General Manager - Build to Rent

This role will provide critical hands-on leadership in a brand new, large, Build to Rent residential development in South East London with communal facilities that include a co-working lounge and gardens. The General Manager is responsible for the overall performance of the rental units at the estate by maximizing profitability and maintaining brand standards within established operational and budgetary objectives. This includes effective marketing and leasing, efficient administration, expense control, income maximisation, daily management, and training of support staff to always deliver excellent customer service.

With the assistance of the Facilities Manager and Lettings Manager, the General Manager will ensure the effective delivery of planned preventative maintenance, security, cleaning, lease management, sub-contractor management, and liaison with the property landlord and stakeholders.

This is a customer facing onsite role, responsible for leading the property team to deliver the brand's vision & values in an innovative, operationally efficient manner, providing an excellent quality and high value residential environment for a wide mix of residents, occupiers, and visitors.

Key Responsibilities:

Customer Service

• Represent the brand by providing exceptional service to residents, prospective tenants, contractors, and visitors.
• Communicate effectively and courteously, whether face to face, via telephone or in writing, with residents and colleagues, clearly understanding and responding to their needs.
• Organise and implement a resident events programme to promote community and drive resident engagement within the building.
• Seek ways to exceed service expectations, driving NPS and building reviews on Customer Service platforms such as Google reviews, Trustpilot and Home Views
• Share communications via the Marketing Team to keep residents informed and react to changing circumstances.

Leasing & Administration

• Oversee the monthly market surveys and have a thorough understanding of competition and current market conditions.
• Remain on-the-pulse to contribute to a dynamic marketing & leasing strategy; providing feedback to the Asset & Operations team to recommend rental rates.
• Work with the Leasing Manager to lead the team to conduct viewings to prospective residents.
• Ensure enquiries are recorded and responded to in a timely manner, and actively promote referral programs.
• Oversee the referencing process to ensure prospective tenant documents are correctly processed, in accordance with company best practice and GDPR regulations.
• Oversee the arrears process, ensuring that rents are collected in a timely manner.
• Oversee the negotiation of tenancy renewals in accordance with centralised targets and take responsibility for the serving of statutory documents such as (but not limited to) Section 8 and Section 21 notices.
• Become expert at the localized council HMO regulations and ensure compliance, taking responsibility for the application of new licenses and liaising with the Council to provide appropriate documentation.

Team Management and Development

• Inspire and motivate the team to deliver the business plan and embody the company's vision and values.
• Support new members of the team, providing a warm welcome and supporting their development through training, guidance, and mentorship.
• Follow the company hiring process including liaising with recruiters and candidates, interviewing and providing administrative support to the HR team.
• Attend and constructively contribute to Group Residence Managers meetings, sharing knowledge, insight, developing and supporting new initiatives and improved process.
• Manage the team rota to ensure appropriate cover for the building and keeping HR platforms up to date with approval of staff holidays and management of absence.
• Contribute and support the growth of company team culture, working in line with the brand values and encourage others to do the same.

Facilities Management

• Work with the Facilities Manager to ensure compliance with current Fire and Health & Safety regulations.
• Support the Facilities Manager on handling the Defect Process with the Developer, lasting for 2 years post-Practical Completion of each phase.
• Oversee scheduled flat inspections and recording, completing all resultant actions in a timely manner.
• Create a system for property turn arounds at the end of tenancy and manage this with the support of the Facilities Manager.
• Continual oversight and monitoring of the planned preventative maintenance programs using the facilities management software platform.
• Manage the reactive maintenance budget and identify opportunities for financial savings and efficiencies.
• Contribute to the preparation of annual and project budgets and identify opportunities for Capex/Opex spend.
• Evaluate building performance alongside ESG targets and ambitions, reporting to the Realstar group ESG manager.
• Manage the relationship with utility providers including the relationship with the District Heating System.
• Work with the Facilities Manager to create and review internal Risk Assessments annually, and liaise with the Group Health & Safety provider for annual FRA & H&S reports & subsequent action points.

Property Management

• Drive continuous improvement across the building, implementing new policy as required.
• Be the point of contact for local authorities, property consultants, solicitors, professional bodies, and others.
• Proactively address lease breaches, managing the remediation process to completion or escalation as required.
• Reconciling the monthly credit card statement and liaison with the Finance team and accountant to assign relevant cost codes.
• Approval of invoices and providing these to Accounts Payable for processing