Head of Commercial - FirstKey Homes

SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES

The Head of Commercial will create the vision and drive the strategies related to Leasing, Customer Experience, Marketing, and Revenue Management for FirstKey Homes. Additionally, the role will focus on digital channels/distribution, pricing strategy, and strategic marketing to increase revenue, demand, and brand exposure. Overall, the Head of Commercial will be responsible for driving better integration and alignment among all revenue-related functions.

This role will be responsible for driving profitable revenue by turning customer/resident insights into demand generation and thoughtfully deploying pricing and revenue management strategies. Having clearly defined, qualified and prioritized well-differentiated customer segments, s/he will be able to identify business opportunities and drive integrated programs that capitalize on these opportunities.

This role will report to the Chief Operating Officer and be a key member of the CEO's Executive Leadership Team (ELT). S/he will directly influence company-wide initiatives, working cross functionally to drive the business forward.

Team:

- Vice President, Revenue Management (total team of 7)

- Senior Vice President, Marketing & Brand Experience (total team of 7)

- Vice President, Leasing (total team of 32 direct reports, plus 30 additional Leasing Agents in the field)

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Emulate modern and visible leadership to the Marketing & Customer Experience, Revenue Management and Leasing departments, instilling confidence and stability and operating with pace and agility while maintaining high standards and customer centricity.
• Sponsor and mentor talent at all levels, providing developmental opportunities that grow talent and build viable successors.
• Partner with technology leaders to define needs and maintain business ownership of all areas of the "revenue technology stack," including marketing automation, salesforce automation/CRM, digital marketing channels (e.g. web and social media), business intelligence, and data analytics.
• Ensure new technology investments yield productivity benefits consistent with established objectives. Create an environment and culture that surfaces, tests, and evaluates innovation and new ideas across revenue management/pricing, leasing/sales, and marketing/customer experience.
• Define and deliver against commercial function KPIs, ensuring a balance between production and efficiency, and build a sales engine that can flex across those parameters based on current environment.

Revenue Management & Pricing:

• Guide the strategy for the revenue management function alongside the team's senior leaders, covering both new and recurring leases.
• Monitor key portfolio KPIs such as renewal and re-leasing spreads, days on market, and net move-ins to determine appropriate benchmarks and pricing goals.
• At a broad level, direct the research, review, and assimilation of industry and competitive data to maintain an effective revenue-generating strategy in the marketplace.
• Guide the use of proprietary pricing and public domain tools to manage the various pricing strategies. This includes evaluating data, such as phone calls, leads, check-ins, applications, and feedback, to assess the need for pricing adjustments, as well as identifying new sources of data that can further be used to inform pricing strategy.
• Working with the Sales and Leasing team, optimize performance delivering on balance between pricing (rent growth) and leasing cycle time.
• Drive evolution of pricing models to increased granularity, for both asset and customer segments, and conduct ongoing price/product analyses to ensure proper rate positioning/product offering.
• Ensure algorithms are regularly scored and correct areas where algorithms are underperforming; critically analyze the impact of revenue management strategies implemented. Guide decision analysis for various pricing strategy situations, (such as determining if renewing or re-leasing properties will maximize company profitability.)

Leasing & Sales:

• Ensure a high level of leasing performance in all markets while achieving at or above target KPIs. Continually enhance and develop the most efficient KPIs to measure and drive performance at portfolio and regional levels. ▪ Provide overarching thought leadership on leasing and sales strategy, working closely with senior leadership in the leasing function and across the company.
• Alongside senior leaders in this area, ensure that consistent leasing standards and best practices are followed across regions to ensure maximal flow-through.
• Leverage sales knowledge to enhance operations, implement initiatives, drive monthly goals and occupancy results, communicate important updates on leasing activities and advise internal partners regarding practices and policies.
• Build on innovations in leasing workflow to improve conversion of leads and deliver more efficient leasing outcomes.
• Provide vision for distribution channel development, advertising, and promotion efforts.
• Deliver improvements in leasing cycle time and conversion and cost per lease.

Marketing & Customer Experience:

• Oversee the development and management of the overall marketing and customer experience strategy so that it is consistent with the organization's broader business strategy, working closely with the Senior Vice President, Marketing & Customer Experience to provide strategic direction and insight.
• Assess the current marketing stack, enhance existing processes, and introduce best in class practices to ensure FirstKey Homes is reaching target customers in the right markets and at the right time across all areas of customer acquisition including lead generation, applicant process, and ongoing engagement with residents.
• Oversee the development and launch of breakthrough digital, social & mobile advertising campaigns and other initiatives that strengthen the connection between FirstKey and its customers/residents.
• Manage the team's development and launch of a digital strategy with a focus on driving leasing volume that supports the business in a meaningful way.
• Measure key CRM metrics including acquisition, conversion, engagement, retention, and satisfaction. Evaluate marketing investment based on business objectives and customer targets to ensure best allocation of resources; continuously improve effectiveness and the ROI of marketing investments and the most efficient choice of investment channels.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Primarily working indoors, office environment.
• Travel: 25+%
• Prolonged exposure to computer screens.
• May sit for several hours at a time.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
• Systems Analysis — Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
• Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

WORK STYLES & BEHAVIORS

• Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

FirstKey Homes is an equal opportunity employer and will not tolerate discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, disability, ethnicity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, genetic information or any other legally protected classification or status.