Associate Program Manager

Associate Program Manager
Student Living | Zolo
Drive priorities. Connect teams. Turn business plans into execution.
Why this role exists
Student Living requires multiple teams to work together to deliver one outcome. Growth depends on student acquisition, occupancy, institutional partnerships, property operations, student experience, and consistent execution across locations.
With multiple initiatives running simultaneously—new property launches, occupancy improvement, acquisition programs, operational improvements, customer experience initiatives, partnerships, and business reviews—strong program management is critical.
The Associate Program Manager will bring structure, visibility, and execution discipline across these priorities, working closely with Student Living leadership to move initiatives from decision → plan → ownership → execution → closure.
Your mandate
Drive execution of critical Student Living initiatives
Translate business priorities into structured action plans
Coordinate across Sales, Operations, Customer Experience, Marketing, Finance, Product, HR, and other teams
Track timelines, dependencies, risks, and outcomes
Build visibility into business and program performance
Identify execution gaps early and drive closure
Support leadership with structured analysis and business reviews
Create greater accountability and predictability in execution
This is not a role that simply tracks what teams are doing. It is a role that ensures important business priorities actually get delivered.
About Zolo and Student Living
Finding dependable accommodation has historically been fragmented and inconsistent, with students and parents balancing location, affordability, safety, quality, convenience, and community.
Zolo is building a more reliable and professionally managed living experience. Zolo Student Living brings together accommodation, operations, service, technology, and community to create environments where students can live comfortably while focusing on their education and growth.
Building Student Living at scale requires understanding local demand, building institutional relationships, driving occupancy, delivering consistent operations, and creating an experience students and parents trust.
What you will be responsible for
1. Drive Business-Critical Programs
Own end-to-end execution of key Student Living initiatives
Translate leadership priorities into projects, milestones, owners, and timelines
Drive programs across occupancy, growth, operations, customer experience, partnerships, and other priorities
Maintain momentum across multi-team initiatives
Ensure committed actions move to closure
Identify delays early and intervene before they impact the business
2. Drive Occupancy & Growth Initiatives
Support programs focused on occupancy and student acquisition
Track performance across properties, cities, institutions, and acquisition channels
Coordinate Sales, Marketing, Operations, and institutional teams
Identify initiatives or properties falling behind plan and drive follow-through
Build visibility into what is working, what is not, and where intervention is required
The role does not directly own Sales, but ensures occupancy-related initiatives have clear ownership and execution discipline.
3. Cross-Functional Execution
Work across Sales, Operations, Customer Experience, Marketing, Finance, Product, HR, and other functions
Identify dependencies before they become blockers
Bring the right stakeholders together to resolve issues
Establish clear ownership for actions and decisions
Drive follow-ups and escalate unresolved issues with clear context and recommendations
4. Business Reviews & Performance Visibility
Build structured business reviews for Student Living leadership
Track critical business and operational KPIs
Prepare dashboards, performance updates, and executive summaries
Identify trends, gaps, risks, and exceptions
Ensure reviews focus on decisions and actions, not only reporting numbers
Maintain visibility on actions committed during leadership reviews
5. New Property & Business Initiatives
Support execution of new property launches and expansion initiatives
Build launch plans covering key cross-functional dependencies
Coordinate readiness across relevant teams
Identify risks impacting launch timelines or property stabilisation
Track post-launch priorities until operations reach expected stability
Capture learnings and improve future launch playbooks
6. Student Experience Improvement
Support initiatives that improve the student living experience
Track recurring customer issues and operational gaps
Work with teams to identify underlying causes
Drive cross-functional improvement programs beyond complaint closure
Monitor whether implemented changes deliver the intended outcome
7. Problem Solving & Process Improvement
Identify recurring execution problems
Break ambiguous problems into structured workstreams
Analyse information before recommending actions
Identify inefficient or manual processes
Simplify and standardise ways of working
Build repeatable processes for recurring problems
8. Program Governance & Execution Discipline
Maintain program plans, trackers, decision logs, and action registers
Ensure critical initiatives have clear ownership and timelines
Track milestones, dependencies, risks, and blockers
Create early visibility when commitments are likely to slip
Ensure review meetings end with clear decisions, owners, and timelines
Follow through until agreed actions are completed
What success looks like after 6–12 months
Critical initiatives move from discussion to execution faster
Leadership has clear visibility into priorities and program health
Occupancy and growth initiatives have structured tracking and ownership
New property launches are better coordinated
Cross-functional dependencies are identified and resolved earlier
Business reviews become sharper, data-led, and action-oriented
Risks and delays are surfaced before materially impacting outcomes
Student experience initiatives address root causes, not just complaints
Teams have greater clarity on ownership, timelines, and outcomes
Recurring execution problems reduce through stronger processes
Leadership spends less time chasing actions and more time driving the business
Who this role is for
You will likely thrive here if you:
Enjoy bringing structure to ambiguous business problems
Take ownership beyond simply completing assigned tasks
Can work with multiple teams without formal authority
Are comfortable moving between data, meetings, projects, and on-ground execution
Ask “Why is this happening?” rather than only reporting what happened
Can distinguish what is important from what is simply urgent
Communicate clearly with leadership and execution teams
Follow through until outcomes are delivered
Are comfortable in a fast-moving business where priorities can change
Want exposure to how an entire business vertical operates rather than specialising in one function
Experience we value
1–4 years of experience in Program Management, Business Operations, Strategy & Operations, Project Management, Founder’s Office, CEO/COO’s Office, Consulting, PMO, or similar roles
Experience driving projects involving multiple teams and stakeholders
Strong analytical and structured problem-solving ability
Strong Excel / Google Sheets and presentation skills
Ability to work with business metrics and convert data into meaningful observations
Strong written and verbal communication
Experience building business reviews, trackers, dashboards, or leadership updates
Experience in Student Housing, Education, Hospitality, Co-living, Consumer Services, PropTech, or other multi-location businesses is useful but not mandatory
Industry experience matters less than demonstrated:
Ownership | Structured Thinking | Business Understanding | Cross-Functional Execution | Problem Solving | Execution Discipline
The impact you will have
Your work will directly influence how effectively Student Living executes its most important priorities, including:
Occupancy & Growth | Property Performance | Student Experience | New Property Launches | Cross-Functional Alignment | Leadership Visibility | Speed of Execution
You will work closely with the business and gain visibility into how growth, sales, operations, customer experience, and business performance come together.
Why join now
Zolo's Student Living business is at a stage where strong execution can significantly influence the pace and quality of growth.
As the business expands across properties, institutions, and markets, complexity will increase—and so will the need fo

Work arrangement
No