Director of Fitness & Wellness

High Rise is a wellness ecosystem operator embedded inside Class A luxury residential buildings in Chicago. We take the fitness center and studios a building already owns and operate them as a premium, branded wellness club — personal training, group programming, health services, and a genuine resident community — at zero cost to the building.

The Director of Fitness & Wellness is the first fitness hire at High Rise and the operational core of everything we deliver at the building level. This role designs and runs the full wellness program, builds and manages the coaching team, and owns the resident experience from day one. Success in this position means members are signing up, staying, and telling their neighbors — and the building's fitness center has transformed from an underused amenity into the most active and talked-about space in the building.

This role reports directly to the Founder & CEO and is a ground-floor opportunity at a company with a clear path to scale. As High Rise expands across Chicago, this person grows with it — from running one building to overseeing fitness operations across multiple locations.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design and manage the weekly programming schedule — personal training availability, group classes, and wellness services — ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery every week
• Recruit, hire, onboard, and manage a team of certified personal trainers and coaches; maintain a reliable bench of qualified talent as the membership grows
• Personally deliver training sessions and coaching at the building level during the launch phase, setting the standard for quality and member experience
• Own the full member journey — from first inquiry through onboarding, ongoing engagement, and renewal — with the goal of building a community people want to belong to
• Plan and execute resident events and programming that bring the building community together, both in-person and through the High Rise platform
• Serve as the primary High Rise contact for residents and building management — the face of the brand at the property level
• Track and report on membership numbers, session attendance, retention, and engagement; surface insights that drive programming and acquisition decisions
• Coordinate with the leasing team to support member acquisition campaigns, distribute marketing materials, and help position the wellness program as a leasing differentiator
• Maintain fitness center operations, equipment standards, scheduling logistics, and compliance with safety and insurance requirements
• Contribute to the buildout of High Rise's operational playbook — documenting what works so it can be replicated as the company expands to new buildings

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5 or more years of experience managing a fitness facility, team, or department at a director or manager level — not just as an individual trainer
• An existing network of certified personal trainers and coaches in Chicago who can be brought in at launch
• Certified personal trainer through NASM, ACE, NSCA, or an equivalent nationally recognized organization
• Demonstrated experience building and managing group fitness programming across multiple class formats
• Strong track record of member or client retention — you know how to build relationships, not just deliver sessions
• Experience with fitness management platforms; familiarity with Mindbody is a plus
• CPR and AED certified
• Entrepreneurial mindset — this is a startup, and the right person is energized by building something from the ground up, not just managing an established program
• Based in Chicago