Vice President of Development and Community Operations (Rochester, NY)

Vice President, Development and Chief Operating Officer (Rochester, NY)

Vice President, Development and Chief Operating Officer – Humanly

Executive Opportunity

Humanly is seeking a senior real estate executive to lead municipal approvals and development execution while building the operating discipline, team structure, and cross‑functional accountability required to scale a differentiated multi‑state development platform.

Location

Rochester, New York

Travel

Regular travel to project sites, municipalities, and partners across multiple states.

Leadership Scope

Enterprise leadership across development strategy, entitlement execution, project coordination, and company operations.

Team

Leadership of a growing organization with a dozen employees currently.

Market Footprint

Current development activity includes the East Coast.

Company Overview

Humanly is a forward‑thinking real estate development organization focused on reimagining how communities are designed, approved, and built. The company advances a differentiated model for large‑scale master‑planned communities that integrates mixed‑income housing, community infrastructure, technology, and healthcare innovation in environments centered on human well‑being. Through collaboration with municipalities, institutional partners, and strategic stakeholders, Humanly is pursuing a multi‑state development pipeline across the United States, unlocking long‑term value through disciplined entitlement strategy, thoughtful planning, and strong execution from concept through development readiness.

Position Summary

The Vice President, Development and Chief Operating Officer (COO) will serve as a pivotal member of Humanly’s executive leadership team. This role carries dual responsibility: advancing the company’s development portfolio from municipal engagement and entitlement through development readiness, and building the operating structure, cadence, and accountability needed to scale the business. Working closely with the President & Founder and senior leadership, this executive will translate vision into action by aligning people, priorities, budgets, partners, and timelines around a clear plan for growth.

The successful candidate will combine deep real estate development expertise with the leadership presence and operational rigor required to guide a high‑growth entrepreneurial platform.

Strategic Mandate

• Lead municipal engagement and entitlement activity critical to unlocking project momentum and land value across Humanly’s current and future markets.
• Build and lead a disciplined operating model for the development platform, including clear priorities, reporting cadence, decision rights, and cross‑functional accountability.
• Oversee the transition from approvals into development readiness, ensuring consultants, permitting activities, budgets, and milestones are coordinated and actively managed.
• Strengthen leadership infrastructure as the organization scales, including direct management, coaching, and performance oversight for a growing team.
• Represent Humanly with credibility and strategic acumen in interactions with municipalities, partners, consultants, institutional stakeholders, and other external constituencies.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with the President & Founder and executive leadership team to define strategic priorities, portfolio objectives, and the operating roadmap for growth.
• Translate company strategy into executable plans, measurable objectives, and operating rhythms that improve clarity, speed, and accountability.
• Provide day‑to‑day operational leadership across the development platform, ensuring strong coordination among internal leaders, consultants, and external partners.
• Build, lead, and mentor a growing team, creating clear expectations, decision frameworks, reporting standards, and a culture of ownership and follow‑through.
• Identify operational bottlenecks, execution risks, and organizational gaps early, and implement practical solutions that improve performance and reduce friction.

Municipal Engagement and Entitlements

• Lead municipal engagement efforts and entitlement strategy for Humanly’s development initiatives across multiple markets.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with municipal officials, planning boards, zoning authorities, economic development leaders, and other public‑sector stakeholders.
• Guide projects through zoning approvals, land use processes, public hearings, permitting pathways, and related jurisdictional requirements.
• Position Humanly as a credible, collaborative development partner by aligning project vision with community priorities and public‑sector objectives.

Development Strategy and Project Execution

• Oversee the advancement of projects from early planning and due diligence through entitlement, development readiness, and handoff to execution partners.
• Coordinate architects, engineers, planners, attorneys, consultants, and subcontractors to ensure projects move forward efficiently once approvals are secured.
• Support site planning, infrastructure coordination, phasing, permitting readiness, and other pre‑development activities required to move projects toward construction.
• Manage schedules, key milestones, approvals, and critical‑path items across the portfolio to maintain momentum and reduce execution risk.
• Support development strategies that unlock land value and position projects for successful launch and delivery.

Financial, Portfolio, and Performance Accountability

• Partner with finance leadership on development budgets, forecasts, cash flow considerations, consultant and vendor spend, and project‑level financial performance.
• Review project schedules, pro formas, variance reports, and resource allocation to ensure decisions are grounded in strong financial discipline.
• Build and maintain reporting frameworks, dashboards, and key performance indicators that give leadership clear visibility into project status, risks, and priorities.
• Drive accountability for timeline adherence, budget stewardship, issue resolution, and efficient deployment of company resources.

Stakeholder and Partner Leadership

• Serve as a key liaison among Humanly, municipalities, institutional collaborators, investors, lenders, legal counsel, consultants, landowners, and community stakeholders.
• Represent the company in high‑level meetings, negotiations, and public‑facing discussions with professionalism, sound judgment, and strategic credibility.
• Support relationships with healthcare, research, academic, and strategic partners connected to Humanly’s broader community‑development vision.
• Communicate project status, execution needs, and emerging risks clearly to internal and external stakeholders.

Growth and Platform Expansion

• Identify additional municipal and market opportunities aligned with Humanly’s development model and strategic priorities.
• Help shape the infrastructure, talent, and processes required to scale the company thoughtfully across geographies and projects.
• Contribute to the maturation of Humanly’s operating platform so the organization is positioned for sustained long‑term growth.

What Success Looks Like

• Priority developments advance through municipal approvals and entitlement milestones with strong preparation, relationship management, and execution discipline.
• The organization operates with a clearer cadence of communication, stronger accountability, and faster, better‑informed decision‑making.
• A growing team is aligned around shared priorities, well‑defined roles, and measurable performance expectations.
• Consultants, partners, and internal stakeholders are coordinated around realistic budgets, schedules, approvals, and development objectives.
• Humanly strengthens its reputation as a thoughtful, execution‑capable development partner in existing and emerging markets.

Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in real estate development, urban planning, engineering, construction management, finance, business administration, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
• At least 10 years of progressive leadership experience in real estate development, land development, master‑planned communities, mixed‑use development, or a comparable project‑driven environment.
• Demonstrated success leading municipal approvals, zoning processes, entitlement strategy, and public‑sector relationship management.
• Experience overseeing complex development projects from planning through entitlement and early execution; broader full‑lifecycle experience is strongly valued.
• Strong financial acumen, including budget oversight, forecasting, pro forma review, and performance management.
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional teams and to build systems, processes, and reporting structures that support scale.
• Executive presence with the judgment, communication skills, and stakeholder management capability to operate effectively in a fast‑paced entrepreneurial setting.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly in support of project, municipal, and partner activities.

Preferred Background

• Experience within master‑planned residential communities, mixed‑income housing, or other large‑scale land development platforms.
• Familiarity with public‑private partnerships and municipality‑centered development models.
• Experience managing projects or development initiatives across multiple jurisdictions or states.
• Exposure to high‑growth or entrepreneurial platforms undergoing scale, organizational build‑out, or increasing operating complexity.

Leadership Profile

• Strategic, hands‑on, and highly execution oriented.
• Credible in both boardroom and public‑sector settings.
• Able to translate visionary concepts into disciplined operating plans.
• Strong manager of people, priorities, and complexity.
• Calm, mature, and solutions oriented under pressure.
• Committed to professionalism, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Reporting Relationship

This role serves as a key member of Humanly’s executive leadership team and is expected to work in close partnership with the President & Founder, internal functional leaders, municipalities, consultants, and strategic partners across the development portfolio.

Compensation

Humanly offers a competitive executive compensation package, including a target base salary in the $200,000 range, together with performance‑based incentive opportunity and potential equity participation.

Location and Travel

This position is based in Rochester, New York and requires regular travel to development sites, municipal meetings, and partner organizations across multiple states.

This is a full‑time position.

#J-18808-Ljbffr