Area Manager

CYM Living LLC•Chicago, IL

3h•$70,000 - $90,000

About The Position

CYM Living is a national real estate firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and just outside New York City. Its mission is to provide residents with an exceptional living experience, foster community, and support employee growth. The vertically integrated firm combines hands-on real estate investment and property management with data, technology, and local customer service. The Area Manager (AM) owns the full profit and loss (P&L) for an assigned zone or portfolio and is accountable for financial performance, rent strategy, operational alignment, and risk management. The AM provides senior leadership across multiple properties, ensuring onsite execution supports revenue growth, expense control, compliance, and long-term asset performance. The role leads Property Managers, establishes strategy, approves key financial and operational decisions, and serves as the escalation point for high-risk, resident, regulatory, and external matters. The Area Manager works across property and corporate teams to oversee financial results, occupancy, leasing, maintenance, vendor performance, compliance, staffing, and talent development. The role also prepares business reviews and presents financial performance, KPIs, and operational dashboards to leadership. Travel between properties and availability to respond to escalations and emergencies after hours, on weekends, and on holidays are required.

Requirements

Ability to communicate effectively in writing and verbally, including presenting financial results and strategy to senior leadership.
Ability to take initiative and work as a self-starter.
Excellent customer service skills.
Prior multifamily property management experience, including multi-property or regional oversight.
Proven experience owning a P&L, including budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis.
Strong leadership skills and experience hiring, coaching, and managing Property Managers and onsite teams.
Working knowledge of rent pricing, occupancy, leasing, and delinquency management.
Knowledge of Fair Housing laws, landlord-tenant regulations, and local building and safety codes.
Proficiency with property management software and Excel, including the ability to analyze data and build reports.
Ability to travel between properties within the zone and respond to escalations and emergencies, including after hours, weekends, and holidays.

Responsibilities

Own zone-level financial performance, including net operating income (NOI), revenue growth, and expense control.
Monitor unit turns, maintenance spending, and operating expense trends; review monthly delinquency and vacancy loss and direct corrective action.
Review financial statements, analyze variances against budget and forecast, approve annual budgets, and ensure execution against financial targets.
Approve renewal and rent-pricing recommendations with Asset Management and establish occupancy and collection targets for Property Manager teams.
Review leasing velocity, initiate strategic changes when performance lags, and partner with Marketing on underperforming submarkets, unit types, or channels.
Conduct weekly performance and strategy meetings with Senior Property Managers and review building-walk results, vacancy strategy, and operational risks.
Hold Property Managers accountable for operational, leasing, unit-turn, and resident-experience KPIs; support them with major escalations, resource constraints, and cross-property challenges.
Identify, onboard, and recommend vendors for Regional Director of Operations approval; work with Maintenance to ensure vendors follow approved scopes and timelines.
Escalate matters beyond Property Manager scope, including tenant, safety, city, and agency issues; promptly refer legal, city, and regulatory matters to Asset Compliance.
Oversee resident and employee conflicts and emergencies.
Partner with HR, IT, Legal, Maintenance, the Regional Manager, and Asset Management; ensure consistent implementation of SOPs and operational best practices across the zone.
Make final decisions on hiring, termination, promotions, and role changes; conduct quarterly and annual performance reviews for direct reports; approve compensation adjustments and incentive recommendations.
Develop and maintain a talent pipeline from Maintenance teams to Property Manager roles.
Prepare and submit biweekly business review packages and present monthly zone-level financial performance, KPIs, and operational dashboards to leadership.
Lead quarterly planning and mid-year strategy adjustments with Asset Management; identify and report risks, growth opportunities, and resource needs.
Coach Senior Property Managers and Property Managers, anticipate risks, identify growth opportunities, and promote financial and operational excellence.