Vice President of Residential Rental Real Estate Maintenance

About Nest DC

Nest DC delivers a best-in-class, residential property management service. We are a mission-based, justice-oriented company that puts people and place first. We measure our profit in impact: good jobs, diversity, equity, and a thriving community. We spend locally, pay rent for the planet with our environmental policy, and invest in housing justice with the birdSEED Foundation.

Tending to homes and the people in them is our privilege. Our clients count on us to care for their investments, reduce risk, and reduce administrative burden. We are partners and proxies for our clients. To succeed, our organizational design and systems must support a frictionless relationship. From technology to training, communications culture, and marketing, Nest DC is designed to be profitable, reputable, and impactful at once.

The VP of Maintenance is an executive leader who oversees maintenance operations for Nest DC’s scattered-site single-family \homes and small multi-family portfolio. Reporting directly to lisa wise as owner and founder, this role requires a combination of deep mechanical literacy, financial discipline, and logistical oversight.

In this role, the VP leads the maintenance ticket coordination team, manages the field technician roster, recruits and oversees vendor networks, and drives the expert adoption and continuous improvement of our technology stack—including LeadSimple, Google Gemini / Lucy AI, Notion, AppFolio, and Rippling.

The VP of Maintenance is responsible for setting growth expectations, meeting, and exceeding revenue targets across all maintenance streams: day-to-day billable technician hours, property turnovers, vendor partner rebates, project management oversight fees, Virtual Maintenance adoption, and the WellNest Preventative Care program. By strategically deploying talent and tools, managing net operating income (NOI), and improving financial performance, the VP enables department profitability and team profit-sharing aligned with Nest DC's core value system.

As a member of the Leadership Team, the VP connects with the VP of Marketing, Leasing & Sales and collaborates tightly with the VP of Home Management to align move-ins, turnovers, and client relations across the District, ensuring that operational quality is reflected in our 4.5+ star reputation.

Key Responsibilities & Operational Mandates

1. Staff Leadership & Field Team Management

• Ticket Coordination Team Management (4 Personnel): Provide direct management, daily support, and performance oversight for the 4 personnel coordinating maintenance tickets:
• • Maintenance Lead: Directing ticket intake, priority routing, triage standards, and workflow handoffs.
  • 3 End-to-End Maintenance Managers: Overseeing work order lifecycles, ensuring 100% of maintenance requests receive a response within 24 hours, and keeping open loops at zero.
• Management of the Field Team: Direct and manage the active field team:
• • 2 Dedicated WellNest Technicians: Executing annual preventative care visits and photo-documented property condition reports.
  • 3 Hourly Billable Field Technicians: Billed at our standard Schedule A rate.
• Path to Field Staffing Expansion: Drive measurable improvements in ticket coordination, dispatch efficiency, and hourly billability to create the foundation for expanding the hourly field technician headcount, directly increasing department profitability.
• Virtual Maintenance Staffing Path: Design and execute the operational pathway and staffing model for the Virtual Maintenance Program, integrating remote diagnostic technical support.
• Remote Team Support: Partner with offshore remote support teams to streamline administrative tasks, invoice checks, and system updates.
• HR Administration & Rippling: Conduct regular 1-on-1 check-ins, performance reviews, and maintain proper documentation in Rippling to ensure the team has the support needed to perform well.
• Target Bonuses & Profit Sharing: Improve financial performance to meet and exceed budget projections, unlocking target bonuses and profit-sharing for the team as a core element of Nest DC's value system.

2. Emergency Protocols, Complex Systems & Field Operations

• Emergency Protocols & 24-Hour Coverage: Oversight of emergency protocols, ensuring 24-hour coverage for issues that need attention in the field for our residents to secure property and ensure that residents are secure in their homes and getting appropriate responses from us.
• Complex Systems & Structural Management: Support of highly complicated maintenance and systems and structural issues and insurance claims things that are emerging at particular homes that need expert oversight and management.
• Field Inspection & Licensing Support: Support of Basic Business License (BBL) and DCHA inspections in the field as those come up, along with NOI management.
• Weather & Emergency Preparedness: Lead proactive communications and operational prep for clients and residents ahead of weather events (snow, severe storms, extreme temperatures). Ensure the team has the right materials, safety gear, and that the fleet is appropriate for technicians.

3. Technology Deployment & Tool Mastery

• LeadSimple Expert Adoption: Serve as the internal system lead for all maintenance workflows in LeadSimple. Enforce the rule that all property maintenance tracking lives inside LeadSimple—keeping task management strictly out of Slack—to ensure complete visibility and automated tracking.
• Google Gemini & Lucy AI Integration: Embed Google Gemini and custom Lucy AI Gems into daily operations to assist the team in drafting clear owner communications and detailed technical scopes.
• External Consultant Collaboration: Collaborate directly with external technology consultants who build and improve our tools (including LeadSimple process architecture and Gemini AI workflow automation) to refine operational SOPs.
• Notion Stewardship: Adopt Notion daily to maintain team training boards, operational SOPs, onboarding materials, and KPI tracking dashboards.

4. Strategic Revenue Growth & Growth Expectations

• Day-to-Day Billable Hours: Drive field team productivity to achieve 4 billable hours for the field team trending to 5 billable hours as quickly as possible.
• Revenue Targets & Growth Expectations: Revenue targets need to not just meet, but exceed projections. Together we'll create a growth expectation across field tech labor, turnovers, vendor partner rebates, project management fees, Virtual Maintenance, and WellNest adoption.
• Turnover Revenue Growth: Collaborate with the turnover lead to optimize move-out prep, painting, and rent-ready scopes to increase turnover revenue.
• Project Management Oversight Fees: Enforce Schedule A project management fees on capital improvements, restorations, and major remediation (15% for projects under $3,000; 10% for projects over $3,000).
• Virtual Maintenance Scaling: Expand live video diagnostics as a front-end triage filter to lower costs, capture virtual visit margins, and ensure one-and-done field execution.
• WellNest Adoption & Profitability: Drive adoption of the WellNest Preventative Maintenance program, systematically converting inspection findings into approved secondary repair scopes.

5. Vendor Recruitment & Service Level Agreements

• Vendor Recruitment: Proactively identify, recruit, and onboard local trade contractors to support specialized repairs and seasonal peak demands.
• Service Level Agreements & Standards: Enforce the service level agreements and standards that are outlined in our Nest DC Typeform that vendors are supposed to read.
• Quality Audits: Conduct regular field spot-checks and milestone inspections on vendor work to ensure compliance with Nest DC’s standards.
• Vendor Onboarding & Profile Maintenance: Ensure and monitor that we have current licensing, insurance, W-9, and trade tags complete in Appfolio. 

6. Leadership Team Collaboration & Client Alignment

• Leadership Team Active Seat: Sit on the Leadership Team alongside the VP of Home Management, VP of Co-Living, and VP of Marketing, Leasing & Sales.
• Leasing & Marketing Connection: Collaborate with the VP of Marketing, Leasing & Sales to align on turnovers, property availability, and move-in schedules.
• Home Management Collaboration: Collaborate tightly with the VP of Home Management to ensure client alignment, protect property owners, and deliver an exceptional experience for residents.
• Reputation & Reviews: Ensure operational care and quick issue resolution translate into positive online sentiment, supporting Nest DC’s goal of 4.5+ star Google reviews.

Performance Metrics (KPIs)

• Technician Productivity: Achieve 4 billable hours per day, trending to 5 billable hours per day per field technician as quickly as possible.
• Communication & Emergency Response: 100% of maintenance tickets receive a response within 24 hours; status updates logged in LeadSimple every 24–48 hours; 24-hour emergency response maintained for field emergencies.
• Turnover Velocity: Maintain a 10–14 day move-out to rent-ready turnover completion window.
• Revenue Performance: Meet and exceed monthly revenue growth expectations across field tech labor, WellNest, vendor rebates, project management, and turnover income.
• First-Time Fix Rate: Achieve a 90%+ one-and-done resolution rate on reactive field dispatches via Virtual Maintenance pre-triage.
• Reputation Score: Monthly Google/AppFolio review rating contributions supporting a 4.5+ star average.

Model Nest Mission + Core Values

• Actively model the "Caring the Most" philosophy for residents, owners, technicians, and vendors.
• Communicate with warmth, candor, and technical authority—serving as an administrative shield for owners navigating DC housing codes.
• Maintain daily operational fluency across the technology stack: LeadSimple, AppFolio, Google Gemini / Lucy AI, Notion, Rippling, and Slack.
• Embrace diversity, foster an inclusive environment, and celebrate team wins.

Essential Cadence & Weekly Rhythm

1. Daily Morning Stand-Up: Review LeadSimple dispatch boards with the ticket coordination team and assign routes to field technicians.
2. Mid-Day Triage & Scope Review: Review LeadSimple workflow queues with Maintenance Managers and remote coordinators to resolve escalated owner approvals, turnover scopes, and vendor quotes.
3. Field Milestone Inspections: Conduct site visits for complex projects, structural issues, BBL/DCHA inspections, and WellNest quality control spot-checks.
4. Weekly Technology & Process Review: Meet weekly with technology consultants to review LeadSimple workflow bottlenecks, Gemini AI prompt adoption, and process improvements.
5. Executive & Leadership Cadence: Meet weekly with lisa wise, the CEO, Senior VP, and the Leadership Team to review billable hours, turnover yield, vendor performance, and revenue projections.
6. Track emergency maintenance coverages and standards of practice. Act as back-up to all emergency maintenance activities

Essential Functions

• Ability to work in-office five days per week
• Ability to lift and transport items up to 50 pounds
• Ability to climb stairs
• Ability to drive and active driver's license