Asset and Operational Manager - UK Residential Real Estate in London

Job Description

Job description

Aberdeen manages £37.7 billion of real estate assets across 22 countries, supported by a team of approximately 220 dedicated real estate investment professionals. Globally, the platform oversees around 30,000 residential homes, representing approximately £8 billion of residential assets under management. This scale provides a strong foundation of institutional expertise, market intelligence, operational best practice and long-term capital stewardship across the Living sector.

In the UK, Aberdeen has delivered strong, risk-adjusted returns for clients for more than 50 years. From its offices in Edinburgh and London, the business currently manages around £20 billion of UK direct property, making Aberdeen one of the largest and most established real estate managers in the country. The Living portfolio is an important and growing part of this platform, spanning multifamily residential, purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and single-family housing across the UK. As the portfolio continues to grow in scale and complexity, active operational oversight will be essential to protect income, enhance performance, improve resident outcomes and support long-term value creation.

This role sits between Asset Management and Property Management, providing an independent operational oversight layer across the UK residential portfolio. The role is designed to ensure that Property Managers and operating partners are held accountable for delivery against agreed business plans, budgets, service standards and governance requirements. It will support the Lead Senior Asset Manager – UK Living by providing detailed operational scrutiny, improving the quality and consistency of reporting, identifying risks and opportunities at an early stage, and helping to drive best practice across the portfolio. Ultimately, the role will contribute to improved net operating income, stronger leasing and income performance, better cost control, enhanced resident experience, and more robust decision-making across the Living platform.

About the role:

The Asset & Operational Manager is responsible for the operational and financial performance of the UK residential portfolio, maximising NOI, and providing independent oversight of Property Managers and on-site teams. The role ensures strong leasing performance, budget control, income protection, data quality, and governance compliance.

Key Responsibilities:

Property Manager Oversight

• Review and enhance operating model with Property Managers and other suppliers.
• Act as the primary oversight function for Property Managers.
• Monitor performance against KPIs, budgets and service standards.
• Challenge underperformance and oversee corrective actions.
• Ensure compliance with management agreements and governance requirements.

Leasing & Income Performance

• Oversee leasing and marketing activity to maximise occupancy and rental growth.
• Monitor arrears, collections and income risks.
• Review leasing performance, incentives and market positioning.

Financial Management

• Review and approve operating budgets and forecasts.
• Monitor actual performance against budget.
• Challenge costs, identify efficiencies and improve forecast accuracy.

Operational & Resident Performance

• Oversee service delivery and resident experience.
• Monitor operational KPIs and retention metrics.
• Promote best practice across the portfolio.

Governance, Risk & Reporting

• Ensure compliance with regulatory, health & safety and internal governance requirements.
• Review operational reporting, portfolio data and KPI performance.
• Drive improvements in data quality, transparency and reporting standards.

Strategic Support

• Support asset business plans and value-enhancing initiatives.
• Provide operational insight to support investment and portfolio decisions.
• Contribute to governance papers and strategic projects.

Key Success Measures

• High occupancy and sustainable rental growth.
• Effective income collection and arrears control.
• Delivery of budgets and cost control targets.
• Improved Property Manager performance and accountability.
• Accurate, reliable portfolio reporting and data.
• Strong governance and compliance outcomes.

About the candidate:

Essential

• Extensive experience in UK residential asset management or property management, with exposure to both multifamily Build-to-Rent and single-family housing portfolios.
• Strong financial, budgeting and analytical skills.
• Experience managing Property Managers and service providers.
• Knowledge of residential operations, leasing and governance.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.

Desirable

• Build-to-Rent or institutional residential experience.
• ESG and sustainability knowledge.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.