Residence Manager
Location: Carlton Hill Residences, Carlton Hill, Leeds, LS7 1EA
Hours: Full time, Monday to Friday, including flexibility to work occasional evenings and weekends as required
Contract: Ongoing
Salary: Grade 6 (£33,951 - £39,906)
Overview of the Role
The Residence Manager (Building Safety & Operations) holds full operational responsibility for a Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) site in Leeds, ensuring the building, its services, and on-site teams deliver a safe, compliant, and high-quality living environment.
As the senior on-site leader, you will oversee day-to-day operations across customer experience, maintenance, and housekeeping, leading teams and contractors to deliver consistently high standards. You will foster a welcoming and inclusive environment where residents feel supported and teams are enabled to perform at their best, while maintaining strong relationships with residents, colleagues, and external stakeholders.
You will be responsible for delivering a high-quality resident experience, fostering community engagement, supporting resident wellbeing, and ensuring effective management of resident issues including complaints and anti-social behaviour.
You will play a critical role in embedding a strong culture of safety and compliance ensuring delivery of building safety obligations in line with the Building Safety Act 2022. This includes managing building risks through effective identification, monitoring, and control, working closely with central Health & Safety, Facilities Management and senior leadership teams. You will ensure clear communication with residents on safety matters, respond appropriately to incidents and emerging risks, and drive continuous improvement in building performance and resident wellbeing.
You will apply strong knowledge of residential operations, safety systems, and compliance frameworks, engaging effectively with residents and responding decisively to operational risks and incidents.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Operational Management
- Take full responsibility for the day-to-day management of allocated PBSA sites, ensuring they are safe, well-maintained, and operating effectively.
- Conduct regular building and operational inspections, ensuring prompt escalation of faults and issues.
- Manage front-facing areas including reception, communal spaces, and amenities.
Health & Safety and Compliance
- Ensure compliance with all relevant legislation and standards including Fire Safety, Water Hygiene, the Building Safety Act, and the ANUK National Code.
- Carry out and monitor health and safety routines with accuracy and rigour, ensuring understanding and implementation of fire safety strategies and emergency procedures.
- Support the identification, assessment and control of building safety risks in line with regulatory expectations.
- Maintain accurate statutory records and meet regulatory standards and ensure audit readiness.
Tenancy and Lettings Management
- Support occupancy and lettings activity, working collaboratively with university partners on allocations and contributing to portfolio-wide letting strategies.
- Maintain accurate tenancy records and databases and monitor occupancy levels.
- Assist with open days, viewings, and stakeholder engagement activities.
Resident Experience and Community Engagement
- Deliver a high-quality resident experience within a welcoming and inclusive environment.
- Provide a visible and responsive on-site presence to ensure residents feel supported.
- Plan and deliver events and engagement activities to promote a positive community.
- Support resident wellbeing and signpost to appropriate services where required.
- Manage complaints and address anti-social behaviour in line with procedures.
- Promote expected standards of behaviour and maintain a safe, secure environment.
- Liaise with internal teams and external partners as required.
Line Management
- Line manage Residence Assistants, providing guidance and operational oversight to Maintenance and Security staff, and, where applicable, Resident Life Assistants.
- Manage performance, development, and team coordination.
- Promote a culture of professionalism, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Stakeholder and Partnership Management
- Build and maintain strong working relationships with partner universities, contractors, and internal teams.
- Act as a key point of contact for site performance, issues, and improvement plans.
Financial Management
- Monitor operational budgets, ensuring effective cost control.
- Support financial reporting and performance reviews, with accurate and timely information.
- Ensure compliance with financial procedures and controls.
- Monitor rent accounts, and manage arrears in line with procedures.
Systems, Records and Administration
- Maintain accurate records across property, compliance, and tenancy systems.
- Ensure documentation is complete, compliant, and audit-ready.
- Utilise internal systems to monitor performance and service delivery.
Out of Hours Responsibilities
- Respond to emergency situations and major incidents, including attending on-site when required.
- Participate in on-call rotas and provide operational cover during evenings, weekends, and peak periods.
These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade and the evolving portfolio and Operations services.
Qualifications and Skills
Essential:
- Minimum 3 years’ experience managing a purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme or student residence, with direct responsibility for building operations, resident welfare, compliance, health and safety, and team leadership.
- Experience working in high-rise or higher risk residential buildings.
- Sound working knowledge of residential building operations, including safety systems, compliance requirements, and relevant legislation.
- Experience implementing and monitoring risk assessments and control measures.
- Ability to respond effectively to incidents, make decisions under pressure, and manage operational risks.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage residents, manage issues, and promote a positive safety culture while balancing service delivery and compliance.
- Strong organisational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining accurate records and compliance standards.
- Strong financial acumen, with experience of budget management, cost control, and delivering value for money.
- Good IT proficiency, including experience with property management, compliance, or operational systems.
Desirable:
- Knowledge of fire safety management, including evacuation strategies and resident engagement.
- Recognised qualification in health & safety or building safety (e.g. IOSH, NEBOSH, or equivalent).
- Experience supporting audits, inspections, or compliance processes
- Experience managing contractors and service providers
- Understanding of safeguarding and student welfare within a residential environment.
Unipol is a housing Charity, providing assistance in finding and supplying housing for students in Leeds, Nottingham and Bradford. All those working in Unipol are jointly employed by Unipol and the University of Leeds.
Further details about Unipol can be found here www.unipol.org.uk
To apply for the role, please complete a full application through our portal: https://jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=CSUNI1132
Pay: £33,951.00-£39,906.00 per year
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Sick pay
Work Location: In person
