Hughes Collective is pleased to present an exciting opportunity on behalf of our client.
Title: Commercial Property Manager
Location: Saskatoon, SK
Reporting to: Asset Manager
Our Client
Derby Holdings is a privately held real estate investment company based in Vancouver, with commercial, industrial, and residential properties across Western Canada and the United States. The company takes a long-term approach to ownership, investing in properties it intends to hold and manage well over time. Its Saskatoon properties are managed directly, giving the local team direct access to the people making decisions about the assets.
Derby’s lean structure gives employees direct access to leadership and the ability to make decisions without working through multiple levels of approval. Many employees have been with the company for over a decade, and people are given room to make decisions while being accountable for their work. For a property professional who values autonomy, stability, and direct communication, this offers an established environment where the focus stays on the properties, tenants, and how the assets are managed rather than layers of corporate process.
The Opportunity
Instead of managing a scattered portfolio or spending your week driving between sites, you can focus on a concentrated group of Saskatoon properties and know them inside and out. Leasing negotiations sit with the Vancouver office, and administrative support is already in place, so your time is spent on building operations, tenant relationships, contractors, budgets, and capital planning. You will have room to make decisions and lead the local property function without layers of approval.
If the operational side of property management is where you do your best work, this role gives you plenty of room to use that experience. You will assess issues, bring in the right trades, challenge a quote when it does not make sense, keep tenants informed, and plan ahead for repairs and capital work. The result is a focused property management role where your judgment is respected and your time is spent on the properties, not travelling between them.
Key Responsibilities
As the Commercial Property Manager, you will work collaboratively and be responsible for:
1. Property Operations & Maintenance
- Oversee the operation, condition, and presentation of Derby’s Saskatoon properties.
- Conduct regular inspections to identify maintenance needs, building deficiencies, safety concerns, and emerging issues.
- Assess building concerns, determine the appropriate response, and coordinate qualified trades and service providers across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, snow removal, and other building services.
- Obtain and evaluate quotations, negotiate service pricing where appropriate, and monitor contractor performance against scope, quality, timing, and safety expectations.
- Develop and maintain long-term maintenance plans that support building condition, reliability, life-safety, and regulatory requirements.
2. Tenant & Lease Administration
- Build professional and responsive relationships with a mix of local and national tenants.
- Act as the primary local contact for maintenance, operational, and property-related matters.
- Support Derby’s Asset Manager with lease administration while leasing negotiations remain with the Vancouver office.
- Interpret lease obligations, identify landlord and tenant responsibilities, and address compliance concerns or disputes in consultation with ownership when required.
- Coordinate tenant improvements, construction activity, access requirements, openings, and closures.
3. Financial & Capital Planning
- Prepare and manage annual operating and capital budgets.
- Review invoices, contracts, service costs, operating expenditures, CAM calculations, and property financial information with the local office manager/bookkeeper.
- Monitor operating costs and identify opportunities to improve efficiency while maintaining property standards.
- Plan and coordinate capital repairs and building improvements, including quotations, contractor selection, budgeting, scheduling, and progress monitoring.
- Identify future repair and replacement requirements and incorporate them into long-term capital planning.
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4. Local Operations & Communication
- Take the lead on property matters within Derby’s Saskatoon office, working closely with the office manager/bookkeeper and maintenance provider.
- Keep the Asset Manager informed of significant tenant, maintenance, financial, capital, and property matters.
- Make informed decisions independently while recognizing when an issue requires input from Derby’s Vancouver office.
- Maintain accurate property, contractor, lease, maintenance, incident, and compliance records.
Qualifications
As the Commercial Property Manager, you will possess the following qualities:
The Essentials (Hard Skills):
- Experience in commercial property management, facilities management, or building operations within a commercial environment.
- Strong knowledge of building maintenance, with the ability to assess issues, determine the appropriate trade or service provider, and oversee repairs through completion.
- Experience coordinating contractors, obtaining and reviewing quotations, and managing service providers.
- Experience building and maintaining professional tenant relationships and addressing operational concerns, maintenance issues, and lease-related questions.
- Working knowledge of commercial leases, landlord and tenant obligations, and lease administration.
- Experience preparing and managing operating and capital budgets.
- Financial literacy with the ability to review CAM reconciliations, invoices, contracts, operating expenses, and property-related financial information.
- Experience planning and coordinating capital repairs, renovations, and building improvement projects.
- Retail property management experience is considered a strong asset.
- Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Excel, Word, and Outlook.
The Intangibles (Soft Skills):
- Able to work independently, make informed decisions, and manage property issues without requiring frequent direction.
- Strong judgment when assessing building concerns, tenant needs, contractor recommendations, and competing priorities.
- Confident and approachable when communicating with tenants, contractors, colleagues, and ownership.
- Responsive and reliable, with a strong sense of follow-through when an issue requires attention.
- Comfortable working within a small, close-knit team where communication is direct and responsibilities overlap.
- Detail-oriented and attentive to the condition, presentation, and performance of the property.
- Comfortable knowing when to act independently and when to bring an issue forward to ownership.
- Values autonomy, stability, strong working relationships, and the opportunity to become well established within one organization
What Our Client Offers
- Long-Term Stability – Join a privately held real estate company with decades of history and a strong record of employee retention.
- Focused Local Portfolio – Manage a concentrated Saskatoon portfolio without routine travel between multiple sites, allowing you to stay connected to the properties, tenants, and contractors you support.
- Comprehensive Health & Dental Benefits – A well-rounded benefits package that supports your health, wellness, and everyday needs.
- Cellphone Reimbursement – Annual reimbursement of approximately $500 toward cellphone expenses.
- Health & Wellness Allowance – Reimbursement of 50% of eligible fitness club dues or exercise classes, up to $500 annually.
About the Collective
At Hughes Collective, we don’t just recruit, we revolutionize how talent meets opportunity. We’re not in the business of filling roles; we’re in the business of transforming careers and powering businesses with bold, game-changing hires.
For candidates, this isn’t just about your next job, it’s about uncovering your passions, amplifying your strengths, and unlocking your potential. We’re here to connect you to a career that excites, inspires, and fuels your future.
This isn’t recruitment as usual, this is Hughes Collective. Bold. Authentic. Unapologetically different. Your next move starts here.
