Owner Relations Manager

Honeybear Hideaways — Owner Relations Manager

Department Head Role — Building and Strengthening a New Department

Department: Owner Relations (new department, still being built out)

Reports to: VP and Operations Director

Direct Reports: None initially — future: Owner Relations Coordinator(s)

Position Level: Department Head

Core Tools: Quo, Hospitable, Breezeway, Docusign, Owner Relations gmail account, Google Drive (contracts, notes, onboarding files)

Position Overview

Honeybear Hideaways is a fast-growing luxury short-term rental company. Sustainable growth requires more than excellent guest experiences — it also requires owners who trust the company, remain with the company, and want to expand their portfolios with us.

The Owner Relations Manager leads Honeybear's newest department and serves as the primary point of contact for property owners & real estate agents. The department is established but still in its early stages, and this role is responsible for continuing to build and refine how the company communicates with owners, reports on their performance, identifies problems early, and brings new owners on board, while managing these functions day to day.

This role has no direct reports at the outset. As the department grows, the Owner Relations Manager will design and lead an Owner Relations Coordinator role.

Compensation and Benefits

• Starting salary: $45,000 per year
• First 90 days: referred to as the “90-Day Leadership Launch Period.” The milestones later in this document outline what you are expected to accomplish.
• Raise to $50,000: available after 90 days, contingent on meeting the milestones outlined below, as evaluated by leadership.
• Health and other company benefits: start after 60 days.
• Bonus potential: available after 90 days, based on KPIs defined by leadership.
• Paid vacation: one week, available after your first year.

What You'll Build

This department is new and still taking shape. A significant part of this role is building and refining the systems that run it — not only doing the work, but creating processes that can be repeated, taught, and eventually handed off to a coordinator. At minimum, you will build:

• A regular communication schedule (weekly, biweekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on the owner) with clear expectations for response times and who to notify when an issue needs attention.
• Owner reporting templates and a recurring update schedule that translate performance data into information owners can understand and trust.
• An agent pipeline update is required weekly until the contract is signed and until the property is fully closed if under purchase or sale.
• A renewal and retention plan that tracks key dates, identifies early warning signs of owner dissatisfaction, and initiates renewal conversations well ahead of any risk window.
• A new-owner onboarding process that covers everything from before the contract is signed through the first 90 days.
• A filing system in Google Drive for contracts, notes, onboarding records, decisions, and approvals, so records are not kept only in an inbox or someone's memory.
• A clear process for involving Operations, Maintenance, Cleaning, Marketing, Accounting, and Guest Services whenever an owner issue affects their work.
• A scorecard and a focused set of KPIs that make owner health something you can measure and manage, not just assess by impression.
• A plan for a future Owner Relations Coordinator, including SOPs (standard operating procedures)and training.

What Success Looks Like

• Owners feel informed, confident, and supported through consistent, trustworthy communication on Quo and the Owner Relations email inbox.
• Renewal risk is identified early and addressed calmly, rather than surfacing as a surprise.
• Owner retention stays strong and predictable, and referrals and expansion opportunities grow.
• New owners go through a smooth, well-run onboarding that protects brand standards and prepares the property for launch.
• Owner reports are clean, consistent, and trusted, both financially and operationally.
• Owners and agents receive projections on schedule, without needing to follow up.
• Other departments follow through on what was promised to owners, so no commitment is overlooked.
• The Owner Relations function is scalable: templates, SOPs, and reporting rhythms exist and are consistently used.

Core Responsibilities

1) Owner Communication & Relationship Management

• Serve as the main point of contact between Honeybear and property owners.
• Set clear expectations for owner communication: how fast we respond, how often we send updates, and who to involve when something goes wrong.
• Create Property Projections upon request promptly for agents or owners inquiring about property management.
• Send owners structured updates on a weekly or biweekly basis, as leadership and each owner's situation call for.
• Communicate via QUO’s Owner Relation line, the Owner Relations Email, while updating the drive with pipeline updates in the email.
• Stay calm, professional, and solutions-focused, even in high-emotion conversations.
• Maintain a clear record of key decisions, approvals, and commitments made to owners, so information is not lost during absences or handoffs.
• Ensure every commitment made to a property owner is assigned to a specific person, given a deadline, and confirmed once completed.
• Act as the on-duty manager every other weekend and one weekday every other week, handling time-sensitive issues that affect owners, guests, safety, compliance, or revenue.
• Document, assign, and resolve weekend issues before the on-call shift ends, and submit an end-of-shift report addressing any items that still need attention

2) Owner Performance Reporting & ROI

• Translate operational and financial performance into updates owners can understand.
• Review performance metrics (occupancy, nightly rate, conversion, refunds and discounts, maintenance overages) to identify and explain variance drivers.
• Prepare and lead quarterly review conversations covering performance trends, risks, and recommendations.
• Help owners understand market conditions, seasonality, pricing strategy, and typical revenue ramp-up timelines so expectations remain realistic.
• Work with Accounting to make sure owner-facing numbers are accurate and presented professionally.

3) Retention, Renewals & Growth

• Build and run a retention strategy that keeps the owner portfolio stable and growing.
• Watch for early warning signs that an owner is unhappy — changes in how often they reach out, recurring complaints, or a mismatch between their expectations and actual performance.
• Track renewal dates and start renewal conversations well ahead of any risk window.
• Identify opportunities to grow with existing owners (additional properties, upgrades, amenities, design improvements) and bring viable opportunities to the VP.
• Capture owner success stories and referral introductions, working with Marketing on how they're used.

4) Property Walks & Pre-Onboarding Evaluations

Before a new property joins the portfolio, you help confirm that it is ready.

• Walk prospective properties with the VP, Operations, & Design Team as needed, before onboarding is finalized.
• Check the property against Honeybear's luxury standards and operational requirements.
• Flag what needs attention: required repairs, safety or compliance risks, missing inventory or amenities, and anything needed to meet our brand presentation.
• Prepare a written assessment covering readiness risks, anticipated onboarding complexity and timeline, launch prerequisites, and owner expectations on timeline, seasonality, and revenue ramp-up.

5) New Owner Onboarding

• Lead owner communication from initial contact to signed contract through property stabilization.
• Keep owners aligned on timeline, seasonality, the review-building period, and how performance typically ramps up.
• Run a 30-day onboarding process that keeps tasks on track, captures documentation, and sequences the work in the right order.
• Send owners regular progress updates during onboarding (weekly, as needed).
• Work with other departments to ensure onboarding tasks are assigned, tracked, and fully completed, with documentation confirming the work was done.

6) Building the Future Coordinator Role

Once hired, an Owner Relations Coordinator will:

• Help with owner communications and report preparation.
• Learn the market to become an expert at pricing and projections for owners and agents.
• Cover weekend on-call duty every other week.
• Help Marketing with brand content, property updates, and keeping the brand consistent.
• Join property inspections and quality walks as assigned.
• Track and support the 30-day new-owner onboarding checklist.

In the meantime, you are responsible for:

• Building the SOPs, templates, and training the coordinator will need to succeed in the role.
• Establishing the standards for on-call duty: decision authority, documentation requirements, and issue close-out.
• Coaching and holding coordinators accountable for communication quality and documentation discipline once hired.

Documentation & Recordkeeping

• Keep contracts, notes, onboarding files, decisions, and approvals organized in Google Drive.
• Document escalated situations and their resolutions.
• Maintain records detailed enough that another team member could step into an owner relationship without starting from scratch.
• Communicate open issues clearly during shift changes or whenever the VP or Operations Director requires visibility.
• Keep owner, employee, and company information confidential.

Your Relationship With the VP and Operations Director

This role gives Honeybear a dedicated owner-facing leader, so leadership is not the first call for every owner issue.

The VP and Operations Director remain responsible for final sign-off on major expansion opportunities, KPI targets and bonus eligibility, and any decision that falls outside what this role is authorized to handle independently.

You are responsible for the day-to-day owner relationship, communication, reporting, onboarding, and retention work, as well as building the systems that make all of it repeatable as the department grows.

The goal is for leadership to be involved when their judgment is genuinely needed, not for every owner question that already has an established answer.

KPIs & Metrics

KPIs are set when you start and are reviewed weekly with the VP. Your first 30 days are about establishing a baseline; days 31–90 are about showing measurable improvement.

Owner Retention & Confidence

• Owner retention rate.
• How early renewal risk gets flagged (early vs. last-minute).
• Owner satisfaction trend (defined by the VP).
• Escalation rate and time to resolution.
• Timeliness of projections delivered to owners and agents.

Onboarding Execution

• Whether onboarding milestones are met on time.
• Completeness of documentation (contracts, notes, onboarding files, approvals).
• Whether owner expectations are aligned well enough to avoid last-minute disputes.

Growth & Portfolio Expansion

• Owner referrals generated.
• Expansion opportunities surfaced (new properties, upgrades).
• New properties onboarded to the portfolio (target to be set)

90-Day Launch Milestones (for the raise to $50,000)

By Day 15

• Owner & Agent communication schedule defined and running (response times and update rhythm).
• Owner filing system set up in Google Drive (structure, tracking, templates).
• Draft owner reporting template and quarterly review format.

By Day 30

• Owner portfolio sorted by relationship health and renewal timing, with early warning signs defined.
• Onboarding checklist, communication schedule, and tracking built.

By Day 60

• First full cycle of structured owner updates running consistently.
• At least one onboarding actively managed with documented weekly updates.
• Escalation process working: issues get routed, tracked, and fully closed out with proof.

By Day 90

• Clear improvement in communication stability and fewer reactive escalations.
• Onboarding running smoothly with clean documentation and aligned expectations.
• Leadership trusts the reporting rhythm; the department's systems are solid enough to scale.

Qualifications & Skills

• Experience in owner relations, client success, hospitality operations, property management, or account management.
• A track record of building systems, templates, and communication rhythms from the ground up.
• Confident, calm, and clear communicator, especially under pressure.
• Comfortable in a fast-moving startup environment with a high degree of ownership and accountability.
• Strong documentation habits and follow-through.
• Valid driver's license and reliable transportation for property walks.

Work Schedule & Expectations

• Full-time role with ongoing owner communication needs.
• Available for owner escalations and time-sensitive onboarding communication.
• Manager on duty every other weekend and one weekday every other week, for urgent issues affecting owners, guests, safety, compliance, or revenue.
• MOD responsibilities include: triaging what's urgent, making decisions within your authority, documenting what happened, and ensuring someone owns the next step with a deadline.
• Weekly cadence with Marketing and Operations, as set by the VP and Operations Director.
• Occasional evenings, depending on onboarding timelines, owner needs, or on-call coverage.

A Note on This Description

This describes the general shape and level of the role. It is not a complete list of every duty or requirement. Responsibilities may change as the business grows, with or without advance notice.

Honeybear Hideaways is an equal opportunity employer.
We’re building a team rooted in craftsmanship, ownership, and character.

Pay: $40,000.00 - $50,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee discount
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Pigeon Forge, TN 37862

Salary : $40,000 - $50,000