Ultimately, it’s all about leases. Leasing team members are responsible for providing great customer service and closing the sale. They also collaborate with marketing teams to make sure a community is reaching the right audience of potential residents. For creative people who thrive on collaborating, making connections with new people and closing deals, this is a satisfying line of work.
Positions:
- Leasing Manager
Leasing managers perform the same duties as leasing consultants while also managing the whole team of consultants. They are charged are responsible for the overall operations of an apartment community. The buck stops here!
- Leasing Consultant
If you want to spend your days never doing the same thing twice, become a leasing consultant. On any given day, they’ll take prospective residents on tours, work with marketing teams to improve lead generation, manage resident concerns, stage apartment homes, post on Facebook and so much more. That’s not to mention planning exciting resident events, processing rental applications and negotiating lease renewals. Leasing consultants thrive on connecting with people and know that no two days will ever be the same!
Whether it's valet trash, bundled data packages or a climate controlled on-site storage space, ancillary services are common at apartment communities. Ancillary services team members design and manage a variety of these fee-based services to help provide a top-notch living experience and drive additional revenue. They make sure the programs address resident needs and are priced appropriately.
Facilities Management & Maintenance
Love working with your hands? Take pride in keeping a building running smoothly and looking great? That's what facilities management and maintenance is all about. The most common point of contact with residents, facilities and maintenance team members make needed repairs and perform critical maintenance. It's also hard to overstate their importance to creating high levels of resident satisfaction and retention.
Positions:
- Head of Facilities Management/Engineering
The king or queen of the maintenance shop, the head of facilities ensures everything from air conditioners to sprinkler heads work seamlessly. They gracefully orchestrate service requests and preventative maintenance responsibilities to ensure that the guts of the apartment community thrive, while the grounds always look their best. They oversee a staff of maintenance technicians, groundskeepers and housekeepers, etc.
- Head of Purchasing
There’s more to buy than you think for an apartment community. Appliances, fitness equipment, dog waste bags, signs, key fobs and every other little thing you can think could be purchased by the manager. But it’s so much less expensive when you buy in bulk through the purchaser. The head of purchasing is responsible for negotiating bulk purchasing contracts, managing the purchase approval process and ultimately buying or approving the purchase of the goods and services needed to keep an apartment community functioning smoothly.
- Maintenance Technician
A maintenance technician at apartment communities is more than a handy person. Sure, they maintain and repair an apartment community's building systems, such as the HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems. But they are also the face of the community. They often interact with residents more than any other team member. Their positive interactions with residents are vital to resident satisfaction and lease renewals.
- Painter
Painting an apartment community isn’t like painting a wall in your bedroom. It’s a highly technical responsibility that requires a sophisticated understanding of paint sheens, paint color management, hazardous materials, good design sense and much more. Painters play a vital role in keeping a community appealing to prospective renters and current residents alike.
- Groundskeeper
This isn’t your parent’s backyard that needed to be mowed once a week. Apartment grounds are massive with numerous complex ecosystems that need daily maintenance. Groundskeepers have extensive knowledge of what it takes to keep a large variety of plants, shrubs and grasses healthy and beautiful. Not only do they get to spend their days outside, but they also get the satisfaction of seeing the difference their efforts make in resident satisfaction and the appeal of a community to prospective renters.
- Housekeeper
The masters of the turn, housekeepers clean and spruce up vacated apartment homes to prepare them for tours and new residents. Other duties typically include keeping leasing offices, models, clubhouses and the interiors of common areas in sparkling condition. Housekeepers feel a real sense of pride and importance, knowing the vital role they play in creating good experiences for both current and prospective residents.
Once upon a time the apartment industry had a reputation for being behind the technological curve. That day is gone. Today's multifamily industry is home to many talented IT professionals. These professionals lead the development and implementation of systems and software that dramatically enhance apartment companies' ability to price, market, operate and maintain their communities. This is truly a cutting-edge industry that demands cutting-edge technology and analytical skills.
Sub-specialties:
Business Intelligence & Analytics
Data is king in business today. The multifamily industry is no different. Long gone are the days of making critical operational decisions based on gut feelings and a sense of "that's how things have always been done." Everywhere you turn, cutting-edge technologies and new ideas are embraced. Whether it's pricing, resident retention or maintenance, apartment operators are using business intelligence and analytics to make decisions that create better resident experiences and healthier bottom lines.
Positions:
- IT Manager
The technology stack at apartment communities is more robust than you might think. From property management software to resident service apps, the IT manager manages the software and technology that runs the community and its resident services. IT manager’s are vital to the efficient and profitable management of apartment communities and the security of the company's data.
- IT Analyst
Working under the direction of the IT manager, the IT analyst designs and implements information systems that optimize operational efficiency. Their work empowers operators to make true data-driven decisions about the operations, pricing and marketing of their apartment communities.
The price of an apartment home rises and falls based on supply and demand, and the economic conditions of the surrounding area. Pricing managers (a.k.a. revenue managers) dig deep to find the pricing sweet spot no matter the market conditions. You don't want your price to be so low that you're leaving money on the table, but not so high that you have to watch your occupancy tumble. Analytically minded associates who love solving a challenge will love this position.
Positions:
- Pricing Director/Manager/Analyst (Revenue Manager)
It’s not an Apple Watch. It’s an apartment. Pricing is a little more sophisticated than setting label maker and sticking it on the box. Rental rates rise and fall, sometimes daily, depending on demand, and the pricing team is charged with setting a price that maximizes revenue and maintains occupancy. Pricing directors, managers and analysts comb through the performance of competing apartment communities as well as economic data to adjust rental rates as necessary. More often than not, they use sophistical analytical software to aid their efforts.