Residence Manager in Manchester

Based at Square Gardens, Manchester, one of the UK’s largest and most prestigious co-living communities, the Residence Manager is responsible for the day-to-day leadership and operational performance of a premium, service-led student living experience at Acer Tower, a residential community of 1,200 beds. This is a visible, hands-on role requiring strong leadership of a multidisciplinary site team, with direct management responsibility for the Resident Services and Maintenance teams and responsibility for directing the day-to-day activities of contracted Cleaning and Security teams.

Working closely with central Operations, Sales and other support functions, the Residence Manager will maintain high operational standards, ensure issues are owned through to resolution and retain clear accountability for delivery within Acer.

Downing are an award-winning leading developer, owner, and operator of bespoke, luxury student accommodation, co-living, residential and commercial property across the UK. We have been operating for over 35 years and currently have 14 operational schemes in 10 major cities, with a further £1.6bn of upcoming developments in our pipeline.

Key Responsibilities:

• Take overall responsibility for the day-to-day operation of Acer, providing visible leadership and ensuring consistently high standards across the building.
• Lead, manage and develop the Resident Services and Maintenance teams, fostering a collaborative, accountable and high-performing site culture.
• Oversee contracted Cleaning and Security services, delegating day-to-day tasks and monitoring performance against agreed standards and SLAs.
• Deliver an excellent resident experience throughout the student journey, from arrival and induction through to departure, ensuring issues and complaints are resolved promptly and effectively.
• Monitor resident feedback, satisfaction and service performance, working towards the Square Gardens Net Promoter Score (NPS) target of +60.
• Build effective relationships with university accommodation and residential life teams, ensuring commitments to university-nominated residents are met.
• Lead operational planning for student arrivals, departures and room readiness, coordinating Resident Services, Maintenance, Cleaning and university partners.
• Oversee planned and reactive maintenance, building inspections and contractor activity, ensuring issues are prioritised, communicated and followed through to resolution.
• Ensure compliance with the ANUK/Unipol National Code, company procedures, Health & Safety requirements and fire safety standards, maintaining accurate records and audit readiness.
• Monitor operational KPIs, manage controllable expenditure and provide accurate reporting to senior management.
• Work collaboratively with central Sales teams to support occupancy, retention, rebooking and resident-facing sales activity.
• Promote resident engagement, wellbeing initiatives and community activities while maintaining an inclusive and supportive living environment.

Person Specification:

• Proven management experience within student accommodation, residential property, hospitality or a comparable customer-focused operational environment.
• Experience leading and developing customer-facing teams, ideally including maintenance or facilities colleagues.
• Strong operational management skills, with the ability to take ownership of a large, complex building and prioritise competing demands.
• A track record of delivering excellent customer service, resolving complaints and improving resident satisfaction against measurable targets.
• Good understanding of Health & Safety, fire safety and operational compliance; knowledge of the ANUK/Unipol National Code is desirable.
• Experience working with contractors, external stakeholders and university accommodation teams is advantageous.
• Commercial awareness, including an understanding of occupancy, retention, rebooking and operational expenditure.
• Excellent communication, organisational and people-management skills, with a hands-on approach to leadership and problem-solving.
• Experience using property management or CRM systems such as HubSpot, MRI or KX as desirable.

Additional Information:

• There is requirement to work 1 Saturday in 5 on a rota basis with a lieu day off the following week.
• There will also be a requirement to work overtime on weekends in line with peak tenancy periods.

#J-18808-Ljbffr