Vice President of Residential Rental Real Estate Maintenance

Nest DC•Washington, DC

13d•$110,000 - $150,000•Onsite

About The Position

The VP of Maintenance is an executive leader who oversees maintenance operations for Nest DC’s scattered-site single-family homes and small multi-family portfolio. Reporting directly to lisa wise as owner and founder, this role requires a combination of deep mechanical literacy, financial discipline, and logistical oversight. In this role, the VP leads the maintenance ticket coordination team, manages the field technician roster, recruits and oversees vendor networks, and drives the expert adoption and continuous improvement of our technology stack—including LeadSimple, Google Gemini / Lucy AI, Notion, AppFolio, and Rippling. The VP of Maintenance is responsible for setting growth expectations, meeting, and exceeding revenue targets across all maintenance streams: day-to-day billable technician hours, property turnovers, vendor partner rebates, project management oversight fees, Virtual Maintenance adoption, and the WellNest Preventative Care program. By strategically deploying talent and tools, managing net operating income (NOI), and improving financial performance, the VP enables department profitability and team profit-sharing aligned with Nest DC's core value system. As a member of the Leadership Team, the VP connects with the VP of Marketing, Leasing & Sales and collaborates tightly with the VP of Home Management to align move-ins, turnovers, and client relations across the District, ensuring that operational quality is reflected in our 4.5+ star reputation.

Requirements

Deep mechanical literacy
Financial discipline
Logistical oversight
Ability to work in-office five days per week
Ability to lift and transport items up to 50 pounds
Ability to climb stairs
Ability to drive and active driver's license

Nice To Haves

Expert adoption and continuous improvement of our technology stack—including LeadSimple, Google Gemini / Lucy AI, Notion, AppFolio, and Rippling.

Responsibilities

Provide direct management, daily support, and performance oversight for the 4 personnel coordinating maintenance tickets.
Oversee work order lifecycles, ensuring 100% of maintenance requests receive a response within 24 hours, and keeping open loops at zero.
Direct and manage the active field team.
Drive measurable improvements in ticket coordination, dispatch efficiency, and hourly billability to create the foundation for expanding the hourly field technician headcount, directly increasing department profitability.
Design and execute the operational pathway and staffing model for the Virtual Maintenance Program, integrating remote diagnostic technical support.
Partner with offshore remote support teams to streamline administrative tasks, invoice checks, and system updates.
Conduct regular 1-on-1 check-ins, performance reviews, and maintain proper documentation in Rippling to ensure the team has the support needed to perform well.
Improve financial performance to meet and exceed budget projections, unlocking target bonuses and profit-sharing for the team as a core element of Nest DC's value system.
Oversight of emergency protocols, ensuring 24-hour coverage for issues that need attention in the field for our residents to secure property and ensure that residents are secure in their homes and getting appropriate responses from us.
Support of highly complicated maintenance and systems and structural issues and insurance claims things that are emerging at particular homes that need expert oversight and management.
Support of Basic Business License (BBL) and DCHA inspections in the field as those come up, along with NOI management.
Lead proactive communications and operational prep for clients and residents ahead of weather events (snow, severe storms, extreme temperatures). Ensure the team has the right materials, safety gear, and that the fleet is appropriate for technicians.
Serve as the internal system lead for all maintenance workflows in LeadSimple. Enforce the rule that all property maintenance tracking lives inside LeadSimple—keeping task management strictly out of Slack—to ensure complete visibility and automated tracking.
Embed Google Gemini and custom Lucy AI Gems into daily operations to assist the team in drafting clear owner communications and detailed technical scopes.
Collaborate directly with external technology consultants who build and improve our tools (including LeadSimple process architecture and Gemini AI workflow automation) to refine operational SOPs.
Adopt Notion daily to maintain team training boards, operational SOPs, onboarding materials, and KPI tracking dashboards.
Drive field team productivity to achieve 4 billable hours for the field team trending to 5 billable hours as quickly as possible.
Revenue targets need to not just meet, but exceed projections. Together we'll create a growth expectation across field tech labor, turnovers, vendor partner rebates, project management fees, Virtual Maintenance, and WellNest adoption.
Collaborate with the turnover lead to optimize move-out prep, painting, and rent-ready scopes to increase turnover revenue.
Enforce Schedule A project management fees on capital improvements, restorations, and major remediation (15% for projects under $3,000; 10% for projects over $3,000).
Expand live video diagnostics as a front-end triage filter to lower costs, capture virtual visit margins, and ensure one-and-done field execution.
Drive adoption of the WellNest Preventative Maintenance program, systematically converting inspection findings into approved secondary repair scopes.
Proactively identify, recruit, and onboard local trade contractors to support specialized repairs and seasonal peak demands.
Enforce the service level agreements and standards that are outlined in our Nest DC Typeform that vendors are supposed to read.
Conduct regular field spot-checks and milestone inspections on vendor work to ensure compliance with Nest DC’s standards.
Ensure and monitor that we have current licensing, insurance, W-9, and trade tags complete in Appfolio.
Sit on the Leadership Team alongside the VP of Home Management, VP of Co-Living, and VP of Marketing, Leasing & Sales.
Collaborate with the VP of Marketing, Leasing & Sales to align on turnovers, property availability, and move-in schedules.
Collaborate tightly with the VP of Home Management to ensure client alignment, protect property owners, and deliver an exceptional experience for residents.
Ensure operational care and quick issue resolution translate into positive online sentiment, supporting Nest DC’s goal of 4.5+ star Google reviews.
Actively model the "Caring the Most" philosophy for residents, owners, technicians, and vendors.
Communicate with warmth, candor, and technical authority—serving as an administrative shield for owners navigating DC housing codes.
Maintain daily operational fluency across the technology stack: LeadSimple, AppFolio, Google Gemini / Lucy AI, Notion, Rippling, and Slack.
Embrace diversity, foster an inclusive environment, and celebrate team wins.
Review LeadSimple dispatch boards with the ticket coordination team and assign routes to field technicians.
Review LeadSimple workflow queues with Maintenance Managers and remote coordinators to resolve escalated owner approvals, turnover scopes, and vendor quotes.
Conduct site visits for complex projects, structural issues, BBL/DCHA inspections, and WellNest quality control spot-checks.
Meet weekly with technology consultants to review LeadSimple workflow bottlenecks, Gemini AI prompt adoption, and process improvements.
Meet weekly with lisa wise, the CEO, Senior VP, and the Leadership Team to review billable hours, turnover yield, vendor performance, and revenue projections.
Track emergency maintenance coverages and standards of practice.
Act as back-up to all emergency maintenance activities