Community Manager | Santa Cruz, CA

Salary: $85,000 annually
Schedule: Full-Time | Exempt | Monday-Friday | 9:00 AM-6:00 PM

Run your own community. See your impact every day.

If you're an experienced Apartment Community Manager, Property Manager, or Assistant Community Manager looking for a leadership opportunity where your work is visible and your impact is yours. We'd love to meet you.

We're looking for a Community Manager who loves being close to the action.

Someone who notices the details, knows their residents by name, enjoys leasing, builds a strong relationship with their maintenance team, understands the business behind the property, and gets real satisfaction from watching their community succeed.

This is a full-scope leadership opportunity at a 100-unit Santa Cruz community - big enough to be a real business, small enough that you can stay close to all of it. You'll be backed by an experienced Regional Manager and a growing RMC team.

What you'll own

• Leasing and occupancy: Touring apartments, following up with leads, closing, and keeping the community full
• Resident experience: Building genuine relationships and handling the hard conversations with professionalism
• Team leadership: Leading and developing your maintenance team side by side, not from behind a desk
• Financial performance: Reviewing property performance, managing delinquency and collections, delivering the business plan
• The physical property: Walking the community, checking curb appeal, inspecting units, tightening up turns, and jumping in on maintenance issues
• Marketing support: Spotting opportunities and partnering with our Marketing team on what the property needs

Who thrives here

The right person:

• Takes genuine pride in their property and their work
• They're curious, proactive, and organized, and they follow through
• Is hospitality-minded and truly cares about residents, their team, and doing excellent work
• Is collaborative and understands they're executing an established business plan as part of a larger RMC team

Requirements:

• Valid driver's license
• Availability for after-hours emergencies
• Willingness to be hands-on and visible on the property
• 2 years of property management experience at an assistant manager level or higher

Why You'll Love Working Here

This is more than a Community Manager position-it's an opportunity to broaden your leadership experience and make a meaningful impact across an entire region.

At Rutherford, you'll enjoy:

• Opportunities for career growth and advancement
• Supportive and collaborative leadership
• The ability to mentor and develop teams
• A culture that values innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement

Compensation & schedule

• Base salary: $85,000
• Bonus: Eligible for annual KPI bonus and leasing bonus
• Schedule: Monday-Friday, 9:00 am-6:00 pm, plus availability for after-hours emergencies
• Location: Santa Cruz, CA (on-site)

Apply Today

Join Rutherford Management Company and help shape the future of our Santa Cruz portfolio while growing your leadership career.