What Is A Coworking Community Manager?

Published on August 3, 2020 - By Kate Tattersfield

Generally speaking, a coworking community manager is responsible for bridging the gap between a brand and its community – whether online or offline or a bit of both.

You may already be familiar with the community manager job title in a social media context. Social media community managers, according to HubSpot, “act as the voice, tone, and moderator of the brand through community support, content distribution, and digital engagement to build brand presence and trust, both online and in-person.”

Coworking community managers essentially do the same thing in that they act as a liaison between the space and its members, making sure that they are happy in the environment and are actively engaging in/ utilising its services and facilities. 

However, unlike social media community managers for large brands, coworking community managers focus on building a rapport with members as individuals and often act as their first point of contact. But the role involves much more than building relationships.

Note: “Community Manager” and “Centre Manager” are sometimes used interchangeably.

1. What are a Coworking Community Manager’s Responsibilities?

2. Coworking Community Manager Job Description

3. Where Can I Find Community Manager Jobs?

4. How Much is a Coworking Community Manager’s Salary?

5. Example Coworking Community Manager Interview Questions

What are a coworking community manager’s responsibilities?

A coworking community manager helps members feel welcome and manages the day-to-day running of the space. They are typically proactive, confident and efficient relationship leveragers with more than solid communication skills. 

“The role of a Community Manager at Pure Offices is vast. No day is ever the same, ranging from giving a tour to a prospect, working with an existing customer on an office move, arranging social events and charity fundraisers, ensuring the building is clean and safe and so much more. Their focus is to provide hasslefree occupation so our customers can focus on running and growing their business whilst also being  part of a wider business community.”

– Katie Whell, Operations Director at Pure Offices

A community manager’s responsibilities will vary depending on the operator and the size of the space, but they tend to have a hand in any (or a combination) of the following tasks:

Membership business development 
Responding to enquiries, facilitating tours, following up with prospective members and producing KIP-informed reports can fall into a community manager’s remit.

Front of house
Greeting visitors, signing members and guests in, managing post and carrying out general admin tasks in the absence of a receptionist / front of house staff member. 

Member management
Selling and coordinating memberships, dealing with issues, handling billing enquiries and being competent at using coworking management platforms (CRMs). 

Social media management
Publishing content across social media, updating the blog, keeping track of engagement and communicating with members/ subscribers via email campaigns.

Facility management
Generally making sure the workspace is tidy, clean, functional and fully stocked with essentials like coffee and loo roll. 

Community engagement
Organising and facilitating social and networking events within the coworking space and forging partnerships with local projects and vendors.

(Is there anything a community manager doesn’t do? Apparently not.)

Coworking community manager job description

We looked at a handful of job descriptions to compile this definitive list of skills one needs to be an effective community manager in a coworking space.

• Sales/ hospitality / business ops experience
• Good verbal & written communication skills
• Proactive, quick to learn and resilient
• Comfortable at promoting a space/ community
• Organised and able to multitask
• Quick to learn new software systems and online tools
• A solid knowledge of the local area 
• Reliable and able to stick to deadlines
• Social media savvy
• A keen interest in the entrepreneurial community
• Warm, friendly and not afraid to ask for help

“The main thing I love about my role as centre manager is being here for our members – creating the perfect work experience by arranging events for them to enjoy and connect, keeping on top of the facilities, making sure everything’s running smoothly and most importantly listening to our members needs and ideas and connecting them with someone who can help.”

– Charlotte Derrick, Centre Manager at Cubo in Derby

Where can I find community manager jobs?

If you think you’ve got what it takes to be a community manager, why not have a look at some current vacancies? Social media is a good place to start – as B2B businesses, coworking spaces tend to be quite active on professional networking sites like LinkedIn. 

You can also find an abundance of community manager roles on the specialist site Coworkies, as well as the usual jobs boards that dominate search engine results. 

How much is a coworking community manager’s salary?

How much you’ll earn as a community manager in a coworking space will depend on your level of experience and the operator in question. For example, a large coworking operator with a number of successful international locations may pay more than an independent startup coworking space that has only been open for a year.

According to Glassdoor, the average salary for a community manager in London, UK was around £30K in summer 2020. We’ve seen community manager job ads for less and significantly more – in fact, one provider pays its CM’s ~£50K. 

Example coworking community manager interview questions

Do you have a job interview in the pipeline? 

Of course, we don’t know for sure what your interviewer is going to ask you about, but you can use the following example questions to help you prepare.

• What does “community” mean to you in general?
• What does “community” mean to you in a coworking context?
• What initiatives would you introduce to increase community engagement?
• How would you measure community engagement?
• What communities are you a member of?
• How could we encourage more people to join our community?
• What’s the most important thing you learned in your last role?
• How would you deal with a dissatisfied member?

If you’d like to find out more about being a coworking community manager, check out Robert Kropp’s article, Community Managers: The Unsung Heroes of Coworking. 

In it, the digital nomad journalist reflects his experiences of working out of coworking spaces in the US, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Hungary and the “phenomenal” community managers he met along the way.