Lease-Up Community Manager

Lease-up management occupies its own category within multifamily operations. Getting a new community to stabilized occupancy requires a different skill set than running a seasoned asset: you're building systems, training people, and chasing traffic all at once, often before the dust has fully settled. Dream Live Prosper Communities, a subsidiary of DLP Capital, is hiring a Community Manager specifically for this phase at their Dream Winter Haven property in Winter Haven, FL.

This isn't a seat-warmer role. DLP describes this position as larger in scope than a typical community manager job, and that framing is accurate for lease-up work. You're accountable for occupancy targets (the benchmark here is 95%), financial performance against a community budget, and the human systems that make both happen. You'll report directly to a General Manager and own your numbers.

What the Day-to-Day Actually Looks Like

A meaningful portion of your week will sit at the intersection of leasing operations and team oversight. That means reviewing and approving applications in Appfolio, monitoring lease documents and move-in files, and keeping marketing materials current for available units. You'll also track leasing activity and deliver weekly, monthly, and quarterly performance reporting. Monthly leasing meetings are yours to run: availability, agent incentives, challenges, and commission submissions all come through you.

On the team side, you'll onboard, train, and mentor new Leasing Agents. That's a real responsibility, not a footnote. During lease-up, your agents are often newer to the property and sometimes newer to the industry. How quickly they ramp affects your occupancy curve directly. You'll also handle the less glamorous operational pieces: security deposit dispositions, court-related notices, property inspections, and coordination with single-family teams.

Weekends and flexible scheduling are part of the job. Lease-up doesn't follow a Monday-Friday timeline, and candidates who thrive here understand that going in.

Who Fits This Role Well

• At least 3 years of lease-up experience in multifamily, with demonstrated results on occupancy timelines
• 3 or more years managing direct reports in a property management setting
• Comfort reading and working with financial statements; you understand how your decisions connect to NOI
• Strong communication skills across multiple audiences: residents, leasing staff, ownership, and vendors
• Experience with Appfolio is a plus, as is familiarity with G-Suite and Microsoft Office
• A track record of change leadership, which in lease-up often means building processes that didn't exist before you arrived

The managers who do well in lease-up roles tend to be organized enough to build systems under pressure and flexible enough to abandon a system that isn't working. They also know how to keep a leasing team motivated during the stretches when traffic is inconsistent and results feel slow. That combination of structure and steadiness is harder to find than the job posting makes it sound.

The position includes monthly and quarterly bonus potential tied to performance, along with a full benefits package: health, dental, vision, life insurance, 401(k) with matching, PTO, and additional well-being and educational programs.