General Manager - aparto Student Housing

Overview

Who are we?

aparto is an accommodation and student experience provider based in the UK and Ireland, providing amazing experiences in all our communities by investing in our people, our facilities and our brand. aparto opened the first Italian property - aparto Milan Giovenale and aparto Milan Ripamonti; and we are going to open the third brand new Italian aparto property: aparto Milan Durando. It’s a really exciting and inspiring new employment opportunity and the great chance to be part of a unique professional experience at the same time. aparto believes in student homes, not student rooms, and we want to provide the best experience possible. We strive to constantly improve. To take feedback from our teams, our residents, and our business partners. We aim to provide safe, fun places to live and work.

Responsibilities

Role Profile

Based in the third Milan aparto Student Housing property (aparto Milan Durando), the General Manager is a critical role for the success of our residences. You’ll manage the operations team (front desk and housekeeping) to ensure the building is kept in superb condition. You will work with the facilities team to ensure health and safety and fire compliant tasks are met on daily and monthly schedules. You will assist in organising the preventative maintenance schedule and report any defects to the Facility Manager. As General Manager, you will lead meetings reporting on finance, sales, commercial, operations and quality. It is expected that you can also complete general administrative tasks mandatory for the actual Italian regulations about hospitality. You will manage the overall property teams to coordinate all functions essential to delivering first-class service to our student residents, including maintenance, cleaning, front-desk and security through a mix of directly employed staff and external contractors. You will also work closely with other General Managers and teams across the portfolio.

• Train and guide the Assistant General Manager to support you in all the main activities and duties.
• Take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the building, ensuring it is clean and safe.
• Provide effective leadership to ensure key objectives are met.
• Coordinate the facilities team.
• Ensure all invoices are processed in good time with effective codes and within approved budget.
• Process statutory and regulatory compliance including fire, water, H&S and other relevant audit areas.
• Ensure maintenance is delivered in line with defined timeframes.
• Assist with debt management and interact with students respectfully.
• Responsible for the rota and work scheduling of the facilities team.
• Assist with building management for smooth operations during student arrivals, departures, summer turnarounds and refurbishment programmes.
• Understand HR issues and ensure they are dealt with or escalated professionally.
• Ensure all work is carried out within company guidelines and policies.
• Resolve any student complaints.
• Ensure correct training is carried out where necessary.
• Maintain overall building appearance and condition.
• Overall responsibility for summer clean and maintenance programme delivery.
• Travel to other aparto buildings to complete audits.
• Ensure a warm, welcoming environment for students, parents, and visitors.
• Assist in ensuring your site is a safe environment in which to live and work.
• Review reports on debt, income, and general occupancy.

Qualifications

Person Specification

• Experience of delivering excellent customer service.
• A good working understanding of tenancy management and housing legislation.
• A good handle on sales and marketing with a proven track record of results.
• Ability to write reports and present performance indicators.
• Strong IT skills transferable to in-house systems (Starrez, Peninsula etc.).
• Able to communicate effectively with people at all levels.
• Problem-solving skills with the ability to use own initiative.
• Relevant student accommodation, leisure, hospitality or building management experience preferable.
• Experience of offering pastoral care and spotting issues that affect students.
• Knowledge of the issues surrounding students.
• Ability to handle sensitive issues.
• Influencing skills and a professional outlook on challenging issues.
• Outgoing and enthusiastic.
• A desire to learn and to continually develop.
• Willing to attend relevant training days/sessions.
• Eager to seek feedback and review ways to improve.
• Able to work on own initiative.
• Previous hospitality/student housing experience in Italy.