Portfolio Leasing Manager

Cardinal Group Career•Wilmington, NC

About The Position

The Portfolio Leasing Manager (PLM) is a high-level sales strategist, data analyst, and performance driver responsible for maximizing leasing velocity and occupancy across an assigned portfolio of communities. Working in close partnership with assigned Portfolio Managers, the PLM ensures each community is strategically positioned to achieve established leasing goals. The PLM and Portfolio Manager maintain continuous communication regarding leasing strategy, community and team performance, rate recommendations, and owner priorities. The role is the central owner of leasing execution, performance intelligence, and portfolio conversion, with a focus on lead-to-lease conversion, sales team accountability, market analysis, and actionable pricing strategies, while integrating centralized leasing workflows and marketing support. The position oversees leasing strategy and performance, sales enablement and training, market and competitor intelligence, rate and concession recommendations, and collaboration on marketing strategy. It includes analyzing leasing KPIs, diagnosing performance gaps, coaching onsite teams, aligning leasing workflows, tracking market conditions, and communicating performance insights and recommendations to internal stakeholders and clients.

Responsibilities

Use expertise in the sales journey and leasing cycle to identify opportunities to improve resident retention and leasing performance at each stage of the funnel.
Establish weekly, monthly, and long-term leasing goals and translate portfolio objectives into clear expectations and actions for onsite and centralized team members.
Manage and analyze leasing KPIs, including lead pipeline and volume, response quality, appointment scheduling, tour conversion, applications, conversions, lease execution, cancellations, and overall leasing velocity.
Diagnose performance gaps at lagging communities and develop and deploy targeted leasing strategies.
Combine competitor intelligence with leasing KPIs, pricing, seasonality, and historical trends to maximize occupancy and drive pre-leasing growth.
Communicate leasing performance to stakeholders and clients through concise, data-driven analysis identifying performance drivers, recommended actions, and expected outcomes.
Partner with Portfolio Managers to align leasing strategy, operational efficiency, client expectations, and performance management, and stay informed about projects that may affect marketing and leasing.
Maintain working knowledge of the Cardinal Platform, including AI tools, leasing and reporting systems, industry benchmarks, and standard operating procedures.
Execute, train, and administer Cardinal’s Sales Platform, including the Cardinal Way of Leasing (CWoL).
Partner with centralized leasing teams to align sales workflows, streamline lead handoffs, and optimize leasing support operations.
Coach and provide feedback to onsite leasing teams on phone, virtual, and onsite lead-to-lease conversions through role-playing and performance audits.
Motivate onsite leasing team members and establish clear expectations and accountability for leasing KPIs.
Maintain comprehensive knowledge of assigned communities, including floor plans, unit and bed types, amenities, availability, rates, concessions, target markets, customer needs, value propositions, leasing challenges, and competitive advantages.
Track competitor and market intelligence, including rates, specials, concessions, availability, leasing velocity, product offerings, positioning, new supply, and other demand factors.
Understand each market’s leasing cycle, customer behavior, demand drivers, local and university dynamics, and seasonal trends.
Regularly review markets and communities to identify opportunities to strengthen competitive positioning and adapt strategies to changing conditions.
Partner with Community Managers, Portfolio Managers, and other stakeholders to evaluate and recommend rates based on leasing velocity, availability, exposure, competitive position, demand, historical performance, and leasing goals.
Ensure the portfolio’s value proposition, rates, and availability are accurate across online channels in accordance with established processes and approved strategies.
Recommend and evaluate specials and concessions when needed to boost velocity, applying established standards and tiers.
Ensure Annual and Monthly Marketing Plan activities generate the lead volume and conversion results required to meet pre-leasing targets.
Identify when leasing performance requires additional marketing support and establish performance objectives for the appropriate marketing partner.
Partner with onsite leadership and the Portfolio Manager to address performance concerns consistently while considering operational and market factors.
Collaborate with Digital Marketing Strategists and Field Marketing & Brand Specialists on coordinated prospect-journey campaigns, providing property intelligence, target demographic insights, and pipeline data.
Evaluate lead attribution and marketing analytics to measure impact on the leasing funnel while allowing marketing specialists to retain ownership of their execution domain.