Community Manager

Walker's Crossing is a Hawthorne Residential Partners community in West Knoxville, and they're looking for a Community Manager who can hold the full picture at once: the financial side, the people side, and everything that happens between move-in and move-out. This is a general management role in the truest sense, and the person who thrives here will be just as comfortable reading a delinquency report as they are coaching a leasing consultant through a difficult prospect conversation.

The day-to-day scope is broad. You'll own the community's financial performance, which means managing the budget, overseeing rent collection, and keeping deposit accounting and move-out processes clean and compliant. Yardi and Knock are the primary platforms, so comfort with both matters. On the operational side, you'll partner with your maintenance team on work orders and preventative care, manage vendor relationships, and conduct regular property inspections to keep curb appeal and quality where they need to be. Occupancy and renewal performance are yours to drive, and that includes staying close enough to the leasing process to step in on tours or prospect follow-up when the team needs you.

The team leadership piece carries real weight here. You'll hire, train, and hold accountable both office and maintenance staff, and you'll set the tone for how the team treats residents and each other. Hawthorne talks about their "Live It" culture, which centers on service, kindness, and genuine connection. That's not just language for a website. Residents notice when a team actually believes it, and they notice when they don't. Managing online reputation and planning resident events are part of the role, which means community engagement isn't an afterthought.

One thing worth knowing about this level of role: the Community Manager is the primary relationship owner with ownership and leadership groups. You'll be expected to communicate upward clearly and proactively, not just internally. That's a skill that separates strong candidates from solid-but-not-ready ones. If you've been an Assistant Community Manager who's been waiting for the right opportunity to take the lead, and you've already been involved in budget conversations and team supervision, this is the kind of role that fast-tracks growth. Hawthorne's career path formally supports the move from Community Manager to Regional Manager, and their internal learning and development program is built around that progression.

The office runs Monday through Friday, 9 to 6, and Saturdays 10 to 4, with one weekday off to keep the schedule at 40 hours. Occasional evenings for resident events come with the territory.

What Hawthorne Is Looking For

• High school diploma or GED; two years of multifamily experience including time as a Leasing Consultant and Assistant Community Manager
• At least six months of Community Manager experience in multifamily, strongly preferred
• Working knowledge of Yardi, Knock, and Microsoft Office, strongly preferred
• Valid driver's license required; CAM, CAPS, or a real estate or property management license preferred
• Demonstrated ability to read financial reports and make budget-aware decisions
• Proven track record of team leadership, conflict resolution, and resident relations

Compensation includes base salary plus monthly leasing and renewal commissions and quarterly performance bonuses. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401k with match, paid time off (including your birthday), paid parental and adoption leave, pet insurance, company-paid life insurance, and 24/7 telehealth access.