Yugo

At Yugo, we’re not just about housing-we’re about creating better living experiences for students worldwide. Every day, we connect young people with opportunity, community, and spaces designed to inspire. We lead with heart, think boldly, and act with purpose-always keeping people, planet, and passion at the centre of what we do.

We’re looking for a dynamic and strategic operational leader to join us as our next Vice President Southern European Operations. This is a career-defining opportunity for someone who’s deeply experienced in property management (ideally student housing), driven by results, and energized by building teams, systems, and impact.

If you’re someone who thrives in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment, can see around corners, and are known for turning strategy into results-we want to meet you.

1. Operational and strategic leadership

• Lead and inspire our Northern European operational teams to achieve performance targets across leasing, revenue, and budget management.
• Drive the creation and rollout of scalable SOPs, optimized to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and deliver consistent experiences.
• Oversee property budgets, forecasts, capital planning, marketing strategies, and staffing across the portfolio.
• Work with regional leaders to assess performance, identify risks, and course-correct when necessary.
• Ensure adherence to policies and audits-delivering operational consistency and compliance.

2. Financial and commercial insight

• Review and approve key contracts, capital expenditures, and revenue enhancing initiatives.
• Work hand-in-hand with asset managers and financial stakeholders to analyse property performance, provide recommendations, and ensure assets are operating in alignment with ownership goals.
• Partner with finance and senior leaders to provide timely, data-backed insights into operational performance.
• Translate complex market dynamics into actionable business plans.

3. People leadership

• Build and develop high-performing teams—coaching and holding leaders accountable to clear, measurable goals.
• Foster a culture of transparency, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Promote cross-functional collaboration across departments to support revenue, retention, and satisfaction targets.
• Partner with People and Culture on talent development, succession planning, and performance management.

4. Growth and brand development

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to support property acquisitions, third-party growth, and joint venture strategies.
• Lead the successful onboarding and integration of new assets or contracts.

Required Experience

• 10+ years in operational leadership, with direct experience in student housing, preferably within Spain, Italy, or Portugal.

• Proven experience leading property management teams in a high-growth, fast-paced environment.

• Demonstrated expertise in financial planning, real estate, and revenue strategy.

• A successful track record of building and scaling teams and systems to support business growth.

• Deep knowledge of budgeting, forecasting, and capital planning.

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience.

• Fluent in English, with the ability to work and communicate confidently in at least one additional language: Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese.

Preferred

• Experience in third-party management within the student housing sector.

• Background in real estate acquisition or disposition strategy.

• Experience working within a global or matrixed organization.