Development Manager – Houston

Job title: Development Manager

Department: Development

Location: Houston, Texas

Travel required: 10%

Position type: Full-time / exempt

About Us Living

Us Living is building the future of apartment living by completely reimagining the rental experience and providing residents access to programming and amenities which cultivate true community and support deep individual wellbeing. Our mission is to create environments where residents simultaneously experience the comfort and familiarity of home and the energy and life of a great social club. This mission will be brought to life for residents and members in the form of unique social and cultural programming, inviting communal spaces, fitness and wellness amenities, workspace, social impact opportunities, and exceptional design. 

As a vertically integrated platform backed by Vero Sade Capital, we are incredibly well positioned to build an exceptional portfolio of approximately 25 communities across at least five US markets over the next five years. We are currently looking for talented and passionate individuals who are interested in being part of our journey as we build an incredible brand. As a company we are 100% committed to offering the same opportunities for wellbeing and enrichment to our employees that intend to provide to future members and residents.

Development Manager Opportunity Overview

A Development Manager is responsible for overseeing day to day project execution within their geographic region based on the direction set by their Regional VP or the CIO.  You will be responsible for a variety of tasks in the role, from general management items, acquisitions/due-diligence, finance, planning & entitlement, design, construction and turnover.

The right candidate will have extensive experience in the luxury multi-family industry for both new development and acquired properties.  

Role Details & Responsibilities

• General
  • Ensure projects are delivered to Us Living quality expectations, on-time, and within the approved budget. 
  • Oversee and manage all communications and workflow with all internal and external stakeholders.
  • Creation, management, reporting, tracking, and analysis of project schedules, milestones, deliverables, budgets, etc.
  • Create, manage, and present all reporting, job status updates, risk analysis, schedule analysis, etc. to engage internal stakeholders to mitigate potential risk, cost over-runs, schedule delays, etc. 
  • Coordinate with internal departments (marketing, legal, design, accounting, finance, construction, etc.) to ensure all stakeholders are properly informed and integrated with the project delivery, milestones, deliverables, etc. 
  • Experience in creating and presenting professional presentations to internal and external stakeholders who interact with various levels of the company.
  • Review, analyze, investigate, rebut, and approve third party contracts, agreements, change orders, billings, etc.
  • Ability to work autonomously, be proactive, multi-task, and work remotely in a small fast-paced entrepreneurial environment.
  • Create, manage, monitor, and report on all costs associated with the development, including budgets, cashflows, commitments, expenditure curves, cost forecasting, etc. 
  • Obtain, review, rebut, and memorialize all appraisals. 
  • Assist Regional Vice President in hiring, onboarding, and managing departmental staff. 
  • Ability to manage a minimum of 3 projects at a time.
• Acquisitions & Finance
  • Assist in acquisition related activities on an as-needed basis.
  • Assist with the creation of lender IMs to be created in accordance with the project requirements.
  • Oversee and manage the creation and distribution of all bank billings for project under management. 
  • Create, review, execute and manage all project related budgets, forecasts, cashflows, etc. 
  • Collect and manage all due diligence items related to PSAs, dispositions, ReFis, etc. 
  • Cause feasibilities, proformas, etc. to be updated on a regular basis.
  • Create, manage, and report on the financial analysis of potential disposition opportunities. 
• Planning & Entitlement
  • Provide the necessary planning, organization, leadership, direction, coordination, control, reporting, decision making, and execution to ensure projects are properly planned early so a clear path forward is known by all.
  • Investigate, analyze, and report on all entitlement, zoning, and planning issues which could potentially affect a project.
  • Ensure all necessary documents, submissions, and/or processes are incorporated into project schedules so as to avoid surprises to the execution of a project.
  • Coordinate all necessary planning and entitlement activities with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Proactively research, gather, aggregate, and present as much information as possible from various sources to gain all available knowledge for analyzing impacts to projects. Search for the known unknown.
• Design
  • Provide the necessary planning, organization, leadership, direction, coordination, control, reporting, decision making, and execution to ensure projects are executed efficiently and accurately by internal and external design teams.
  • Lead, oversee, and coordinate all design phases with design teams of internal and external architects, engineers, and consultants. 
  • Responsible for direction to design teams regarding cost efficient planning, design, and construction of systems, which include but are not limited to: structural, MEPF, parking, trash management, etc. 
  • Ensure consultant reports are integrated into drawings and specifications and all designer responses are properly documented. 
  • Manage designers/consultant billings in accordance with the contracts to ensure proper format, quantity, percent complete, deliverables, etc. 
  • Conduct drawing and specification reviews to ensure proper functionality of building systems are benefiting the customer experience. 
• Construction
  • Excellent working knowledge of relevant construction and project management related software, such as: MS Project, Excel, MS Office suite, Procore, etc.
  • Intimately familiar with construction means, methods, planning, management, control, and execution for $100 – 150M+ Development projects.
  • Intimately familiar with Construction Manager activities, phases, issues and resolutions and able to manage to delivery of the project accordingly within budget, on schedule and to the Us Living standards.
• Turnover
  • Manage the internal turnover of projects from construction phase to operational phase of development.

Candidate Qualifications

In addition to the interpersonal and managerial skills required for executing the above key responsibilities, the right candidate will likely have the following qualifications:  

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in Architecture, Construction Management, Civil Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of multifamily/condominium real estate development experience or relevant large scale commercial experience.
• Driven, self-motivated, pro-active and highly organized.
• Inquisitive, analytical and superb problem solver.
• Previous managerial experience including acquisitions, due-diligence, planning & entitlement, design and construction.
• Required to travel up to 10%
• Knowledge of Federal, State and Local Policies, and Fair Housing policies
• Excellent written, oral communication and presentations skills.
• Ability to manage effective teams and develop strategic solutions through good communication and problem-solving skills.
• Previous total project budget management experience.
• Ability to understand and respect values, attitudes, and beliefs that differ across cultures and to respond appropriately to these differences with participants and in planning, implementing, and evaluating programs and services. 
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite and knowledge of construction management systems.

Reporting Structure & Compensation

The Development Manager will report directly to the Regional Vice President. The position will be based in Houston at Us Living Corporate Headquarters, but there will be an expectation for traveling among current and future locations to maintain hands on supervision and motivation of project teams. 

Compensation will be commensurate with experience.

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