Vice President, Operations

Article Student Living•Chicago, IL

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Article Student Living is hiring a Vice President, Operations to provide executive leadership for property operations and field support across its national student housing portfolio. The role establishes operating strategy, performance standards, systems, and development programs to help site and regional teams deliver consistent financial, leasing, resident-experience, and people results. The position reports to the Chief Operating Officer and leads the Director, Property Management, members of the Regional Manager team, and at times a Regional Vice President. It is based onsite at the company’s Chicago, Illinois office; remote work arrangements are not available. Travel may be required up to 35% of the time. The Vice President, Operations is accountable for portfolio performance, leadership development, operational readiness, and scalable processes. The role partners with Sales & Leasing, Accounting, Asset Management, Facilities, Human Resources, Marketing, and Systems Support to align execution with company and ownership objectives. It also serves as the hands-on owner of core business systems, including Entrata and other systems that integrate directly with it, overseeing configuration, integrations, governance, workflows, permissions, automation, and daily operations. The successful candidate balances revenue growth, expense discipline, resident experience, and team development. This strategic, people-first executive translates company goals into operating priorities and measurable results, builds scalable systems while staying connected to property-level needs, develops leaders, strengthens accountability, collaborates across the organization, and drives initiatives through completion. The role is expected to exhibit Article’s core values of authenticity, agility, accountability, and being all-in.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
10+ years of student housing or multifamily property management experience.
5+ years leading regional, portfolio, or enterprise-level operations.
Demonstrated success improving financial and operating performance across a geographically dispersed, multi-site portfolio.
Strong financial acumen, including revenue management, budgeting, forecasting, expense control, variance analysis, capital planning, and ownership reporting.
Experience designing and scaling operational standards, onboarding processes, leadership development, policies, procedures, and performance-management programs.
Experience leading field-based leaders and cross-functional initiatives through influence, accountability, and change management.
Experience with lease-ups, takeovers, new developments, stabilized assets, and operational transitions.
Advanced knowledge of property management systems, including Entrata or comparable platforms.
Ability to travel up to 35% of the time.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.

Responsibilities

Set the vision, strategy, annual priorities, and performance expectations for property operations and field support across the portfolio.
Lead, coach, and develop the Director, Property Management and operations leaders, building accountability, succession plans, and a strong leadership pipeline.
Drive portfolio financial and operating performance, including revenue growth, NOI, controllable expenses, occupancy, renewals, leasing velocity, collections, resident experience, and reputation results.
Partner with Accounting and Asset Management on annual budgets, revenue assumptions, monthly forecasts, variance reviews, expense controls, capital planning, and ownership reporting.
Create and maintain operating standards, policies, procedures, playbooks, checklists, and performance-management tools for consistent execution across markets.
Oversee new property onboarding, management transitions, takeovers, lease-ups, new development start-ups, and stabilization plans, ensuring operational, staffing, and leasing readiness.
Oversee the Property Performance Snapshot (PPS) and other performance-management tools, evolving reporting and accountability processes with operational needs, systems, and company priorities.
Partner with Sales & Leasing, Marketing, and property leadership on leasing strategy, revenue opportunities, renewal performance, and portfolio-wide campaigns and initiatives.
Partner with Systems Support to strengthen Entrata utilization, reporting, technology adoption, workflow consistency, and process improvement at property and portfolio levels.
Establish portfolio review rhythms, operating audits, site-visit standards, and action-planning processes to identify risk, reinforce accountability, and improve performance.
Own core business systems, including Entrata and systems that integrate directly with it; oversee configuration, integrations, and daily operations to ensure data accuracy, performance, and reliability.
Manage system governance, workflows, permissions, and automation across departments.
Lead onboarding, data migrations, and system transitions for new developments and acquisitions.
Ensure compliance with fair housing, safety, company policies, and operational controls through audits, documentation, and corrective action.
Serve as the executive operations liaison to ownership groups, joint-venture partners, and internal stakeholders, representing performance, risks, recommendations, and action plans.
Lead cross-functional initiatives that improve efficiency, team capacity, resident experience, and scalability, and provide clear reporting and recommendations to executive leadership.
Partner with Human Resources on organizational design, staffing plans, role clarity, performance expectations, succession planning, and talent development for field and support teams.