Community Manager

Ethiqual Global; Pune District; On-site; INR 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Ethiqual Global is seeking a Community Manager for our Pune-based hostels. You will own the resident experience end-to-end, designing year-round events and building a cohesive, engaged community across properties.

The role demands high energy, strong people skills, and the ability to manage budgets, partnerships, and feedback loops in a student-focused environment. Expect on-ground work across locations, including evenings and weekends.

Qualifications

• 3–6 years in community management, experiential/events, hospitality, or a comparable people-facing role.
• Natural people person with high energy and genuine warmth, loves being around students.
• Proven ability to plan and execute events on budget and within constraints.
• Comfort working on-ground across locations, including evenings and weekends.
• Strong communication and content instincts for a young audience.
• Basic budgeting ability and reading simple engagement or NPS reports.
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, hospitality, or psychology is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and run a year-round events calendar including cultural nights, festival celebrations, sports leagues, wellness sessions, workshops, freshers welcomes and farewells.
• Own events end-to-end: concept, budget, logistics, vendors, execution, and post-event review.
• Create signature traditions that residents look forward to.
• Build cross-property connections to create a unified community across multiple hostels.
• Set up and run resident clubs and ambassador programs.
• Onboard and integrate new residents to ensure no one feels like a stranger in weeks.
• Manage community channels (WhatsApp, notice boards, digital touchpoints) with a warm voice.
• Gather and act on resident feedback; route remaining to Operations.
• Celebrate milestones and ensure personal touches in engagement.
• Collaborate with student bodies and local brands to enrich programming.
• Track budget, report metrics, and coordinate a network of on-site community champions.

Skills

Community management

Event planning

Budgeting

Cross-location coordination

Customer engagement

Vendor management

Communication

NPS reporting

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Canva

WhatsApp Business

Job description

Community Manager

Location: Pune (on-ground, across hostel properties)

Type: Full-time

Role & responsibilities

We're looking for a Community Manager to turn a network of hostels into a genuine community. You'll own the resident experience end-to-end: the events, the traditions, the everyday moments of belonging that make a student choose to stay with us year after year and tell their friends to do the same.

This is a high-ownership, on-ground role. You'll be visible across properties, close to students, and directly accountable for how connected, engaged, and happy our residents feel. In a business where renewals and word-of-mouth referrals are everything, community is the product and you're the person building it.

What You'll Do:

Events & experiences

• Design and run a year-round events calendar cultural nights, festival celebrations, sports leagues, wellness sessions, skill and career workshops, fresher welcomes, and farewells.
• Own events end-to-end: concept, budget, logistics, vendors, execution, and post-event review.
• Create signature Aaalay traditions that residents look forward to and remember.

Community building

• Build cross-property connection so residents feel part of one Aaalay community, not 21 separate buildings.
• Set up and run interest-based clubs, a resident ambassador / community-leader programme, and peer networks.
• Personally onboard and integrate new residents so no one feels like a stranger in their first weeks.

Engagement & communication

• Run Aaalay's community channels WhatsApp groups, notice boards, and digital touchpoints with a consistent, warm, on-brand voice.
• Close the loop on resident feedback: gather it, act on what you can, and route the rest to Operations.
• Celebrate milestones — birthdays, wins, exam seasons — in ways that feel personal.

Partnerships

• Collaborate with client clubs, societies, and student bodies to co-create programming.
• Bring in local brands, vendors, and sponsors to enrich events and stretch the budget.

Ownership & reporting

• Manage the community and events budget responsibly.
• Track and report on the metrics that matter (below), and use them to improve the programme each term.
• Coordinate a small network of property-level community champions.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first year, you'll be measured on:

• Resident NPS and satisfaction trending up
• Event participation rates across properties
• Renewal / retention of residents year-on-year
• Referrals generated through resident advocacy
• Active, healthy engagement on community channels

What We're Looking For

• 3–6 years in community management, experiential/events, hospitality, brand activation, student affairs, or a comparable people-facing role.
• A natural people person with high energy and genuine warmth — you like being around students and they like being around you.
• Proven ability to plan and execute events flawlessly, on budget and under real-world constraints.
• Comfort working on-ground and across locations, often outside standard hours (evenings and weekends are when community happens).
• Strong communication and content instincts, especially for a young audience.
• Basic comfort with numbers — you can plan a budget and read a simple engagement or NPS report.
• Bachelor's degree in any field (marketing, hospitality, or psychology is a plus).

Nice to Have

• Experience working with student communities or in the co-living / hospitality sector.
• An existing network among Pune vendors, artists, brands, or campus bodies.
• Comfort with light design/social tools (Canva, WhatsApp Business, etc.).