Part-Time Customer Experience Specialist (Leasing/Customer Service)

Some roles in property management are built around spreadsheets and systems. This one is built around people. The Customer Experience Specialist position at Cottonwood Residential's 5 Row Apartments in Charlottesville, VA calls on a specific set of interpersonal skills: the ability to read a room, communicate clearly across channels, stay upbeat when things get hectic, and make someone feel genuinely welcomed rather than just processed.

The Skills This Role Uses Every Day

You'll spend a meaningful portion of your time talking with people. Prospective residents calling about availability, current residents following up on a package, vendors stopping by the office. Every interaction asks you to be present, informed, and warm without being performative about it. Strong written communication matters just as much here as verbal. Responses to emails and texts need to be prompt and clear, because a slow or vague reply to a leasing inquiry often means a lost prospect.

Attention to detail matters in a quieter but equally important way. Part of this role involves walking the property daily, checking vacant units, touring paths, and amenity spaces to make sure everything meets Cottonwood's standards before a prospect or new resident sees it. That kind of proactive quality check keeps the team from getting caught off guard and gives the community a polished feel that residents notice even if they can't quite articulate why.

Organization shows up here too. Managing the package room, maintaining vendor communications, and staying current on pricing and availability for all unit types requires someone who can track multiple moving pieces without letting things slip.

What the Work Actually Looks Like

This is a part-time role with a schedule that includes weekends and evenings, so flexibility is genuinely required rather than just preferred. On a typical shift, you might greet a prospective resident arriving for a self-guided tour, field a few calls, organize incoming packages, and circle back to a resident inquiry that came in via text. Community events and social media support round out the work on occasion.

Cottonwood was among the first apartment operators to introduce self-guided tours at scale, which changed the leasing dynamic in a real way. Prospects now arrive having already moved through the space independently, which means your conversations with them tend to be more specific and decision-oriented. You're less tour guide and more trusted resource. That shift puts a premium on product knowledge and genuine listening.

What Makes This a Good Starting Point

Charlottesville's rental market draws a mix of students, young professionals, and relocating families, so you'll develop comfort working with a varied resident base quickly. For someone early in a property management career, this kind of exposure across leasing, customer service, and community operations builds a foundation that transfers well into future roles in leasing management or assistant manager positions. Cottonwood has noted internal growth as part of what this role offers, and in property management, the people who move up fastest tend to be the ones who treat part-time roles like full-time learning opportunities.

• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Comfort working weekends and evenings on a flexible schedule
• Genuine enthusiasm for helping people, without the need for external motivation to stay engaged
• Ability to retain pricing and availability details and speak to them accurately with prospects
• Organized and reliable with daily operational tasks like package management and unit readiness checks

If you're someone who finds energy in human interaction and wants to build real skills in the residential property world, 5 Row Apartments is a concrete place to start.