Senior Project Manager

Property Management Jobs; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

AIR Communities is seeking a project manager to drive capital improvement initiatives across a multifamily portfolio. You will oversee scoping, budgeting, scheduling, and vendor coordination from initial concept through project closeout, with a strong emphasis on cost control and timely delivery.

Expect to travel ~50% and work in a structured environment with defined brand standards, internal design partners, and procurement processes.

Qualifications

• Five or more years managing capital improvement or construction projects.
• Experience in multifamily, commercial real estate, or hospitality translates well.
• Ability to read drawings and evaluate contractor pricing.
• Comfort presenting project status to senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead project scoping, design development, budgeting, bidding, scheduling and closeout.
• Source and manage contractors, architects, consultants and vendors across the full project lifecycle.
• Run kickoff meetings, set milestones, and establish clear performance expectations with every vendor.
• Identify risks early and adjust plans to avoid delays or overruns.
• Coordinate with property operations, facilities, procurement, and design teams throughout execution.
• Provide regular reporting and executive updates on active projects.

Skills

Budgeting

Scheduling

Vendor management

Design judgment

Project controls

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Skills That Drive This Role

This position runs on three things: project controls, design judgment, and vendor accountability. You'll carry capital improvement projects across AIR's multifamily portfolio from initial scoping through final closeout, which means your ability to build a realistic budget, hold a schedule, and keep contractors honest matters more here than any single credential. Design sensibility also carries real weight. You're not just tracking milestones; you're evaluating finishes, reviewing layouts, and making calls that affect how a renovated leasing office or common area actually performs for residents and staff.

Project budgets typically fall between $100K and $500K-plus. These are multi-phase efforts spanning hallway overhauls, amenity repositioning, operational space redesigns, and leasing office transformations. You'll manage several at once, across properties in different markets, which requires tight organization and proactive communication with a wide range of internal and external partners.

What You'll Own Day to Day

Expect roughly half your time to be travel. Site visits aren't optional check-ins; they're how you catch quality issues before they become budget problems and how you maintain real accountability with vendors. Between visits, you're writing scopes of work, running bid processes, negotiating contracts, and delivering status reports to leadership.

• Lead project scoping, design development, budgeting, bidding, scheduling, and closeout
• Source and manage contractors, architects, consultants, and vendors across the full project lifecycle
• Run kickoff meetings, set milestones, and establish clear performance expectations with every vendor from day one
• Identify risks early and adjust plans before delays or overruns compound
• Coordinate with property operations, facilities, procurement, and design teams throughout execution
• Provide regular reporting and executive-level updates on active projects

Five or more years managing capital improvement or construction projects is the baseline. If that experience comes from multifamily, commercial real estate, or hospitality, it translates directly. Strong candidates tend to bring a specific combination: they can read a set of drawings and push back on a contractor's pricing, but they're equally comfortable presenting project status to a senior leadership team without losing the room.

The Role at AIR

AIR Communities is one of the larger multifamily REITs operating in the U.S., with a portfolio concentrated in high-barrier coastal and Sun Belt markets. The east regional office is in Bethesda, and this is a five-day-in-office role. Candidates based in South Florida or Atlanta will also be considered.

The capex work at a portfolio of this scale tends to be more systematized than you'd find at smaller operators. AIR has established brand standards, internal design partners, and procurement processes, which means less time reinventing processes and more time executing. For a project manager who's been improvising everything at a smaller shop, that structure is an asset. For someone who prefers to build everything from scratch, it's worth understanding before you apply.

A bachelor's degree or equivalent experience is preferred. Proficiency with project budgeting, scheduling, and reporting tools is expected. The ability and willingness to travel approximately 50 percent is a real requirement, not a formality.