Director of Operations

Director of Operations at Palisade Property Management Director of Operations at Palisade Property Management in Madison, Wisconsin Posted in 9 days ago.

Type:

full-time

Job Description:

About Palisade:

Palisade Property Management is the operational arm of Willow Partners, a Madison-based multifamily real estate firm with a perpetual hold strategy and a portfolio of conventional and student housing assets across South-Central Wisconsin. The platform is emerging as one of the largest and most sophisticated multifamily operators in the Madison area. Our flagship is Seven20, a 244-unit luxury high-rise in downtown Madison and, in our view, the finest multifamily building in the state. We are building the operational infrastructure to support that asset and the continued growth of the platform. We do not manage at arm's length. Ownership is involved, decisions are fast, and the team is small enough that good operators have visible impact from day one.

The Role:

The Director of Operations owns operational excellence, compliance discipline, and financial performance across the entire portfolio. This role sits between Ownership and the functional directors and is responsible for making sure Sales, Facilities, Accounting, and Property Management operate in alignment, on budget, and on standard.

The mandate is straightforward:

eliminate operational inefficiency, protect NOI, and build systems that scale with the platform. This is a key seat. You will report directly to the Managing Partner, work alongside the soft CFO, and have authority over company-wide policy, SOPs, KPI development, vendor review, and Entrata optimization.

What You Will Own:

Compliance and risk. Adherence to housing, ADA, environmental, and landlord-tenant law across all assets. Inspection and licensing documentation. Company-wide compliance training. Coordination with legal counsel on operational matters. Compliance here is preventative, not reactive. Operational efficiency. Standardized leasing, renewals, maintenance, and reporting workflows. Entrata configuration and discipline across accounting and resident portals. Identification and remediation of staffing and workflow inefficiencies. SOPs for onboarding new properties as the portfolio grows. Financial oversight. Lead the annual operating and capital budget cycle (complete by end of November per property). Monthly financial review, variance analysis, and expense approval within authority. Utility, insurance, waste, and maintenance allocation review. RUBS recovery optimization. Cross-department leadership. Direct partnership with the Sales Director on leasing KPIs and with Facilities on CapEx prioritization. Build and maintain the operational KPI scorecard. Establish chain-of-command clarity. Design semi-annual and annual training systems. Resident and stakeholder oversight. Support property managers on dispute resolution and retention. Communicate operational performance clearly and concisely to Ownership. Capital and long-term planning. Oversee capital project coordination, scope, budget, and timeline discipline. Align improvements with the perpetual hold strategy.

What Success Looks Like:

Full compliance across all assets, with no gaps Operating expenses at or below budget Accurate, timely monthly financial reporting Measurable reduction in turnover days and delinquency KPI dashboards live, current, and reviewed on cadence CapEx decisions move on clear timelines Budget deadlines hit, every property, every

November Who You Are:

7+ years in multifamily operations, with at least 3 in a senior operations or regional leadership seat Direct experience managing a meaningful portfolio, 1,000+ units preferred, ideally across mixed product types (conventional, student, lease-up, stabilized) Strong working knowledge of Entrata or comparable PMS, and the operational discipline to run a platform on it Fluent in operating budgets, variance analysis, and capital planning Collaborative by default, comfortable working shoulder-to-shoulder with functional directors as peers, and clear about chain of command without leaning on it Wisconsin landlord-tenant law experience preferred; lease-up experience strongly preferred

Why This Role:

Palisade has a stable, well-capitalized portfolio and a clear growth path ahead.

The fundamentals are in place:

institutional-quality assets, an engaged ownership group, a long-tenured core team, and Entrata as the operating backbone. The DOO will step into a platform that works and will have the runway and the authority to take it from working to excellent. For the right operator, this is a rare combination: a real seat at the table, a portfolio with room to grow into, and the ability to see your systems and standards reflected across the platform. Compensation is competitive and structured for an experienced operator, with performance-based variable compensation tied to portfolio KPIs.

To Apply:

Send a resume and a short note on the largest portfolio you have personally been accountable for, and what you changed about how it operated.