Housing Manager

Education First; Toronto; On-site; CAD 52,000 - 62,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

20 days vacation

2 paid personal days

Health benefits

Staff program discounts

EF Hello access

Career advancement

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Education First is seeking a Housing Manager in Toronto to lead a team delivering safe, welcoming student accommodation across host families and partner residences. You will oversee two full-time coordinators and several part-time staff, ensuring high service standards and seamless student experiences from arrival to departure.

You will collaborate with EF offices worldwide, manage relationships with providers, drive occupancy, and support student welfare with empathy and professionalism.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership experience in student life, hospitality, tourism, accommodation, or related customer-focused environment.
• Experience managing, coaching, and developing a team.
• Strong organizational and operational skills, including administration, supplier management, and process improvement.
• Excellent communication, conflict resolution, and problem-solving skills, with sound judgment in sensitive welfare situations.
• Customer-focused, adaptable, and able to work under pressure in a fast-paced, multicultural environment.
• Experience in recruitment, sales, or community outreach is an asset.
• Travel or study abroad experience preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in hospitality, tourism, business, education, management, or related field.
• Professional fluency in English; additional languages are an asset.
• Full legal right to work in Canada.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Housing team: Lead, coach, and develop a team of two full-time Coordinators and 2-3 part-time employees.
• Deliver an exceptional accommodation experience: Oversee the student accommodation journey from placement and arrival through departure.
• Manage residences and accommodation partners: Maintain relationships with external residence providers and suppliers; monitor service quality, safety, capacity, and student satisfaction.
• Grow and support the host family network: Lead host family recruitment, onboarding, retention, and quality assurance; ensure timely communication and payments.
• Support student welfare and resolve issues: Work with students to manage housing concerns with empathy and professionalism.
• Drive housing operations and occupancy: Oversee day-to-day housing administration, student allocation and reporting; optimize occupancy.
• Collaborate across EF and other departments to ensure consistent quality standards for students worldwide.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

Customer service

Communication

Problem solving

Recruitment

Cross-cultural awareness

Project management

English fluency

Travel or study abroad experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in hospitality, tourism, business, education, management, or related field

Job description

About the Role

As the Housing Manager, you’ll lead the delivery of a safe, welcoming, and high-quality accommodation experience for international students. You’ll oversee EF’s host family network and external residences, ensuring every student has a supportive “home away from home” throughout their stay.

Reporting to the Director of Student Services, you’ll lead a team of Housing Coordinators, Residence Advisors, and Host Family Recruiters while managing relationships with host families, residence partners, EF sales offices, and internal departments. You’ll combine strong people leadership, sound operational judgment, and a customer-focused mindset to solve problems, improve systems, and deliver a consistently excellent student experience.

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced leader from student services, hospitality, tourism, accommodation, or a related customer-focused environment who enjoys working in a fast-paced, multicultural setting.

This is a full-time on-site position that may periodically require weekend work and after-hours support during peak periods, student arrivals, or urgent situations.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the Housing team: Lead, coach, and develop a team of two full-time Coordinators and 2-3 part-time employees. Set clear expectations, run effective team meetings, support performance development, and foster a collaborative, accountable, and service-oriented culture.

Deliver an exceptional accommodation experience: Oversee the student accommodation journey from placement and arrival through to departure, ensuring students, host families, and residence partners receive responsive, professional, and caring support.

Manage residences and accommodation partners: Maintain strong working relationships with external residence providers and other suppliers. Monitor service quality, safety, capacity, and student satisfaction, addressing concerns promptly and escalating issues appropriately.

Grow and support the host family network: Lead host family recruitment, onboarding, retention, and quality assurance across the local community. Ensure host families understand EF’s expectations and receive timely communication, support, and manage host family payments.

Support student welfare and resolve issues: Work directly with students to manage housing concerns, conflicts, and sensitive situations with empathy and professionalism. Support the implementation of housing and disciplinary procedures in partnership with the Director of Student Services and relevant school teams.

Drive housing operations and occupancy: Oversee day-to-day housing administration, student allocation and reporting while maintaining a commercial and solutions-oriented mindset. Proactively secure beds, confirm requests, optimize residence occupancy, and lead host family recruitment to support housing volume and recruitment goals.

Contribute to the wider school community: Collaborate with other departments and support school-wide initiatives and operational priorities. Contribute to a welcoming, inclusive campus environment that encourages cultural exchange and student success.

Collaborate across EF: Work closely with colleagues across the school and EF sales offices worldwide to resolve issue and maintain consistent quality standards for students from around the world.

What We’re Looking For

• Proven leadership experience, ideally in student life, hospitality, tourism, accommodation, or a related customer-focused environment.
• Experience managing, coaching, and developing a team.
• Strong organizational and operational skills, including administration, supplier management, and process improvement.
• Excellent communication, conflict resolution, and problem-solving skills, with sound judgment in sensitive welfare situations.
• Customer-focused, adaptable, and able to work under pressure in a fast-paced, multicultural environment.
• Experience in recruitment, sales, or community outreach is an asset
• Travel or study abroad experience preferred
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in hospitality, tourism, business, education, management, or a related field.
• Professional fluency in English; additional languages are an asset.
• Full legal right to work in Canada.

What EF offers

• 20 days vacation
• 2 paid personal days
• Health benefits package
• Discounts on EF programs for Staff, and Staff Friends and Family for all EF Programs
• Free use of EF Hello: a premium Language Learning App
• Exciting opportunities for domestic and international career advancement within 2-3 years
• Compensation - Salary range between $52k and $62k based on experience.