Community Manager

The Skills This Role Runs On

Student housing is its own category. Residents are signing leases months before they've graduated high school, parents are often the financial decision-makers, and the community turns almost entirely in a compressed summer window. The Community Manager at The Flats on University in Fairfax, Virginia needs a specific combination of skills: financial fluency, people leadership, operational discipline, and the ability to stay steady when three things go wrong at once. If you've managed a conventional apartment community and found the pace comfortable, this role will feel different.

Scion is looking for someone who genuinely understands both sides of property performance. You're reading variances and managing NOI, but you're also walking units during turn, helping move furniture, and handling a punch list alongside your facilities team. The expectation is that you lead from the floor, not from a desk. That's worth knowing before you apply.

What You'll Actually Be Doing Day to Day

The financial responsibilities here are real and broad. You'll prepare annual operating and capital budgets, manage invoice entry and payroll, track concessions and leasing velocity, and report on variances. Entrata is the property management system, and comfort with it matters. Scion also uses Vena for budgeting, Turnable for the electronic turn board, and ClickUp for project management, so you're working across several platforms simultaneously.

The annual turn process deserves its own mention because it's genuinely one of the most demanding stretches in student housing. You'll plan it months in advance, coordinate vendors and staff, manage the financial forecast for the turn, and still be physically present to help punch units and keep things moving. It's organized chaos if you run it well, and actual chaos if you don't.

Outside of turn season, your responsibilities include:

• Hiring, scheduling, and developing your on-site team, including accountability for after-hours on-call coverage
• Quarterly apartment inspections and monthly property walks with scorecard documentation
• Capital expenditure identification and vendor bid management, working with your Regional Manager for approvals above budget thresholds
• Permit compliance and building code adherence
• Resident experience oversight through Qualtrics survey data and online reputation management
• Escalated resident conflict resolution alongside your Assistant General Manager
• Legal coordination with Scion's internal team for vendor contracts, risk matters, and any court appearances

What Makes the Difference at Scion Specifically

The candidates who do well in this role tend to combine two things that don't always show up together: strong financial ownership and genuine comfort with high-volume resident interaction. Student housing communities see a lot of traffic, a lot of maintenance requests, and a lot of residents who are living independently for the first time. You're managing KPIs and budget performance, but you're also setting the tone for how the team handles a noise complaint at 11pm or a parent calling upset about a charge.

Scion has built a structured career development path, and the General Manager role is intentionally positioned as a leadership development seat. They use Lattice for performance management and invest in learning reimbursement. If you've been in a community manager role that felt like a ceiling, this one is structured to be a step, not a stop.

Three or more years managing a residential community with a team of at least three direct reports is the baseline. Entrata experience is preferred. The role is exempt, includes a discretionary annual bonus, and offers health, dental, vision, 401k matching, and paid parental leave. Work authorization in the U.S. is required. Visa sponsorship is not available.