Zolostays - Area Operations Manager

About Zolo: Zolo is Indias largest and most trusted co-living and managed accommodation platform, operating across multiple verticals including Co-Living, Z Hotels, Loop Hostels, Student Housing, Real Estate, and Vacations. With operations across major cities, Zolo provides secure, comfortable, and community-centric living solutions trusted by thousands of students and working professionals.

About Student Housing at Zolo: Zolos Student Housing division provides safe, high-quality, and fully-managed accommodations designed specifically for students and parents who seek reliability, comfort, and a structured living environment.

We operate large-format student residences with a focus on:

- Safety, hygiene, and compliance

- Organized meal plans and housekeeping

- 24x7 student support

- Study-friendly spaces and structured routines

- Community-building activities

- Transparent communication with parents

The Area Manager plays a critical role in shaping the end-to-end student experience, ensuring properties operate smoothly while maintaining academic-friendly environments, strong parent confidence, and high occupancy.

Role Overview: The Area Manager is a leadership position responsible for driving Sales (Occupancy), Supply (New Property Acquisition), and Operations across multiple student housing and co-living properties in Pune.

You will be responsible for cluster-level performance, P&L understanding, team leadership, new site launches, and maintaining Zolos service benchmarks.

This role is ideal for someone who has managed multi-site operations, driven occupancy growth, and worked with student-centric or hospitality environments.

Key Responsibilities:

- Identify local student demand hubs (colleges, coaching centres, PG clusters).

- Build partnerships with colleges, training institutes, and student communities.

- Analyse weekly sales numbers and take action on early occupancy dips.

Supply & New Property Launches:

- Lead end-to-end launch processes: setup, branding, first occupancy, stabilization.

- Conduct market research to find high-potential student zones.

- Handle owner/broker negotiations professionally.

Operations & P&L Management:

- Conduct audits and enforce SOPs strictly.

- Track expenses, vendor costs, and property-level profitability.

- Resolve student/parent escalations promptly.

Team Leadership:

- Train teams on student experience standards, discipline, and communication.

- Run weekly reviews to track occupancy, operations, and complaints.

- Build a culture of accountability and proactive problem-solving.

Parent & Student Relationship Management:

- Ensure complaint resolution within defined SLAs.

- Drive initiatives around safety, discipline, and community activities.

Skills Required:

- Strong exposure to occupancy, sales funnels, revenue metrics, and P&L basics.

- Experience launching and stabilizing new housing/hostel properties.

- Strong customer orientation-especially with students and parents.

- Vendor negotiation and budgeting capability.

- Ability to use data and weekly numbers for decision-making.

Team Management:

- Strong training, motivation, and performance management skills.

- Ability to enforce discipline and daily process adherence.

Persona Traits:

- Hustler attitude- Fast, hands-on, and action-oriented.

- Calm under pressure - Handles peak occupancy seasons with composure.

- Student-first approach- Empathetic, disciplined, and parent-trust focused.

- Process-driven- Believes in SOPs, checklists, and predictable execution.

- Growth mindset- Willing to learn, experiment, and expand business.

Education:

- MBA or Postgraduate preferred

Why Join Zolo?:

- Own both Sales + Supply for your cluster

- Exposure to multi-property operations and new site launches

- Clear growth path: Area Manager Regional Manager

- Freedom to innovate and build high-impact initiatives

- Be part of Indias fastest-growing accommodation ecosystem

Based on experience and capability.