Director of Learning & Development

EMERGE LIVING LLC•Houston, TX

6d•$120,000 - $125,000•Hybrid

About The Position

This role exists to make Emerge Living's promise of growth and opportunity operationally true. Emerge Living has grown faster than any informal, tribal approach to training can support. The Director of Learning & Development is the single owner of fixing that. This is not a curriculum-librarian role, and it is not a compliance-tracking role. It is a performance role: you will diagnose where execution breaks down, build the training that closes the gap, deliver it credibly to people who work onsite for a living, and prove the impact in operating metrics — leasing conversion, retention, employee turnover, and internal promotion rate. If you want to build a learning function from the ground up, own it end to end, and be measured on whether the portfolio performs better because of your work — this is that role.

Requirements

7+ years of progressive experience in learning and development, training, sales enablement, or operations leadership, including at least 3 years designing and owning programs at a multi-site or portfolio level.
Multifamily or comparable multi-site operating experience. You understand what a property manager’s week looks like, how a lease gets signed, and how occupancy, delinquency, renewals, and turns drive NOI.
Adjacent multi-site operators (hospitality, retail, senior living, restaurant, fitness, single-family rental) will be considered if the sales-and-service coaching depth is clearly there.
Demonstrated facilitation ability with frontline audiences. You can hold a room for leasing professionals and maintenance technicians who did not ask to be in training and leave them better at their jobs.
Instructional design capability. You can build the curriculum yourself — needs analysis, learning objectives, blended delivery, assessment, and reinforcement — not just source it from a vendor.
Sales and service coaching depth. A real track record of improving conversion, closing ratios, or customer experience scores through coaching.
LMS and learning technology fluency, including implementation or administration, content authoring tools, and short-form video production.
Data literacy. Comfortable in spreadsheets and operating reports; able to build a business case and defend program ROI to an executive audience.
Willingness to travel approximately 30–50%, with a valid driver’s license and the ability to travel by air as needed.
Bachelor’s degree in a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Nice To Haves

NAAEI credentials — CAM, CAPS, NALP, CAMT, or CAS — or willingness to obtain them.
L&D certification such as ATD CPTD/APTD, or certification in a recognized sales or coaching methodology.
Hands-on expertise in Entrata, Yardi, or RealPage, plus a leasing CRM and revenue management platform.
Experience supporting acquisitions, lease-ups, or new property onboardings from a training standpoint.
Experience building a first-generation training function where none previously existed.
Bilingual English/Spanish.
Affordable housing program knowledge (LIHTC, HUD, Tax Credit compliance).

Responsibilities

Build and own the enterprise learning strategy for Emerge Living, covering onsite roles (leasing, maintenance, assistant managers, property managers) and corporate roles (accounting, marketing, asset management, HR, shared services).
Conduct a portfolio-wide training needs assessment, using operating data, mystery shops, resident feedback, audit findings, turnover data, and direct field observation to identify where performance breaks down.
Define role-based competency models and career pathways for every onsite and corporate position, so team members know exactly what proficiency looks like and what the next step requires.
Select, implement, and administer the learning management system (LMS) and support content library; own the vendor relationship, budget, and utilization reporting.
Establish and enforce a single set of operating standards and documented playbooks in partnership with Operations, so training reinforces the way we want the work done.
Design and deliver a leasing and sales curriculum that raises closing ratios — including discovery, tour choreography, objection handling, urgency and closing technique, follow-up cadence, pricing and concession conversations, and telephone and digital lead handling.
Build a mystery shop and call-audit program with scoring rubric, individual feedback loops, and targeted coaching for underperformers; hold managers accountable for follow-through.
Coach the renewal and retention conversation with the same rigor as the new-lease conversation, including rent-increase discussions, resident objection handling, and service-recovery.
Partner with Marketing and Revenue Management so that the message leasing teams deliver in person match the positioning, pricing strategy, and lead sources feeding the property.
Run recurring live sales sprints — shop-and-share sessions, role-play labs, leasing competitions — that keep skill sharp between formal training events.
Build a property manager development program that teaches the leadership half of the job: hiring and interviewing, onboarding a new team member, delivering feedback, performance management and documentation, delegation, conflict resolution, and holding a team accountable without burning it out.
Teach the business half of the job as well: reading and defending a P&L, budget construction and variance explanation, delinquency and collections discipline, expense control, capital project oversight, and vendor management.
Create an emerging-leader or "manager-in-training" track that identifies high-potential leasing professionals, assistant managers, and maintenance leads and prepares them for promotion before a vacancy appears.
Develop and coach district managers and regional leaders on how to coach — building a multiplier layer so development does not depend solely on you.
Partner with HR and Operations on succession planning, talent review, and calibration so promotion decisions are evidence-based.
Own role-based training and certification for the core operating stack — property management and accounting platform (Entrata / Yardi / RealPage or equivalent), leasing CRM, revenue management, maintenance and work-order systems, resident communication tools, and reporting dashboards.
Translate technology capability into operating behavior: not "here is the screen," but "here is the workflow, here is the standard, here is what good data looks like, and here is why it matters to NOI."
Champion responsible for adoption of AI and automation tools in leasing, resident communication, and back-office workflows, including practical guardrails and clear escalation to a human.
Build quick-reference job aids, short-form video, and in-the-flow-of-work microlearning so team members can find the answer in two minutes instead of calling corporate.
Serve as the training lead on every system implementation, upgrade, or process change, and on training for new property onboardings, acquisitions, and lease-ups.
Spend meaningful time at communities — observing tours, shadowing managers, listening to leasing calls, walking units and shops — so your curriculum reflects the actual job and your credibility with onsite teams is earned.
Deliver training in the format the audience needs: in-person at the property, regional workshops, live virtual sessions, self-paced modules, and one-on-one performance coaching.
Provide rapid, targeted intervention at underperforming or newly acquired assets, working alongside the district manager on a defined plan with a defined exit.
Build and lead a network of internal subject-matter experts and peer trainers who extend the program’s reach across markets.
Design a structured onboarding experience for every role — first day, first week, first 30 days, first 90 days — with clear checkpoints, an assigned buddy or mentor, and a defined certification before a team member is considered fully deployed.
Partner with Talent Acquisition and HR so that onboarding begins before day one and that hiring managers know exactly what they own in the ramp.
Track time-to-productivity by role and market and use it as a primary program metric.
Build a measurement framework that goes beyond completion rates and satisfaction surveys to change behavior and business results (Kirkpatrick Levels 3 and 4 or equivalent).
Report quarterly to the COO and executive leadership on program activity, participation, competency attainment, and — most importantly — the operating metrics training was deployed to move.
Manage the L&D budget with discipline and make clear build-versus-buy decisions on content, vendors, and third-party certification.
Maintain required compliance and certification training (Fair Housing, safety, harassment prevention, and applicable affordable-housing programs) in partnership with HR and Compliance — accurate, current, auditable, and never the whole of what we do.