A busy couple is seeking a House Manager with Executive Assistant Duties to help oversee the general operations their home and other properties.
Responsibilities will include general administrative support, calendar management, organizing events, scheduling personal appointments, coordinating home maintenance, managing household bills, and bill pay. In addition to these core duties, the HM will be responsible for assisting with the Principals' children, although this aspect comprises only a small portion (5-10%) of the role. Duties related to childcare may include driving the children to and from school or activities and being present in the home during the parents' absence.
The role will develop naturally based on the candidate's strengths and the needs of the family. Potential future responsibilities could involve Chief of Staff duties, such as overseeing estate management, managing staff, handling budgets, representing the principals in meetings, and serving as their trusted advisor for both business and personal matters.
Ideal Candidates must be discreet adaptable, flexible, upbeat, polished, poised, and professional with strong time management skills,task prioritization and must love kids.
Location: Chicago, IL
Hours: Monday - Friday; 11:00am-7:00pm; 40 hours per week with flexibility
Salary: Starting at $40 per hour DOE
Benefits: PTO, Health Benefits, 401K & Federal holidays
The Family: Busy couple, two kids (7 yr. B and 12 yr. G); 1 Dog (Golden Retriever)
Primary House: 5 beds, 5 baths 7000sq ft.
Other Property: Summer home in Lake Geneva, WI
The Team: A housekeeper; Family office team
General Administrative
Preparing appropriate, efficient and timely responses to all the Principal's requests, whether made in person, electronically or otherwise
Liaising cohesively with family office team in bringing together all aspects of the Principal's family life and business ventures
Efficient calendar planning week to week; ensuring Principal is aware of all appointments and is fully prepared and liaising with the family office team to ensure cohesion
Pre-empting the Principal's needs and acting with initiative to take some responsibility away from the Principal
Coping with last minute changes/requests, working to pre-empt and resolve potential scheduling conflicts
Organizing meetings, to include, preparing meeting materials, taking detailed and accurate meeting minutes, photos, etc. and distributing them in a timely manner to the relevant parties, sending Zoom links to all parties, booking tables at restaurants, sending calendar invites, booking any cars
Ad hoc recommendations and bookings for hotels/theatre/concerts/art/cultural offerings/present suggestions and restaurants
Researching extracurricular activities and summer camps for the children
Property Management
Ensuring properties are clean, organized and very well maintained at all times
Working from the family's home with their home support team to oversee suppliers, contractors and various appointments as needed (when onsite)
Sourcing suppliers necessary e.g., pest control, dry cleaners, maintenance workers & maintaining excellent relationships with suppliers
Proactively implementing and improving systems within the house
Ensuring the properties are always 'guest ready', to include; checking that all equipment is working, undertaking walk throughs as necessary and keeping the household fully stocked with necessary supplies at all times
Actioning all seasonal maintenance property requirements
Family Support
Helping with the day-to-day requests of the children and other family members as needed
Driving the kids to and from school or to activities- using the family's car when the parents aren't available to do so
Running personal errands, shopping, picking up packages etc. (if onsite)
Organizing and assisting with event planning
Maintaining the cars - keeping on top of services and liaising with the local mechanics
Accounts & Bill Pay
Creating efficient electronic systems to record weekly/monthly invoices, receipts and expenses
Keeping a record of all household expenses - preparing expense reports
Assisting with household bill pay, ensuring automatic payments where possible
Travel
Travelling as needed
Property set up: ensure the house is ready - supplies are ordered, ensuring the house is fully ready
Requirements
A clean valid Driver's License, with own car to travel to and from work; comfortable driving the children or principals are required
Legally able to work within the United States
Happy to travel to properties as needed
Minimum3 years in a similar role
Proficient with Google suite, Outlook, Microsoft suite (e.g., Excel) & ideally other project management type software (e.g., Asana, Trello)
Must be happy to work with kids & dogs
Excellent references required from both current and previous employers
Preferred Qualities
Must always be discrete - confidentiality is very important
Polished, poised, and professional; strong time management skills and task prioritization
Bubbly, upbeat personality, friendly and accommodating
Energetic and pleasant
Trustworthy
Loves kids
Able to anticipate the family's needs
Proactive and driven
Flexible and adaptable
Strong command of English language; good communication skills, both written and verbal