HN381 - Head Housekeeper - Upper West Side - New York

Overview · A client on the Upper West Side is seeking an incredible Head Housekeeper for their residence. Their current Head Housekeeper has been with them for 20 years and is retiring at the end of 2026 so the family will be taking their time to hire the perfect fit for this rol ...

Job description

Overview

A client on the Upper West Side is seeking an incredible Head Housekeeper for their residence. Their current Head Housekeeper has been with them for 20 years and is retiring at the end of 2026 so the family will be taking their time to hire the perfect fit for this role and the candidate to hire will be trained over the next year to work alongside the current HH. The role begins as soon as the perfect fit is found. They are seeking longevity for this role, the candidate to hire must have long tenure in former roles as outlined on resume. The schedule will be Monday through Friday for approximately 50 hours a week. The hours are generally Monday through Thursday from 9:30am-7:30pm and Fridays can end a bit sooner. There will be approximately 2 days a week in which the HH will stay past 8pm. The family has a total of 5-6 housekeepers on staff and there are generally 3-4 housekeepers in the home at one time. The HH will be present with 2-3 other housekeepers at any given time and always at least 1 other housekeeper. The home is approximately 10,000 sq. ft. with 4 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms.

Responsibilities

• General housekeeping (including deep cleaning, floors, etc.)
• Coordinating other housekeepers; please note this role involves doing the cleaning and working with/alongside the other housekeepers and not being over them as they want someone hands-on with cleaning and recognized as the Head Housekeeper, but there will be no scheduling or checking the other housekeeper's work per se. With this role there are more responsibilities than another regular housekeeper and more interaction with the family, but not necessarily managing the staff but more so oversight.
• No laundry at this time, but must be able to do a load of laundry if needed
• Cooking; they have a Chef 3x/week but the HH will help cook dinner or order dinner on the days when the Chef is not there. Must know how to cook items such a roasting a chicken, preparing vegetables, basic skills in the kitchen but they are not expecting gourmet meals. However, they cannot have a novice cook or someone with no cooking abilities.
• Watching children when necessary (their ages are 13, 17, and 19)
• Pet care as needed as there are 3 French bulldogs each under 30 lbs.; they have a dog-walker but sometimes the housekeepers walk the dogs if needed, take the dog(s) to the veterinarian if needed, and feed the dogs.
• Shopping to to keep items in stock (including groceries, linens, cleaning supplies, personal products). Note: the Chef just buys the food the Chef is cooking, but the HH stocks all of the other groceries.
• Additional responsibilities involve being available for whatever the family needs that day
• This role is for just the 1 residence, however, there could be some travel involved if needed and depending on the candidate to hire as they also have homes in Los Angeles, Aspen, and the Hamptons, but they have full staff in those places. If needed to ravel, it would be secondary support staff, but the candidate to hire should be open to travel and available to travel as needed. The children are still in school so travel is on the school schedule (2 months Summer in the Hamptons and school breaks in CA or Aspen).

Qualifications

• Spanish-speaking is a strong preferred bonus
• Driver's license is a bonus so the HH can go to store and shop (I.E., if in the Hamptons)

Requirements

• The ideal candidate will be able to multitask, communicate well, and is very organized
• Have the initiative to know what is needed without direction
• Have a fast and efficient work ethic
• Posses a high level of attention to detail
• Polite, energetic, and professional with good verifiable references
• This role involves oversight of the other housekeepers so the candidate to hire must display strong leadership skills
• There is a lot of interaction directly with the family so the children will ask for things specifically from each person on the staff, so must be comfortable with children and communicating with the children (ages 13, 17, and 19)
• They have a pretty big team of people (chefs, property managers, nannies, assistant, etc.) and the HH must be comfortable working with a large team and communication needs to be strong. Effective at communicating with text and email and being very responsive. The HH must be comfortable with the family as there is lots of face time with the family and relaying requests of family to members of other staff.

Salary and Benefits

• $120k-135k with benefits that the family 100% pays for that includes health, dental, and vision (therefore bringing total compensation up to $168,000-$183,0000 if you include the monetary value of these benefits). These figures are also before a bonus so if a bonus is given the total annual compensation will be higher; discretionary bonus starts around 5% but could be more based on performance
• 401k but no match
• Daily lunch allowance of $25 and if working after 8pm a $40 meal allowance is given for dinner; typically the staff orders in their lunch and takes 30 minutes to eat at the client's home
• 10 vacation days
• 5 sick and personal (in accordance with NY guidelines)
• The following holidays (however, it doesn't necessarily mean that the candidate to hire will be off on these days, but if a holiday falls on their regular work day and they work, they are paid double-time for any work on that day): New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Washington's Birthday, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day
• If a housekeeper works away from home/sleeps away from home, they are paid an additional $140/night