Founding Residential Property Manager

Alder Property Management; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Revenue sharing

Early-stage equity

Job summary

Alder is an AI-native property management company serving the San Francisco Bay Area. As the first residential property manager, you will own a portfolio from leasing to move-outs and help shape our services and software.

Expect revenue-based earnings tied to the doors you manage as you help build the company. You’ll work with our in-house software to streamline scheduling, bids, invoices, and owner reporting while delivering proactive service that retains owners for years.

Qualifications

• 3+ years managing a residential Bay Area portfolio.
• Ownership mindset: income tied to results.
• Willingness to visit properties across the Bay Area.
• Knowledge of California landlord-tenant law and AB 1482.
• Strong judgment and ability to explain recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Own a portfolio of owners and residents across leasing, renewals, rent collection, maintenance, move-ins, and move-outs.
• Run turnovers fast: make-ready, pricing, marketing, showings, screening, and lease signing.
• Provide clear recommendations to approvals when decisions are needed.
• Hold vendors to high standards on price, quality, and response time.
• Grow your portfolio through owner referrals and new business.
• Handle difficult issues in line with California and local law.
• Help hire and train property managers who join after you.
• Provide feedback to engineers on AI workflow needs for your portfolio.

Skills

Residential portfolio mgmt

Bay Area market knowledge

Client relationship building

Vendors management

California landlord-tenant law

Education

California real estate license

Tools

Property management software

Job description

Alder is an AI-native property management company in the San Francisco Bay Area. We manage rentals and homeowner associations directly, and we built our own software for leasing, maintenance, accounting, and governance so our managers can give owners, boards, and residents better service with far less busywork.

Property management is a fragmented $140B market and AI now makes it possible to rebuild how the industry operates. Our investors include early backers of OpenAI, ElevenLabs, and Cognition. Spencer Rascoff, Zillow's co-founder and former CEO, is also an investor and close advisor.

About the Role

You'll be Alder's first residential property manager. You'll own a portfolio of Bay Area rentals end to end, from single-family homes and condos to small multifamily buildings, and you'll help build the business around it.

Our software takes on the work that usually buries a property manager: scheduling, follow-ups, bid collection, invoices, owner statements, and records. That leaves you free to do what the best property managers do: make good calls, build relationships, and deliver the kind of service that keeps owners for years.

This role is for someone who wants to eat what they kill. You'll share in the revenue from every door you manage, so the more owners you win and keep, the more you earn. And because you're joining early, you'll shape how Alder operates: our playbooks, our service standards, the software you use every day, and the team that comes after you.

What you'll do

• Own a portfolio of owners and residents across leasing, renewals, rent collection, maintenance, move-ins, and move-outs.
• Run turnovers fast: make-ready, pricing, marketing, showings, screening, and lease signing. Every vacant day costs an owner money.
• Bring owners a clear recommendation when a decision is needed, whether it's a repair bid, a rent increase, or a renewal.
• Hold vendors to a high standard on price, quality, and response time.
• Grow your portfolio: meet prospective owners, work agent referrals, and win over owners who are tired of their current manager.
• Handle the hard moments well, from habitability issues to late rent to difficult move-outs, in line with California and local law.
• Shape the business: write the playbooks, set the service standards, and help hire and train the property managers who join after you.
• Tell our engineers where the system falls short, and test new AI workflows on your own portfolio before they roll out more widely.

What we're looking for

• Experience. You've managed a residential portfolio in the Bay Area, typically for 3+ years, and owners would vouch for you.
• Ambition. You want your income tied to your results, and you'd rather build your own book than carry someone else's.
• A builder's mindset. You've seen how property management should work, and you want to help build a company that does it right.
• Good judgment. You look past the immediate request, weigh cost against risk, and can explain your recommendation in a sentence.
• Ownership. When something goes wrong at one of your properties, you handle it without being asked.
• Working knowledge of California landlord-tenant law, fair housing, AB 1482, and local rent and just-cause ordinances such as San Francisco's and Oakland's.
• Comfort with new tools and a willingness to push them. You'll help shape the software you use every day.
• A car and the ability to visit properties across the Bay Area.

Industry designations such as IREM's CPM or ARM, NARPM's RMP or MPM, or a California real estate license are a plus. So are existing owner relationships, small multifamily experience, or a second language spoken by residents in our area.

There's no ceiling on what you can earn here. Every founding property manager shares in the revenue from the doors they manage, so as your portfolio grows, your income grows with it.

You'll also receive meaningful early-stage equity, so you own a piece of the company you're helping build.