VP, Central Operations

Kairos Living LLC•Chicago, IL

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Kairos Living is seeking a highly motivated, hands-on senior leader to own its Central Operations function. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and leading a team of 3, the VP of Central Operations is responsible for the performance, efficiency, and scalability of central operational activities across our national single-family rental portfolio, spanning utility management, vacant property services, HOA relationships, community services, and vendor oversight. This is a major operating leadership role, not a narrow vendor management position. Success is measured by the VP's ability to reduce operational leakage, strengthen vendor accountability, improve service levels and handoffs, and build a Central Operations function that scales with continued portfolio growth. The successful candidate is excited by the practical role AI, automation, and operational data can play in transforming residential real estate operations, and works closely with the Technology team to identify where modern tools reduce manual work and surface risk earlier.

Requirements

Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in residential real estate operations, property management, or a related field.
Minimum 5 years of team management and supervisory experience, with a demonstrated track record of building high-performing teams.
Proven experience in a Director or VP-level leadership role within a real estate, property management, or related operations environment.
Strong vendor and third-party relationship management experience, including contract negotiation and performance oversight.
Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple complex workstreams simultaneously.
Outstanding written and verbal communication skills; able to present effectively to senior leadership and ownership groups.
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and comfort working with operational and financial data.
Strong analytical ability and comfort using operational data to diagnose problems, prioritize initiatives, and measure improvement.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the single-family rental (SFR) industry or institutional residential real estate.
Familiarity with HOA compliance processes and multi-state regulatory environments.
Experience with Yardi Voyager, RentCafe, or similar property management platforms.
Background in operational process design, systems implementation, or scaling a growing real estate portfolio.
Exposure to utility management, smart home technology, or PropTech platforms.
Experience supporting high-growth, private-equity-backed, or technology-enabled operating companies.
Exposure to new development community handoffs, lease-up operations, or BTR operating launches.

Responsibilities

Lead onboarding for newly acquired properties, ensuring timely, accurate documentation of home amenities, specifications, and property data at handoff.
Partner with Leasing, Construction, and Maintenance to keep property information accurate and accessible, and continuously refine onboarding checklists and workflows.
Partner with Acquisitions and Technology to improve the quality and usability of property data entering the operating platform.
Oversee the relationship with the third-party utility management provider, ensuring billing accuracy, timely setup/termination, and resident-facing service quality.
Ensure utility onboarding and offboarding are tightly integrated with acquisition and disposition timelines.
Partner with Finance to identify utility cost leakage, billing errors, and reimbursement gaps.
Manage vacant lawncare and cleaning services portfolio-wide, establishing service standards by market, season, and property type.
Coordinate with local vendors and regional teams on scheduling, quality control, and cost management.
Partner with Leasing to ensure vacant homes are clean, accessible, and ready to convert demand into signed leases.
Serve as the primary operational liaison with the HOA management partner and individual HOAs, overseeing violation resolution within required timelines.
Build and maintain relationships with HOA boards and management companies to protect the company's standing and resident experience.
Create proactive processes to reduce recurring HOA issues before they become fines, resident issues, or reputational risk.
Oversee community-level operational services including inspections, recurring lawncare, and pest control, establishing quality standards and inspection cadences.
Manage relationships with third-party management companies, holding them accountable to service levels, budget performance, and resident experience standards.
Set clear performance expectations and reporting cadence for on-site third-party teams, and escalate or restructure the relationship when service levels or cost performance fall short.
Evaluate the cost, control, and quality tradeoffs of internalizing management for large communities currently run by third-party operators, and build the operating plan to transition qualifying communities in-house.
Partner with Development and Construction as new BTR communities are delivered to establish operating standards before residents move in.
Develop scalable playbooks so each new community launch does not require reinvention.
Own strategic relationships with HOA management, utility management, lawncare management, and select local vendors; negotiate contracts and SLAs.
Build and maintain vendor scorecards, and hold vendors accountable through performance reviews, corrective action plans, and replacement when necessary.
Continuously evaluate the vendor landscape and recommend changes that improve quality, cost efficiency, or coverage.
Build, supervise, and mentor a team of 3, establishing clear goals, accountability structures, and development plans.
Design scalable processes and SOPs, and standardize workflows across Leasing, Construction, Maintenance, Acquisitions, and Finance.
Report on operational metrics, SLAs, and KPIs to the COO and executive team on a regular cadence, converting operational data into recommended actions.
Partner with the Technology team to identify and implement tools that improve Central Operations workflows.
Help define data standards for property information, service history, vendor performance, and inspection results.
Evaluate PropTech, workflow, and vendor-management tools, ensuring adoption is practical and tied to measurable operating outcomes.