Assistant Community Manager

Student Housing Operations at Canvas Townhomes

The Assistant Community Manager role at Canvas Townhomes in Columbia, MO sits squarely at the intersection of leasing performance and day-to-day operations. Student housing runs on a different clock than conventional multifamily. Annual turns are compressed, delinquency tolerance is low, and occupancy targets are tied to academic calendars rather than rolling traffic. This role touches all of it.

Scion is one of the larger operators in the student housing space, and this position supports the General Manager across the full operational picture: financial performance, staff development, facilities, resident accounts, and customer experience. You'll step in as acting GM when needed, which means you genuinely need to understand every moving part of the asset, not just the pieces directly assigned to you.

What the Work Actually Looks Like

On the financial side, you're keeping delinquency under 2% at month end, reconciling accounts receivable, posting damage charges from quarterly inspections, and helping prepare month-end reports. That's not just data entry. It requires consistent follow-through on collections policy, NSF enforcement, and final billing at move-out.

Leasing and customer experience are equally front-and-center. You'll manage sales interactions directly and direct team members to do the same. Weekly market surveys, concession budget management, and local marketing recommendations all fall within your scope. You're expected to use KPIs to spot trends before they become problems, whether that's slipping traffic-to-lease conversion or a spike in escalated resident concerns.

The annual turn process is a defining moment in student housing. Every bed needs to be inspected, charged if necessary, and made ready for the incoming wave of residents, often within a tight summer window. Your coordination of that process directly affects both the resident experience and the property's financial performance heading into the new lease year.

• Staff coaching, scheduling, and Fair Housing compliance oversight
• Resident account management and utility billing coordination
• Routine inspections of grounds, amenities, and vacant units
• Work order coordination with maintenance staff and vendors
• Move-in, transfer, and move-out process execution
• Escalated resident concern resolution

Who Performs Well Here

Candidates who thrive in this role typically come in with at least a year of on-site property management experience and a real comfort with property management software. Entrata experience is a plus given Scion's platform preference. Strong written communication matters because you're drafting legal notices, resident correspondence, and account documentation on a regular basis.

What separates strong candidates from average ones is the ability to hold both the relational and the operational sides of the job at the same time. Student residents have high service expectations and often low tolerance for administrative friction. The best ACMs here are the ones who can resolve a billing dispute and immediately pivot to a leasing conversation without losing composure in either direction.

Scion offers a benefits package that includes health, dental, and vision coverage, 401k matching, paid parental and maternal leave, a discretionary annual bonus, and learning reimbursement. This role is based on-site at Canvas Townhomes and requires availability for after-hours on-call coverage during peak periods. Work authorization in the United States is required. Visa sponsorship is not available.