Assistant Community Manager

Skills This Role Puts to Work Every Day

The Assistant Community Manager role at Hawthorne Residential Partners sits at the intersection of leasing performance, financial oversight, and resident relations. You'll use all three simultaneously, and the balance shifts depending on what the day brings. Some mornings start with a ledger review, catching billing discrepancies before they become delinquency problems. Others start with a tour for a prospect who found the community on social media. Both outcomes matter to NOI, and you'll understand why.

Leasing skills get real exercise here. You're not just handing off brochures. You're qualifying prospects, identifying what they actually need, guiding them through applications, and closing renewals with the same attention you'd give a new lease. Occupancy goals are real targets, and your leasing activity directly supports them. The social media component adds a layer many candidates overlook: content creation that drives traffic is a genuine part of the job, not an afterthought.

On the financial side, you'll process rent payments, post to ledgers, monitor delinquency, and make follow-up calls on past-due accounts. You'll also assist with reporting that goes up to regional leadership. If you've worked with financial reports before but haven't owned the follow-through, this role builds that discipline fast.

What the Role Requires vs. What It Builds

Hawthorne prefers candidates with at least two years of property management experience and some prior time in an assistant manager seat. That background matters because this role asks you to step into the Community Manager's responsibilities when they're out. You're not observing. You're running the operation, setting priorities, and keeping the team focused.

What the role builds is different. Candidates who come in with solid leasing fundamentals but limited financial exposure will develop real fluency with rent collections, ledger accuracy, and delinquency management. Those who've handled the numbers but haven't led a team will get regular reps at conflict resolution, de-escalation, and communicating expectations clearly. A CALP designation is a plus if you have it, but the job itself reinforces those leasing competencies regardless.

This is also a well-defined step on a documented path. Hawthorne's Career Path Program is structured to move Assistant Community Managers into Community Manager roles, and the learning and development support behind that is real, not just a bullet point in a job description.

What Separates Strong Candidates Here

The candidates who thrive in this seat tend to share one trait: they treat financial accuracy and resident experience as equally important, not competing priorities. Delinquency follow-up calls require the same professionalism as a leasing tour. Ledger errors affect real residents. The detail orientation that keeps accounts clean is the same instinct that catches a maintenance request that fell through the cracks.

The schedule includes Saturdays and occasional evenings for resident events, so candidates who prefer a strict Monday through Friday schedule should factor that in. For those comfortable with it, the commission structure on leasing and renewals, combined with quarterly performance bonuses, means strong execution is directly reflected in compensation.

• Two years of property management experience preferred
• Six months in an assistant manager role preferred
• Valid driver's license required
• CALP accreditation is a plus
• Comfort with financial reporting, delinquency management, and ledger review
• Availability for Saturdays and occasional evening resident events