POSITION: Portfolio Leasing Manager (PLM)COMPENSATION: Pursuant to Colorado regulations, if this job is performed in Colorado, the salary range is $76,900 -$92,200 plus bonus potential. Eligible to participate in the company benefits plan. We offer health, vision, dental, and pet insurance. We offer a 401(k) retirement plan, student loan assistance, licensing and continuing education reimbursement, parental leave, and housing allowances or gifts
SUMMARYThe Portfolio Leasing Manager (PLM) is a high-level sales strategist, data analyst, and performance driver responsible for maximizing leasing velocity and occupancy across an assigned portfolio of communities.
Working in close partnership with the assigned Portfolio Managers, the PLM ensures each community is strategically positioned to achieve established leasing goals. As aligned partners, the PLM and PM maintain continuous communication regarding leasing strategy, community and centralized and onsite team performance, rate recommendations, and owner priorities.
This role serves as the central owner of leasing execution, performance intelligence, and portfolio conversion. The PLM focuses directly on lead-to-lease conversion, sales team accountability, market analysis, and actionable pricing strategies while integrating centralized leasing workflows and leveraging marketing support teams.
RESPONSIBILITIESLeasing Strategy & Sales Performance
- Utilize deep expertise of the sales journey and leasing cycle to identify opportunities to improve resident retention and leasing performance at each stage of the funnel.
- Establish weekly, monthly, and long-term leasing goals and translate portfolio objectives into clear expectations and actions for onsite and centralized team members.
- Manage and analyze core leasing KPIs that affect renewal and leasing velocity including lead pipeline, lead volume, response quality, appointment scheduling, tour conversion, applications, conversions, lease execution, cancellations, and overall leasing velocity.
- Diagnose root causes of performance gaps across lagging communities to design and deploy targeted leasing strategies that elevate their performance.
- Combine market competitor intelligence with real-time leasing KPIs including but not limited to velocity, effective pricing, seasonality, and historical trends to maximize occupancy and drive pre-leasing growth
- Communicate leasing performance to internal stakeholders and clients through concise, data-driven storytelling that clearly identifies performance drivers, contributing factors, recommended actions, and expected outcomes.
- Partner closely with Portfolio Managers to ensure leasing strategy, operational efficiency as it relates to portfolio of communities, client expectations, and performance management actions remain aligned, staying informed on upcoming capital or operational projects that impact marketing messaging and leasing.
- Maintain deep working knowledge of the Cardinal Platform, including AI tools, leasing systems, reporting tools, industry benchmarks, and SOPs.
Sales Enablement, Training & Accountability
- Execute, train, and administer Cardinal's Sales Platform, including the Cardinal Way of Leasing (CWoL).
- Partner closely with centralized leasing teams to align sales workflows, streamline lead handoffs, and optimize overall leasing support operations.
- Provide regular performance coaching and feedback to onsite leasing teams regarding phone, virtual, and onsite lead-to-lease conversions through role-playing and performance audits.
- Inspire and motivate onsite leasing team members while establishing clear expectations and accountability for leasing KPIs.
Market, Competitor & Community Intelligence
- Possess comprehensive knowledge of each assigned community, including but not limited to floor plans, unit/bed types, amenities, availability, rates, concessions, target market, customer needs, value proposition, leasing challenges, and competitive advantages.
- Track market and competitor intelligence, including competitor rates, specials, concessions, availability, leasing velocity, product offerings, positioning, new supply, and other factors influencing demand.
- Understand each market's leasing cycle, customer behavior, demand drivers, university/local market dynamics, and seasonal trends.
- Review the markets and communities regularly to identify opportunities to strengthen competitive positioning, ensuring strategies dynamically adapt to changing conditions.
Revenue Management, Rates & Concessions
- Partner with Community Managers, Portfolio Managers, and appropriate stakeholders to evaluate and recommend rates based on leasing velocity, availability, exposure, competitive positioning, demand, historical performance, and established leasing goals throughout the preleasing cycle.
- Ensure unique value proposition, rates, and availability are accurate across online channels for the portfolio according to established processes and approved strategies.
- Recommend and evaluate specials and concessions when necessary to boost velocity, maintaining clear standards and established tiers to support speed and ease of execution.
Marketing Strategy Collaboration
- Ensure activities outlined in Annual and Monthly Marketing Plans generate the lead volume and conversion results required to hit pre-leasing targets.
- Identify when leasing performance requires additional marketing support and establish clear performance objectives for the appropriate marketing partner.
- Partner with onsite leadership and the Portfolio Manager to ensure performance concerns are addressed consistently and with an understanding of other operational or market factors affecting results.
- Collaborate with Digital Marketing Strategists and Field Marketing & Brand Specialists to develop coordinated campaigns targeting the prospect journey, providing them with property intelligence, target demographic insights, and pipeline data.
- Evaluate lead attribution and marketing analytics provided by specialist teams to measure direct impact on the leasing funnel while allowing marketing specialists to retain ownership of their execution domain.
