Assistant Community Manager

The assistant community manager role exists at the intersection of leasing, finance, and people operations. It's the position where someone transitions from executing tasks to understanding why those tasks matter to a property's overall performance. At Hawthorne Residential Partners, a Southeast-based multifamily company ranked among the top 50 largest in the country, this role sits at Reserve at Asheville, a community in the Asheville, NC market.

What This Role Actually Covers

The scope here is genuinely broad. On the leasing side, you'll conduct tours, respond to leads, guide prospects through the application process, and manage renewals with accuracy and follow-through. Occupancy and resident retention are shared goals, and you'll contribute to both through consistent leasing performance and attentive resident relations. You'll also manage the community's social media presence, which means translating on-site activity into content that reflects the community's character.

The financial side of this role carries real weight. You'll oversee rent collection, payment posting, and ledger reviews. Delinquency monitoring is a weekly responsibility, including follow-up calls and coordinating eviction procedures when necessary. You'll assist with financial reporting for the community manager and regional leadership, which means you need to understand what you're looking at, not just process data.

When the community manager is out, you step into that lead position. That's not ceremonial. It means maintaining team momentum, prioritizing daily operations, and handling resident concerns with the same professionalism and follow-through expected at the top of the org chart.

The schedule runs Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM, and Saturdays from 10 AM to 4 PM, with one weekday off per week to maintain a 40-hour schedule. Evening and weekend availability may be needed for resident events.

Skills Required vs. Skills Built

This role requires two years of property management experience, with six months in an assistant manager capacity preferred. You'll need a valid driver's license. A CALP credential is a plus but not a requirement. What you genuinely need coming in: comfort with financial reports, delinquency workflows, and the leasing cycle from lead to signed lease.

What the role builds is equally important. Candidates who move through this position well tend to develop sharper instincts around NOI awareness, because reviewing ledgers and tracking delinquency weekly trains you to connect daily decisions to financial outcomes. Conflict resolution skills deepen here too. Handling difficult resident situations regularly, at a level where you're sometimes acting as the most senior person on site, builds a confidence that transfers directly to community manager responsibilities.

Hawthorne offers a formal Career Path Program, and the progression from assistant community manager to community manager is a stated priority within their development structure. The commission and bonus structure (monthly leasing and renewal commissions plus quarterly performance bonuses, in addition to hourly pay) means your effort connects directly to your earnings. That structure also tells you something about what Hawthorne measures: occupancy, renewals, and financial accuracy are the metrics that matter most here.

• High school diploma or GED required
• Two years of property management experience preferred
• Six months of assistant manager experience preferred
• Valid driver's license required
• CALP accreditation a plus