Family & Household Manager | Live-In
Chicagoland (Northwest Suburbs), Illinois | Live-In
$40–$47/hour DOE + overtime | Full-Time W-2
Please read everything before applying
We’re looking for that rare person who genuinely enjoys making a busy household run beautifully—the person who notices what needs doing before it becomes a problem, brings order to a lot of moving pieces, and is just as comfortable coordinating a vendor or planning a trip as they are jumping in to reset a kitchen, run an errand, organize a space, or engage meaningfully with a child.
This is a high-trust, hands-on Family & Household Manager position supporting a growing family and home in the Chicagoland area.
It is a broad role by design. Some days will be focused on household operations, vendors, appointments, organization, research, or projects. Others may involve family logistics, errands, travel preparation, hands-on support with the children, or getting the house ready for guests or an event. Many days are a mix.
This is a true hybrid role that will continue to evolve over time as our family, household, priorities, and needs grow and change. We are looking for someone who is comfortable moving fluidly between responsibilities and who genuinely enjoys being the person who helps everything come together.
We are not looking for someone who needs to be told every next step—or someone who believes management means standing back and delegating everything else.
We are looking for someone who can see the big picture, notice the small things, and comfortably do both.
What You’ll Own & Support
Your responsibilities will include a combination of:
- Managing day-to-day household operations, systems, schedules, and priorities
- Coordinating vendors, maintenance, repairs, deliveries, appointments, and home projects
- Household organization, inventories, purchasing, returns, errands, and restocking
- Helping keep the home organized, functional, welcoming, and guest-ready
- Family scheduling, reservations, research, planning, and logistics
- Personal and family projects from research and planning through execution
- Family laundry, kitchen flow, packing/unpacking, and daily household resets as needed
- Preparing simple meals or snacks when needed
- Driving and local errands
- Supporting holidays, entertaining, gatherings, special occasions, and household projects
- Providing hands-on care with our toddler, including active play, age-appropriate learning, meals and snacks, routines, outings, and creating a warm, engaging environment
- Supporting the children with loving, consistent boundaries and helping them feel safe, understood, and encouraged
- Being comfortable caring for infants and supporting a growing family with multiple children over time
- Providing care for our family dog, including walks, feeding, transportation, appointments, and general support
- Researching, coordinating, preparing for and supporting travel
- Traveling domestically and internationally approximately 4–9 times per year, with attendance required for all trips. Some travel will occur during holidays or other traditionally high-demand family periods. Some trips may be extended or long-term assignments lasting multiple months at a time
- Working collaboratively with parents, household staff, vendors, and future team members
The responsibilities in this role are intentionally integrated rather than separated into distinct categories. Household management, family assistance, projects, logistics, childcare, and day-to-day support are all meaningful parts of the position. The specific balance will continue to shift and evolve as our family and household needs change.
The Person We’re Hoping to Find
Experience matters, but so does how you work.
You are likely to thrive here if you naturally notice what needs attention and handle it. You are proactive without overstepping, organized without being rigid, and confident enough to make decisions while also knowing when to ask.
You genuinely enjoy being helpful and don’t divide work into things that are “your job” and things that aren’t.
You can move easily between higher-level responsibilities and practical ones: researching a project, coordinating a vendor, troubleshooting a problem, helping organize a room, preparing for travel, or bringing energy and playfulness to time with the children when another set of hands would make the day run better.
We especially value someone who is:
- Warm, grounded, discreet, and emotionally intelligent
- Highly organized with excellent follow-through
- Resourceful, proactive, and comfortable figuring things out
- Tech-savvy and strong at research and problem-solving
- Hospitality-minded and attentive to details
- Playful, patient, nurturing, and confident providing loving, consistent boundaries with children
- Flexible when family needs, schedules, events, holidays, or travel change
- Comfortable working alongside hands-on parents and as part of a household team
- Genuinely interested in becoming a trusted, long-term part of a private household
Requirements
To be considered for this position, candidates should:
- Have strong professional experience in one or more relevant areas, such as private household service, family or executive assistance, house/estate management, hospitality, childcare, or another high-touch service environment
- Have meaningful experience caring for young children and be genuinely comfortable with toddlers, infants, and multiple children as our family grows
- Be comfortable with a truly hands-on hybrid role that includes household management, family assistance, projects, logistics, childcare, dog care, organization, errands, and practical day-to-day support
- Be willing and able to live in the family residence in a private bedroom with an en-suite bathroom
- Be a confident swimmer and comfortable actively supervising and assisting young children in and around pools, beaches, and other bodies of water
- Be able to reliably work an average of 50–60 hours per week, with flexibility for earlier mornings, later evenings, 5.5–6 day weeks, holidays, events, and periods exceeding 60 hours when family needs require it
- Be willing and able to travel domestically and internationally approximately 4–9 times per year, with attendance required for all family trips, including some holiday travel and extended or long-term assignments lasting multiple months
- Hold a valid driver’s license with a clean driving record and be comfortable driving children and completing family or household errands
- Hold or be able to obtain a valid passport and be able to travel internationally
- Be legally authorized to work in the United States
- Be willing to complete a comprehensive background check and provide strong professional references
- Be willing to complete or maintain CPR/First Aid certification
- Be comfortable working in a fragrance-free household
- Maintain a high level of discretion and confidentiality and be willing to sign a confidentiality/NDA agreement
- Be comfortable completing a paid working trial as part of the finalist process
We are ultimately looking for someone with the experience and maturity to step into a high-trust private household role, while still having the flexibility, curiosity, and hands-on mindset to grow with it over time.
Schedule & Flexibility
This is a full-time, live-in position averaging approximately 50–60 hours per week.
Most weeks will have a predictable structure, but this is ultimately a family-support role and requires flexibility. Depending on travel, holidays, events, projects, or family needs, some weeks may include earlier mornings, later evenings, 5.5–6 working days, or hours beyond the typical range.
Travel, holiday, or eventful weeks may result in weeks exceeding 60 hours.
Our family travels approximately 4–9 times per year, domestically and internationally, and the Family & Household Manager is required to attend all trips. Some travel will occur over holidays. Some trips may be extended or long-term assignments lasting multiple months at a time.
Compensation & Benefits
- $40–$47/hour DOE
- Overtime at 1.5× after 40 hours
- Private bedroom with en-suite bathroom
- Health insurance
- 401(k) with employer match
- Paid vacation, sick/personal time, and holidays
- Mileage reimbursement
- Phone and laptop provided
- Paid working trial for finalists
- relocation assistance available for the right candidate
A Long-Term Opportunity
We are looking beyond simply filling a position.
We hope to find someone who wants to learn the rhythms of our family and household, anticipate needs, take genuine ownership, and become increasingly trusted and valuable over time.
As our family, household, travel, projects, and household team evolve, we expect this role to evolve as well.
We care about competence and experience—but also about personality, judgment, curiosity, reliability, warmth, and whether someone genuinely enjoys this kind of work.
If you are someone who likes being the person who makes things happen, solves problems, creates order, and leaves things better than you found them, we would love to hear from you.
Cover Letter Application Questions — All Questions Must Be Answered to Be Considered
Please include thoughtful answers to the following with your application:
- What compensation are you seeking for your next full-time position? Please share your preferred hourly or annual compensation, along with any benefits or other compensation considerations that are important to you.
- What hobbies, interests, or activities do you enjoy outside of work? We’d love to learn a little about you, your personality and what you genuinely enjoy.
- Which parts of this position are the strongest match for your experience and interests? This might include household management, personal/family assistance, organization, travel, hospitality, research and projects, childcare, estate operations, or something else. Please tell us what you have done and what type of work you most enjoy.
- Tell us about a time you noticed something that needed to be handled and took ownership of it without waiting to be asked. What did you do, and what was the outcome?
- Are you comfortable with the overall structure of this position: living in the family residence in a private bedroom/en-suite; averaging approximately 50–60 hours per week with occasional longer days or 5.5–6 day weeks; traveling domestically and internationally approximately 4–9 times per year with attendance required for all family trips, including travel during holidays and extended or long-term assignments lasting multiple months at a time; and moving fluidly between household management, family assistance, projects, logistics, childcare, dog care, and other day-to-day support as the family’s needs evolve?
We are excited to meet someone who sees themselves in this position and is looking for a family and role they can grow with for.