Regional Manager, New Community Lease-Up

Avanath•Irvine, CA

1d•$100,000 - $125,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Avanath is a leading property management company focused on providing affordable housing. The Regional Manager, New Community Lease-Up is responsible for overseeing assigned affordable housing communities from pre-opening through stabilization and transition to long-term operations. This role involves translating development plans into operational launches, ensuring all aspects like people, systems, apartment readiness, marketing, compliance, and financials are aligned. The position directs Community Managers and associates, partnering with various internal departments (Development, Construction, Compliance, Marketing, etc.) and external stakeholders (ownership partners, housing agencies). Key responsibilities include day-to-day execution, risk identification, and escalation of critical decisions impacting opening, occupancy, compliance, resident experience, or financial performance. Success is measured by timely openings, apartment delivery, application quality, move-in pace, occupancy and revenue targets, budget control, audit readiness, team preparedness, accurate reporting, and a smooth transition to stabilized operations. The role requires sound judgment, strong organization, urgency, accountability, integrity, and positive engagement.

Requirements

Five or more years of progressive multifamily property management experience, including multi-site or regional leadership responsibility.
Demonstrated success leading one or more new construction or substantial rehabilitation lease-ups from pre-opening through stabilization.
Strong working knowledge of affordable housing operations and applicant eligibility processes.
Direct experience with LIHTC is required.
Ability to read and apply the Tenant Selection Plan, Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan, regulatory agreements, income and rent limits, utility allowances, occupancy standards, leasing criteria, and agency requirements applicable to each community.
Experience building and managing detailed project plans, readiness checklists, owners, deadlines, dependencies, risks, and recurring reporting across multiple communities.
Working knowledge of property management, affordable compliance, customer relationship management, screening, document management, and reporting systems.
Ability to analyze budgets, leasing velocity, application conversion, unit readiness, rent collections, subsidy receipts, marketing results, staffing productivity, and operating variances.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present concise status, risks, decisions, and recovery plans to senior leaders and ownership partners.
Valid driver’s license and ability to travel frequently within assigned regions, including overnight travel as business needs require.

Nice To Haves

Experience with HUD, project-based rental assistance, tax-exempt bonds, HOME, local housing programs, or layered regulatory programs is strongly preferred.
Experience with Yardi and RentCafe is preferred.
Affordable housing or occupancy certification such as HCCP, SHCM, CPO, COS, or equivalent is preferred.

Responsibilities

Own the master lease-up plan for each assigned community from pre-opening through stabilization, with clear action steps, responsible owners, target dates, dependencies, current status, and escalation points.
Lead recurring lease-up meetings using one source of truth, confirming decisions, documenting action items, assigning deadlines, and following through until closure.
Establish opening and stabilization benchmarks with the Senior Director, ownership, Asset Management, Development, and Compliance, maintaining a written definition of readiness and stabilization for each community.
Maintain a current risk and decision log covering construction delivery, certificates and permits, staffing, training, technology, marketing, application processing, compliance, unit readiness, move-ins, budget, and resident communications.
Escalate missed milestones and emerging risks early with a specific recovery plan, decision needed, accountable owner, and revised completion date.
Coordinate the final handoff to long-term operations, including open items, warranties, vendor obligations, compliance status, financial status, resident issues, staffing, system access, records, and lessons learned.
Visit assigned communities a minimum of 3-4 times per week.
Manage up to 10 sites and a diverse workforce.
Direct and support the personnel and performance of each site, coaching leaders, and providing clear and concise feedback and direction, selection, and staffing decision-making.
Work with and support all back office and corporate support functions, including compliance, finance and accounting, asset management, capital projects, and human resources.
Assess and complete team performance on an annual basis.
Recognize opportunities for team development when there are performance-based and cultural concerns.
Challenge all team members to achieve higher levels of performance by establishing and communicating clear goals.
Respond to any team member concern, maintenance condition, resident problem, breach of security, and/or emergency.
Coordinate and oversee on-site operations, including budget implementation, compliance matters, vendor relationships, contractor workmanship, rent collections, accounts payable, etc., to ensure smooth operations of the property.
Partner with Development and Construction to maintain an accurate apartment delivery schedule, certificate and inspection status, punch completion plan, key and access plan, building systems training, warranty records, and phased occupancy sequence.
Coordinate apartment acceptance walks with site and Building Services teams, tracking release date, application readiness, approval, scheduled move-in, actual move-in, and total hold days for every apartment.
Confirm readiness of the management office, model or tour path, signage, life-safety systems, access control, surveillance, lighting, elevators, utilities, internet, phones, computers, printers, payment processes, and emergency procedures before public opening.
Confirm all required contracts, vendors, supplies, furniture, equipment, inspections, licenses, postings, insurance documentation, keys, manuals, and service schedules are in place and understood by the site team.
Partner with Compliance to create a community-specific regulatory matrix that identifies each program, set-aside, rent and income limit, unit designation, eligibility rule, required approval, reporting obligation, and file review standard.
Ensure leasing activity follows the approved Tenant Selection Plan and Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan, including waitlist order, preferences, outreach, reasonable accommodation, language access, screening, denials, appeals, and required notices.
Establish a controlled applicant workflow from inquiry through move-in, monitoring waitlist readiness, appointments, document collection, verifications, third-party processing, corrections, approvals, denials, appeals, lease execution, and move-in scheduling.
Ensure unit offers match the approved unit designation matrix and occupancy requirements, preventing unapproved substitutions or moves that could create compliance risk.
Review application aging, incomplete files, returned files, approval turn times, move-in readiness, and denial trends at least weekly, removing workflow barriers and escalating decisions that threaten the occupancy plan.
Ensure files and systems are complete, accurate, secure, and audit-ready before move-in, coordinating quality-control reviews and timely correction of findings.
Translate the approved pro forma and construction delivery schedule into weekly and monthly goals for outreach, appointments, applications, approvals, leases, move-ins, occupancy, rental income, and subsidy income.
Partner with Marketing to execute the approved outreach and advertising plan, maintain required marketing records, monitor source performance, and adjust tactics based on qualified demand and conversion results.
Lead weekly pipeline review by bedroom type, unit designation, waitlist position, application stage, barrier, next action, owner, and expected move-in date.
Monitor leasing velocity and the full conversion funnel, developing written recovery plans when traffic, applications, approvals, executed leases, move-ins, or occupancy fall behind goal.
Coordinate resident-facing opening and move-in communications so expectations, appointments, payments, keys, documents, accessibility needs, and building rules are clear.
Assist in developing and managing pre-opening and lease-up operating budgets, staffing plans, marketing budgets, purchasing, contracts, and opening costs.
Review actual performance against approved budget and lease-up goals, explaining material variances and implementing corrective plans with clear owners and dates.
Monitor rental income, subsidy and assistance payments, concessions or approved incentives, delinquency, vacancy loss, controllable expenses, marketing cost per qualified application and move-in, and other approved performance measures.
Produce accurate, concise, and timely reporting for the Senior Director, ownership, Asset Management, Development, and other stakeholders, distinguishing completed work, upcoming milestones, decisions required, risks, and recovery actions.
Protect financial controls by confirming approved purchasing, contract authority, invoice coding, deposits, payment posting, resident ledger setup, banking processes, and supporting documentation.
Partner with Human Resources and Recruiting to establish the staffing model, hiring dates, onboarding plan, temporary support needs, schedules, and coverage required for each phase of lease-up.
Direct and support Community Managers and site teams through clear goals, daily priorities, coaching, workload balancing, and timely feedback.
Ensure every team member is trained and able to perform assigned tasks before opening, including fair housing, affordable housing requirements, systems, applicant communication, file handling, leasing, move-ins, payments, emergency protocols, and customer service.
Create cross-coverage and backup plans for high-volume application processing, compliance review, leasing, move-in days, and unexpected absences.
Promote a culture of accountability, teamwork, continuous improvement, and respect, recognizing strong performance and addressing performance or conduct concerns promptly with Human Resources.
Ensure applicants and residents receive timely, accurate, respectful, and consistent communication throughout the lease-up process.
Monitor complaints, missed calls, unresolved inquiries, reasonable accommodation requests, application disputes, move-in issues, and service concerns, assigning ownership and confirming resolution.
Coordinate with Resident Services and community partners to support successful move-ins and connect residents with appropriate resources while preserving confidentiality and professional boundaries.
Ensure the opening experience reflects Avanath standards for dignity, fairness, responsiveness, safety, and service.