Although the job description hasn’t changed, today’s on-site role has become more strategic and technical since the pandemic.
“The strongest leaders operating on site aren’t just executing tasks, they’re using data to prioritize and make decisions quickly, execute, and understand how these different levers impact performance,” says Mariana Estrada, chief strategy officer at RPM Living. “But you do still have to have that higher level of comfort with the systems and the workflows that are in place to enable that work. I don't think that the goal is to make the job technical for its own sake, but we really are trying to equip the teams to operate more strategically by putting better tools, better information, and more efficient processes at their fingertips and make them part of their everyday operations.”
Estrada says RPM Living still hires first for hospitality—customer service skills, communication skills, good judgment, and leadership potential—because those are core to success in any multifamily role.
“But I think what's shifted is an expectation about the comfort level that folks will have with technology. That comfort and that fluency is not optional anymore. We have to look for people who can learn systems quickly and who can navigate these digital workflows and adapt over time as the tools evolve,” she shares.
Jeremy Brown, vice president of marketing for ZRS, says the technical side has grown more significantly in the last five years.
“Bot escalations, smart-lock issues, resident app onboarding, and platform integration challenges are all newer realities for on-site teams,” Brown says. “At the same time, the role has become more strategic in how teams think about service, retention, and the resident experience. The job is increasingly about protecting team time while delivering a higher level of customer service.”
Brown notes that ZRS has had to adapt its recruitment efforts.
“We’ve added in-house recruiters within human resources who focus on identifying talent that fits what the role has become. We’re looking for people with a strong customer service mindset, comfort with technology, and adaptability because the environment and expectations are moving faster than they used to,” says Brown.
He adds that the baseline for new hires now includes being comfortable in learning new systems quickly, navigating multiple platforms without getting overwhelmed, and communicating clearly through digital channels.
Shannon Teixeira, vice president of human resources at Wendover, agrees there needs to be a learning agility and moderate usability of AI and other tools. She adds that having curiosity for learning also is key.
“Technology skills don’t necessarily mean you need to be a technology expert, but you have to be able to use the systems and you have to understand the tools. If you don’t know how to use software or how to use a computer or a mobile device, that’s going to be a challenge,” says Cindy Clare, chief operating officer at Bell Partners. “In today's world, fortunately, with the demographic of the people we hire are better at technology than we are. It’s the people that have been around for a long time that we may have to have additional training for to help them learn the new tools‚ myself included. When you start thinking about all of the tools that are out there, it’s incumbent upon all of us to at least have some knowledge of what they do and if they are worthwhile.”