Overview:
A family in Los Altos, CA is seekig a full-time house manager/family operations professional. The role will be based in Los Altos. This role covers the household and its systems, vendors and projects (including a small renovation), family calendar and appointments, school and activity logistics, travel and visas, family-scale events, and directing the non-childcare portion of their family assistant's work. Plus the ordinary hands-on things — mail, deliveries, errands. The client is looking for someone with a multi-year tenure supporting one family, who is genuinely proactive. The single most important quality is that they tell the principal what's coming rather than waiting to be asked. Someone who notices what needs doing, owns it end to end, and closes the loop without the principal tracking it. This is a normal family home, not a large estate, and the right person is comfortable both building systems and handling small things personally.
They are seeking one person to own the operating system behind their household.
Right now, their household, children’s schedules and several concurrent family projects all route through the principal. That has made her the bottleneck and leaves too little time and mental space for her work. The right person notices what needs attention, sees how the pieces connect and builds systems that make the work repeatable. They plan in anticipation rather than reacting after something becomes urgent. This is a trusted, hands-on individual-contributor role for someone who exercises excellent judgment, enjoys creating order and takes genuine satisfaction in making life work better.
Willingness matters more than the job description. Some days the important task is a long-horizon application; other days it's tracking down a specific Lego piece, waiting for a delivery, or driving a child to an activity because they're in a pinch. The scale varies; the ownership doesn't. They're looking for someone who reads the small ask as normal rather than as a step down.
Schedule and location: Monday through Friday, based in Los Altos. The role is hybrid. Administrative work can be done remotely, with regular onsite presence for oversight, vendor visits, projects and mail. There's no fixed onsite schedule; it will vary with household and project needs. Onsite time may be a brief walkthrough and check-in, or a longer stretch with vendors. This is not a 24/7 or on-call position.
Responsibilities:
What you’ll own
1. Looking ahead
The heart of the role:
- Knowing what’s on the horizon—deadlines, enrollment windows, renewals, appointments coming due and seasonal household needs—and surfacing it before it becomes urgent
- Bringing the principals decisions with a recommendation attached, not a pile of research
- Flagging what’s slipping before they notice it
- Building the trackers, directories and documentation that make the work repeatable, so nothing depends on anyone remembering
2. The household
- Maintaining enough regular onsite presence to notice what is drifting, determine what needs attention and make sure it is handled
- Building and maintaining a household manual: what needs doing, when, by whom and who to call
- Establishing recurring schedules for seasonal maintenance, servicing, renewals and upkeep—and making sure they happen
- Sourcing, vetting and hiring vendors using your own judgment; obtaining and comparing bids; confirming that work was completed properly and pushing back when it wasn’t
- Being onsite when needed for vendor visits and walkthroughs
- Running household projects as they come: currently, a small renovation involving the designer, architect and trades; a possible move within Los Altos; insurance, registrations, warranties and renewals; and applications and paperwork with long timelines
- Setting priorities and providing clear written direction for the non-childcare portion of their family assistant’s work, establishing standards and following through. Childcare makes up less than 25% of her role; she also handles errands and household tasks and works best from a clear plan. Childcare direction remains with the parents.
- Handling or delegating one-off personal and family requests, including purchases, returns, gifts, forms, research and phone calls
- Opening and sorting the mail—handling what can be handled and surfacing what needs the principal's attention
- Managing routine bill payments and preparing checks through an agreed approval process
3. Family calendar and logistics
- Scheduling and confirming medical, dental and wellness appointments and activities, including completing the associated forms
- Coordinating around two school-age children’s schedules and the logistics connecting them
- Managing school calendars and researching after-school activities, camps and seasonal programs—including calling to clarify details, comparing options, making recommendations and completing registrations
- Rescheduling and notifying everyone affected when something changes
4. Travel and events
- Planning family travel end to end, including research, booking, itineraries and contingencies
- Preparing for international trips, including visas, documentation and medical requirements
- Making sure the household is prepared before they leave and reset when they return
- Managing family-scale events, not galas—a child’s birthday party, a fundraiser the children are hosting, a holiday, Thanksgiving or a dinner for friends. This typically involves finding and booking the venue, coordinating with parents or guests and handling the details. For something very large, they’d bring in outside support and you’d coordinate it.
- This role plans their travel but isn’t expected to travel with them.
What this role is not
- Not a childcare position
- Not a cleaning role
- Not financial management or bookkeeping—they have a finance professional—although the role includes some bill payment and check preparation
Requirements:
The fit that matters here
- Kindness and respect. This role works alongside their family assistant, cleaners and vendors, and will sometimes be present while their children are home. They want someone who holds a high standard warmly—someone who can tell a contractor the work isn’t right or show someone a better way to do something without making anyone feel small.
- They intentionally keep the team small. This is a senior, hands-on individual-contributor role. They're looking for someone who thinks broadly, exercises excellent judgment, and is equally willing to make a recommendation, make the call or handle the small thing personally.
- Their home is a family home, not an estate with separate wings. Someone working at the home will be present in the space where they live, so they’re looking for someone easy to have around—self-directed, quietly efficient and thoughtful about the family’s rhythm and privacy.
Salary and Benefits:
- $140,000–$170,000 depending on experience