Overview
An exceptional personal assistant/ house manager is sought for a busy professional in Beverly Hills. Candidates will manage their home, as well as various aspects of their personal life and projects. This is an informal but very tidy home, with fine art and furniture. This is a full-time posiiton whereby candidates should expect to spend 1 day per week on-property, but may work remotely the rest of the time (if their task list permits this). The principal makes every effort to not make requests out of hours/ on weekends. This role is likely to start in January 2025.
Responsibilities
Oversee general maintenance and upkeep of the property, such as;
- Check in and maintain the upkeep and security of the property while the principal is both present and traveling
- Answer security company alarm calls 24/7
- Identify and fix any and all maintenance issues and/or property-related problems that may arise
- Sourcing, vetting and hiring of outside contractors as needed to assist with the maintenance of the property.
- Manage vendors on-site, review work. Ensure their licenses and COI's are current.
- Assist with basic day-to-day needs at the properties such as coordinating and handling deliveries, resupplies, etc.
- Create a "House Operations Book" which contains all pertinent information about the house, property and smart home systems
- Assist with kitchen supplies;
- Coordinate grocery list with ownership
- Manage grocery delivery and re-stock
- Maintain household item inventory (list and resupply);
- Purchase any necessary household items such as bed linens, tableware, glassware, cookware, bath accessories, towels, etc.
- Provide weekly Management Reports to the principal
- Maintain a “house calendar” to coordinate service, maintenance and other related schedules;
- Coordinate with gardeners, groundskeepers, pool service, etc. to ensure proper maintenance of the exterior
- Oversee vendors conducting property landscaping and tree maintenance
- Oversee swimming pool and fountain maintenance
- Oversee interior maintenance, including housekeeping etc.
- Monitor foundation, roof and drainage systems for cracks and/or leaks
- Coordinate with tradespeople–general contractors, plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters, etc. in order to maintain the structures on the property
- Monitor and manage HVAC system/ schedule preventative maintenance and filter changes
- Monitor and manage plumbing system maintenance to ensure there or no possible blockages (such as tree roots) that will create drainage problems
- Monitor pest control management (termites, ants, rodents, etc.)
- Oversee construction projects as necessary
- Set up all property utilities
- Sourcing, vetting and hiring of any short term and long-term household staff for current and possible future needs: E.g. Nanny, Chef, Housekeeper, Driver, etc.
- Manage household staff schedules
- Maintain documentation and care of fine art and manage any fine art handling
- Coordinate with 3rd party services such as dry cleaners, etc for pickup/dropoff;
- Manage move-in and move-out and subsequent Inspections (including video)
- Arrange for staging, furnishings & special needs for the property
- Assist in coordination and management of social events
- The principal throws a maximum of 3-4 events per year and 3-4 birthdays per year
- Coordination and management of general gifting (holidays, birthdays, etc), including packing and shipping;
- Assist in building birthday calendar and reminders
- Assist in building “living” contact list for key people
- Assist in tracking gifts given and gifts received to prevent improper re-gifting, etc.
- Assist with scheduling, record keeping, billing, documentation (insurance, etc) for medical care and history
- Assist with coordination and management of pet care as necessary: boarding, dog walker, scheduling vet appointments
- Develop any systems or processes that help ownership streamline time spent on the above or elsewhere. Generally help create efficiencies where you see they can be created.
- Coordinate car maintenance and registration
Qualifications
- Must have superlative and verifiable references
- The principal has 2 medium-sized dogs, so candidates should be pet friendly and not have pet allergies
- Excellent communication and organizational skills, familiarity and proficiency with all common chat and voice applications, email, spreadsheet software, productivity software, photo documentation, etc
- Excellent management skills to accurately assess and adjust the quality of upkeep and performance as necessary
- Excellent leadership skills to positively and kindly motivate those around them
- Excellent collaboration skills to work together to solve problems and tackle tasks
- Excellent flexibility to help get the job done without being too rigid, hard or overbearing
- Operational proficiency with basic desktop software, mobile apps, household technology, appliances and home automation systems such as: smart tvs, apple tvs, keypad security systems, computers, cable boxes, crestron, savant, sonos, etc
- The utmost trust and privacy to handle the sensitive info involved in managing households such as alarm PINs, travel schedules, billing info, personal info, etc.
- Well-educated in the handling and care required for luxury items such as fine art and antiques
- Proper social etiquette and cultural knowledge
- Acute business skills in areas of finance, computers, planning, and organization
- Human resources management
- Creative and intuitive thinking and problem solving
- Very resourceful and proactive team player
- Good at drawing boundaries and getting tough when necessary
- Excellent at managing your own time and the principal's
- Excellent at task triage and prioritization
- Detail oriented, observant, proactive, eager for feedback
Requirements
- Tech Fluent. (all basic platforms, software and apps) For example, Microsoft Office, export to PDF, find local printers and scanners, use dropbox and dropbox mobile suite and tools, google docs, 1password, trello and other basics. Candidates must be able to pick up most any basic software or technology tools without much need for education or hand holding.
- Extremely Organized. This candidate must be able to anticipate the need to organize contacts, files, calendars, schedules, itineraries, homes and their own workload. Prioritize and organize their own work and thinking.
- Critical Thinker. Knowing how to constantly shuffle and reshuffle their task list based on the context of the day, the week, live discussions and the principal's needs. Candidates should be able to anticipate basic issues and solve them in-line with their workflow. And they should have the common sense to understand what information is best to be logged and organized as it will be repetitively utilized.
- Problem Solver. This candidate should be able to solve basic problems that are common when coordinating with various third parties, vendors, contacts or when helping support / plan an event, trip, etc. This also ties into critical thinking and organization, being able to anticipate problems and solve them.
- Proactive. This candidate won't wait for the problem to happen before helping solve it. They should always be thinking and looking ahead at everything on the principal's behalf to help keep the path in front of them as clear and smooth as possible.
- Individual Contributor. Candidates should be totally ok with being an army of one. There isn't a huge team or support system. Just the principal and the tools they use to try and manage their days/life.
- Independently Resourceful. This candidate needs to be highly capable at learning/understanding/perceiving/anticipating the principal's needs, style, preference etc. and is able to support them by providing additional research and sourcing additional solutions on their own. The principal is very collaborative, but that requires a partner who can quickly discern tastes, preferences, style, etc.
- Solutions-Oriented. This candidate understands that a large part of their job is to provide solutions and that, in many instances, they themselves are the solution to tasks and daily issues.
- Process + Systems-Oriented. Help by proposing, implementing and optimizing systems and processes for working together in order to make fundamentals operate smoothly. Bring new processes or systems to implement to streamline their life.
- Proactive Communicator. This candidate has to be able to communicate well and proactively. The only way a team works well together is when there's full understanding of goals, challenges, needs, etc. Things like weekly digests, check-ins and other ways of being able to touch base routinely are important. And, this person's ability to express questions, needs, problems etc. are critical.
- Accountability. This candidate needs to be able to take responsibility for their work. They must be able to professionally own mistakes/failures, and move forward.
- Radical Transparency. This candidate needs to be able to receive professional feedback and criticism. Feedback isn't personal; it's work.
- Kindness. This household believes in being kind to everyone. This means Vendors, friends, valets - it doesn't matter. Everyone is treated with respect. The expectation is that the candidate will do the same.
- No Job Too Big or Too Small. Candidates will be asked to help with a variety of things. Some tasks are creatively driven, some are production driven, some are task oriented, some are simple as running errands and some are conceptually and executionally big and important. They need someone who understands that helping to do the littlest thing execellently makes a big difference.
- Committed for the Long-Term. The principal is really hoping to build a strong, trusting, relationship with someone who will become part of their lives for the foreseeable future. They are looking to build a high level of trust and reliance. They are in it for the long-term and are willing to support someone who is, too.
- Gatekeeper/Bulldog. It’s not often, but there are times when it would be ideal for this candidate to understand that as much as they represent the principal and their values when interacting with others on their behalf, they also recognize when they must be more assertive or more protective on their behalf.
- US passport, Green Card or EAC
- Available to start by January 2025
Salary and Benefits
- $150k ($135k base, $15k bonus), $590 monthly healthcare stipend, 10 vacation days, 10 sick/personal days, and the typical national holidays.
