Manager, Portfolio Development Field Operations

About Lincoln Avenue Communities

Welcome to Lincoln Avenue Communities (LAC)—a leading, mission-driven real estate private equity firm dedicated to strengthening communities through the development and preservation of affordable housing.

As a vertically integrated developer, investor, and long-term operator, we deliver sustainable, high-quality homes to lower- and moderate-income individuals, seniors, and families across 32 states. Our growing portfolio—more than 200+ properties and 35,000+ homes—reflects our commitment to long-term impact, operational excellence, and resident well-being.

LAC is proud to be recognized as an industry leader, recently ranked No. 1 on Affordable Housing Finance’s 2025 AHF 50 list of top developers. Our approach combines strategic investment, thoughtful design, and community partnerships to deliver housing solutions that foster stability, opportunity, and resilience.

About This Role

We are seeking a hands-on, field-based Manager to serve as LAC’s owner presence at our lease-ups and underperforming properties. As one of the largest affordable housing developer in the country, our success depends on moving each new community to stabilization quickly and keeping our portfolio performing. This role makes that happen on the ground by deploying to properties, diagnosing leasing performance, and driving our third-party management partners to execute a clear plan to get stay on track.

Operating as part of a rapid-response field team, this role spends 2–4 days on site at a time assessing leasing, operations, and compliance readiness, then follows up to ensure commitments are met. When properties are on track, they support lease-up operations across the portfolio through pre-opening readiness visits, routine site visits, dashboard support, and building the scorecard and playbook that guide our field work. They work closely with compliance and other LAC teams, flagging issues for internal resolution.

Travel of approximately 60% is required across the U.S.

This role reports directly to the Director, Portfolio Development, and works closely with cross-functional teams in Asset Management, Compliance, and Development. Candidates based near one of our offices or near a major airport are strongly preferred.

What You’ll Do

Owner’s Field Presence and Accountability

• Deploy to assigned properties on a rotating basis, including new lease-ups, underperforming assets, and management transitions, typically for 2–4 days on site.
• Represent LAC as owner with the management partner’s site and regional teams. Set clear direction and hold them to LAC’s occupancy, delinquency, and lease-up targets.
• Coach on-site leasing and management staff on LAC standards, sales process, and expectations during visits.
• Advise LAC leadership when staffing or structural changes at the partner level would improve results. Staffing decisions stay with the management partner and LAC’s partner-management chain.

Structured On-Site Assessment

• Walk the property and shadow leasing activity. Review the lead-to-lease funnel, application and file quality, make-ready status, and curb appeal against LAC’s standardized scorecard.
• Pinpoint root causes. Separate marketing, pricing, staffing, product, and compliance issues so the fix matches the problem.
• Produce a written site report after each deployment with findings, root causes, and a prioritized action plan with owners and due dates.

Monitor Progress and Escalate

• Track each action plan weekly through remote follow-up with site and regional teams.
• Verify partner reporting against what you observed on site, and call out gaps.
• Escalate through LAC’s partner-management chain when commitments slip.
• Give Portfolio Development early warning on risks that won’t show up in a monthly report.

Affordable Program Fluency and Compliance

• Use LIHTC and HUD operating knowledge to help spot certification backlogs, income-qualification bottlenecks, and potential audit exposure.
• Evaluate whether a slow lease-up is a leasing problem or a compliance problem, and route compliance issues to LAC’s compliance team for resolution.
• Partner with Compliance and other LAC field teams so site findings reach the right owner quickly.

Lease-Up Operations Support

• Conduct pre-opening readiness visits on upcoming lease-ups, covering staffing, marketing, model and leasing office readiness, systems, and processes.
• Perform routine site visits across the portfolio to catch issues before they become problems.
• Support lease-up dashboards and reporting with field context, so the data reflects what is actually happening on site.
• Build and continuously refine the LAC site scorecard and field playbook that guide this team’s deployments, assessments, and follow-up.

What You Bring

• Hands-on lease-up experience, taking properties from first move-in to stabilization, or you have stepped into struggling ones and turned them around.
• A diagnostic eye that can walk a property, watch a leasing tour, and pull a few reports to quickly diagnosis issues.
• Credibility with site teams who can coach a leasing agent or a property manager and get results.
• Ability to influence without authority by holding a third-party team accountable through clear expectations, follow-through, and well-timed escalation.
• Working knowledge of LIHTC and HUD/Section 8 operations, including certifications, income qualification, and file requirements.
• Comfort with property management software (Yardi, RealPage, or similar), CRM and guest card reporting, and Excel or Smartsheet.
• Clear, concise writing. Your site reports turn observations into findings, root causes, and an action plan anyone can follow.
• Composure in fast-moving situations, and the discipline to stay organized while living out of a suitcase.

Your Education and Experience

• 7+ years of multifamily property operations experience, including direct responsibility for lease-ups, stabilization, or turnaround of underperforming properties.
• Experience in a multi-site role, such as regional, area, or transitional property manager, or in an owner-side asset management or lease-up role.
• Affordable housing experience (LIHTC, HUD, Section 8) is strongly preferred.
• HCCP, COS, or an equivalent affordable housing compliance certification is preferred or expected to earn within 12 months of start.
• Bachelor’s degree in Real Estate, Business, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent hands-on experience will be considered.

Benefits

The expected base salary for this role is $125,000 - $150,000. This represents the current target and is subject to change. To determine starting pay, we carefully consider a variety of factors, including primary work location and an evaluation of a candidate’s skills, experience, market demands, and internal parity. Our comprehensive total rewards package offers more than just a salary. Benefits include:

• Semi-Annual Performance Based Bonuses
• Full Medical, Dental & Vision Coverage (Including Family) Starting Day 1
• 401(k) plan (Employer Matching & No Vesting Period)
• Paid Parental Leave
• Generous PTO & Sick Time
• End of Year Office Closure (Christmas Eve – New Years Day)
• Lunch Provided Daily
• HQ Onsite Gym Access with Facilities
• Annual Company Offsite
• Learning & Growth Opportunities