At Cortland, we operate with a forward-thinking approach that challenges conventional norms and actively seeks insights beyond traditional industry boundaries. As a recognized leader in the multifamily sector, our focus on performance, innovation, and disciplined execution continues to drive strong growth and market leadership. We are committed to building a best-in-class organization by empowering top talent with the resources, autonomy, and support needed to deliver results and advance their careers in a high-performance environment.

As the Vice President of Brand Strategy and Experience, you will be the visionary behind crafting and delivering an exceptional living experience across our multifamily portfolio. You’ll define and execute a cohesive brand strategy that translates into meaningful, memorable resident experiences and scalable design systems.  You’ll lead cross-functional collaboration with teams across design, investments, operations, marketing, communications, and development to bring the brand to life at every touchpoint. Through thoughtful, experience-driven strategies, you’ll elevate resident satisfaction and retention, foster vibrant communities, unlock new revenue opportunities, and strengthen long-term asset performance - positioning Cortland as a recognized leader in consumer experience within the multifamily industry.

Strategic Planning and Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Lead the development of brand strategies, annual business plans, and 3-year strategic plans to strengthen brand positioning and achieve commercial objectives.
• Leverage Cortland’s proprietary consumer segmentation, resident insights, surveys, data analytics and trend analysis to identify opportunities for innovation and improvement across the resident journey.
• Work closely with operations, field teams, investments, marketing, and design teams to align strategies and ensure cohesive execution of brand roadmaps.

Brand Performance and Growth

• Serve as a brand business leader, driving market leading performance and ensuring brand differentiation within our markets. This includes representing the brand in cross-functional planning and translating consumer insights into actionable strategies.
• Develop and monitor key performance indicators to measure resident experience success, including satisfaction scores, retention, online reputation, and the overall contribution to community financial performance.

Guest Experience Excellence

• Build upon our market-leading resident experience by orchestrating brand delivery across the full ecosystem, from online, prospect funnel and on-property execution and programming, to ensure consistent, differentiated, and high-quality resident experiences.
• Collaborate with marketing and communications to align prospect and resident-facing messaging across all communications channels.

Innovation and Implementation

• Lead the planning, piloting, and rollout of brand hallmarks, product/service innovations, and other initiatives to enhance the brand experience.
• Develop fresh concepts and engagement strategies targeted towards specific resident segments and asset archetypes to differentiate the company’s brand and communities in the marketplace
• Partner with product and technology teams to enhance digital touchpoints, introduce new features and capabilities, reduce friction, and increase resident engagement.

Brand Integrity and Standards

• Serve as a resident advocate within the organization, ensuring the voice of the customer informs decisions at every level.
• Translate brand positioning into operation and design principles and standards. This involves reviewing and providing guidance on property-level creative concepts, ensuring alignment with the customer segmentation and standards during renovations and new openings, and managing brand standards implementation.

• A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Brand Management, Marketing, Industrial Design, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• 10+ years of experience in marketing, innovation, or brand management role, with progressive leadership experience
• Proven success in experience delivery, ideally within the real estate, hospitality, or consumer lifestyle sectors.
• Demonstrated project and financial management experience, including managing budgets and multi-partner relationships.
• Ability to demonstrate creative credibility, strategic acumen, and an ability to operate fluidly between big-picture vision and detailed execution.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and analytical skills, with a proven ability to interpret market data and consumer insights to drive performance.
• Strong commercial acumen with a track record of delivering commercial results and ROI.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and executive presence for engaging senior stakeholders and external partners.
• Demonstrated people and business leadership skills, with the ability to inspire and develop teams.

Founded in 2005, Cortland is an international, vertically integrated multifamily real estate investment, development, and management firm with a resident-centric approach to living experiences. Recognized as one of the top 10 multifamily owners and operators in the US, Cortland combines in-house design, construction, and operations to deliver value and innovation across its portfolio.

Join us as we reimagine apartment living and drive outsized returns through purpose, performance, and people.

Cortland is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud to support and celebrate diversity in the workplace. We are committed to equal consideration for all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If you have a disability and need an accommodation or assistance with the application process and/or using our website, please email Careers@cortland.com

Cortland is a drug-free workplace.

Cortland participates in e-verify to verify the employment status of all persons hired to work in the United States.