Job Description 

Who We Are

Core Spaces (Core) is more than a real estate company; it’s a people company. Where building relationships is just as important as building properties. From researchers and architects to designers and operators, Core is made up of risk takers and dreamers who are on a mission to invent the future of living. Our six cultural values guide us every day and we strive to live them in everything we do: PUSH (Invent Better Places to Live), GRIT (We Got This), LIFT (Help Each Other Win), SHINE (Bring Your Full Self), UPHOLD (Never Break Trust), GROW (Always Get Better). Everything Core does stem from this culture of collaboration and innovation, and the drive to constantly improve the resident experience. This unique approach has led to creating spaces and services that are redefining the way people live.

What We Do

Founded in 2010, Core is a vertically integrated real estate investment manager focused on acquiring, developing and managing across the student housing and build-to-rent (“BTR”) sectors. Its residential communities feature world-class amenities, progressive design, and hospitality-driven service. Core’s student housing portfolio includes over 59,000 beds currently owned or managed, with a pipeline of over 50,930 beds in various stages of development. Core’s BTR division has over 3,000 homes under development, now leasing or in its pipeline in high-growth metros nationwide. For more information, visit www.corespaces.com.

*Portfolio and pipeline numbers as of Q4 2025 

Benefits That Matter

• A culture that provides you with a sense of belonging
• Hybrid or remote work options may vary by role to support work-life balance
• Competitive pay that values your contributions
• Incentives designed to reward your achievements
• Paid flexible PTO to disconnect or celebrate life milestones
• Paid 14+ holidays, including your birthday, to disconnect and celebrate
• Paid Parental Leave that begins after 90 days
• Paid volunteer time off to give back to your community
• Monthly workshop weeks; fewer meetings & more collaboration
• Robust health plan options that begin within at least 30 days of your employment
• Monthly phone reimbursement
• Wellness allowance and perks, including a yearly subscription to a meditation app
• An environment that provides you a voice to share your perspectives
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for access to confidential support services
• Company retirement options including 401(k) + matching & Roth account option

Position Overview

The Director of Operational Training is responsible for setting the vision, strategy, and operating rhythm for training at Core Spaces. Reporting to the Vice President of Research & Operations Training, this role oversees the full training function across Student Housing and Build-to-Rent (BTR), ensuring learning is timely, practical, scalable, and directly tied to business performance. 

This leader builds and leads a high-performing training organization—balancing strategy with execution—while ensuring the right people, programs, and platforms are in place to support community teams, managers, and leaders at critical moments. The Director of Operational Training establishes clear ownership across the team, drives cross-functional alignment, and ensures Core’s learning investment produces measurable results. Helps set training organization design, capacity planning, and resourcing decisions.

What You Will Do

• Set and execute Core’s enterprise training strategy aligned to operational excellence, financial performance, and Core’s culture (UX Starts with U).
• Own the annual and quarterly training roadmap and prioritization process, aligning training delivery to business cycles such as onboarding, leasing readiness, budgeting, turn, move-in, and policy changes.
• Lead, coach, and develop a multi-disciplinary training team, including people managers and individual contributors; establish clear role ownership, standards, and accountability.
• Establish governance and quality standards for learning content across channels (self-paced, ILT, job aids, playbooks), ensuring consistency, version control, and a single source of truth.
• Establish and maintain visibility mechanisms (curriculum tracker, program one-pagers, launch calendars, governance notes) and run the recurring cross-functional cadence that keeps stakeholders aligned.
• Shape curriculum strategy across core operating functions (sales/leasing, resident experience, financials, turn/move-in, leadership) and ensure programs progress from onboarding to proficiency to leadership readiness.
• Own executive oversight of high-impact training programs and platforms (e.g., Trailblazer Training, L&D SharePoint/resource hub, Turn/Move-In readiness programming, and major content launches), ensuring clear owners, timelines, and delivery.
• Own the training intake process (e.g., HappyFox), including triage, stakeholder consultation, prioritization, and defined decision rights/SLAs/escalation paths (standard vs urgent) to protect the roadmap.
• Partner with subject matter experts (Operations, Sales/Leasing, Accounting, Business Systems, Asset Management, Development) to translate business needs into scalable learning solutions, and ensure training is deployed ahead of operational moments—never after the fact.
• Ensure continuous improvement through learner feedback, manager input, field performance insights, and post-program evaluations; stop/refresh low-impact training and scale what works.
• Own the learning technology ecosystem strategy and adoption, ensuring platforms and tools are used effectively, integrated where possible, and continuously improved.
• Define and track KPIs for training effectiveness, adoption, and business impact; review results with leadership and drive improvements based on data.
• Serve as the executive-facing voice of Training—providing clear reporting, and recommendations to improve performance, consistency, and team capability.
• Manage vendor relationships and performance (LMS, content tools, external content providers)
• Create the training budget (tools, vendors, content production, including ROI rationale, contract strategy and forecasting.
• Technology:
  • Learning Management System (LMS: Grace Hill / Core U): platform utilization standards, adoption and reporting integrity.
  • Reporting & dashboards: training completion, engagement, effectiveness reporting, and KPI scorecards.
  • Content authoring tools: Articulate 360 and related authoring suite; partnership with Instructional Design to ensure scalable, on-brand content.
  • Digital learning technologies: video/animation and AI-enabled learning tools (e.g., Vyond, Synthesia or equivalent as adopted).
  • Intake & workflow: training ticketing/intake (e.g., HappyFox) and project management tools (e.g., Monday/Smartsheet/ClickUp as applicable).
  • Knowledge base / resource hub: SharePoint and/or internal training library ownership, versioning, and information architecture
• Learning Curriculum
  • Define and maintain Core’s curriculum architecture across Student Housing and BTR, including role-based learning pathways, sequencing, and proficiency expectations.
  • Own governance of core curriculum (onboarding pathways, required courses, and recurring readiness programming tied to the operating calendar).
  • Oversee seasonal programming to ensure teams are ready ahead of critical operating moments tied to the operating calendar.
  • Ensure leadership and soft-skill development is built as a progression (new manager → experienced manager → promotion-ready).
  • Maintain an annual refresh cadence to retire outdated content, close training gaps, and align content to policy and systems changes.
  • Ensure policies, SOPs, and training remain aligned (partnering with Policy Owners/Legal/Compliance); coordinate training updates to launch in sync with policy and system changes, and maintain a policy-training refresh cadence.
• KPIs & Measurement
  • Adoption & compliance: completion rates by role/region, reduction in past-due courses, and timely completion tied to onboarding milestones.
  • Program effectiveness: learner satisfaction, pre/post checks where applicable, application/confidence measures, and manager skills assessment trends.
  • Operational readiness: improved readiness ahead of turn/move-in and leasing cycles (measured by readiness checks, reduced repeat errors, fewer escalations tied to training gaps).
  • Business impact correlation (in partnership with Operations): improvements in execution and reduction of repeat operational misses where training is the lever.
  • Efficiency & throughput: intake responsiveness, time-to-launch for priority programs, content freshness/retirement cadence, and reduction in duplicative/rogue content.
  • Stakeholder trust: on-time delivery against the training roadmap and positive feedback from Operations and cross-functional leaders.
  • Oversee compliance training governance (e.g. Fair Housing, Sexual Harassment, Cybersecurity) across jurisdictions: cadence, assignment rules, completion tracking, in partnership with HR/Legal & Compliance departments.
• Success Criteria:
  • First 6 months:
    • Complete an organizational health and capacity assessment, clarifying role ownership across the training organization. Implement a structured intake process for new training requests, including prioritization criteria. Publish a visible 12-month training roadmap aligned with the operating calendar, and improve leader visibility through consistent reporting.
    • Lead the update of the UX Starts with U training to translate refined brand expectations and service standards into clear, practical, role-relevant guidance.
    • Lead the BTR manual updates and support the rollout of Version 2 of the BTR Community Manager Resource Guide
  • 6–12 months:
    • Demonstrate measurable improvements in training adoption and compliance, deliver 2–3 high-impact outcomes tied to critical operating moments (e.g., turn/move-in readiness, manager capability, leasing readiness).
    • Create supervisor-ready, role-specific training manuals and onboarding frameworks for high-impact, high-turnover roles.
    • Partner with Data Strategy to automate compliance tracking, reporting, and accountability dashboards.
    • Achieve established goals for Process Improvement Enablement and Enterprise Tools Training
  • Long-term: Build a scalable curriculum architecture that supports organizational growth, acquisitions, and new market launches. Continually elevate training from “completion” to “capability” by establishing clear proficiency standards. Develop repeatable enablement models for new enterprise tools and cross-department process rollouts, ensuring adoption is consistent, measurable, and scalable across acquisitions and new market expansions.
• Occasional travel may be necessary as needed
• Perform all other duties and tasks as assigned by management
• Must be able to complete all physical requirements of this role with or without a reasonable accommodation 

Ideally, You’ll Have

• Bachelor’s degree in Education, Business, Organizational Development, or a related field
• 8–10+ years of progressive experience in Learning & Development, training, enablement, or operational training
• 3+ years leading teams and people managers
• Experience building scalable training programs in a multi-site, operations-driven environment
• Demonstrated experience using learning technologies and data to drive measurable outcomes

You’ll crush it if you have experience with

• Student housing, multifamily, hospitality, or BTR environments
• Leading change and large-scale program rollouts
• Curriculum strategy and role-based pathway development
• Creating strong governance across content, platforms, and stakeholder expectations
• Executive communication—making training impact clear, concise, and tied to business performance

Organizational Structure

Reports to: Vice President, Research & Operations Training

Direct Reports: Training Managers and individual contributors (including Training Effectiveness, Student & B

Disclaimer

Please note that job responsibilities, reporting lines, and duties outlined in this job description are subject to change to meet the evolving needs of the organization.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Core Spaces celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment, which creates a sense of belonging for all employees. We do not discriminate and believe every individual should be proud of who they are and the community they represent.

Pay Range

USD $165,000.00 – USD $185,000.00 /Yr. 

Additional Compensation

Employees may be eligible for discretionary bonuses, typically 20% of base salary annually, depending on individual and organizational performance. 

Compensation Disclosure

The compensation range listed reflects the base salary or hourly rate that we reasonably and in good faith expect to offer for this role at the time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as education, experience, skills, certifications, seniority, geographic location, and business needs.

This role may be eligible for additional forms of compensation, including bonuses, commissions, stipends, or non-cash incentives, depending on position and performance. Benefits may include health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and other role-based offerings, subject to eligibility requirements.

All compensation components are subject to change based on business needs or market conditions.