Assistant Community Manager

The assistant community manager role exists at a specific intersection in multifamily operations: close enough to daily leasing activity to drive occupancy, and deep enough in the financials to understand what occupancy actually means for a property's health. At Hawthorne at Southside, a garden-style community in Asheville, NC, this position carries real operational weight across both of those dimensions.

What This Role Requires You to Bring

Hawthorne is looking for someone with at least two years of property management experience, and prior time in an assistant manager seat is a genuine advantage here. The financial side of this role demands more than familiarity with software. You'll own delinquency follow-up, post and reconcile payments, conduct ledger reviews, and coordinate eviction procedures when necessary. That's not administrative support work. That's hands-on accountability for the financial integrity of the property.

On the leasing side, you'll conduct tours, respond to leads, process applications and renewals, and contribute directly to occupancy goals. Resident retention is part of the job too, which means handling conflict resolution with consistency and staying engaged with residents beyond the lease signing. Social media content management for the community is part of the scope as well, so comfort with resident-facing communication in that format matters.

When the Community Manager is out, you run the operation. That expectation is built into the role, not a rare occurrence.

What This Role Will Build

Candidates who grow fastest in assistant manager roles are those who treat the financial reporting exposure as a real education. Reading a T-12, understanding NOI, tracking delinquency trends, and connecting those numbers to leasing decisions are skills that separate community managers who can execute from those who can also think strategically about a property's performance. Hawthorne's Career Path Program formalizes that trajectory, with a stated path from assistant manager to community manager.

A CALP credential is a plus here. If you don't have one yet, this role gives you the operational foundation that makes that coursework click rather than feel abstract.

Schedule runs Monday through Friday with Saturday hours (10 AM to 4 PM), one weekday off per week to maintain a 40-hour schedule, and occasional evening availability for resident events. Compensation includes hourly pay plus monthly leasing and renewal commissions and quarterly performance bonuses.

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

Hawthorne is a Southeast-rooted company that ranks among the 50 largest multifamily management firms nationally. For someone who wants a defined path toward community manager and is ready to develop the financial fluency that role demands, this is a position worth taking seriously.