Are the responsibilities building and you are finding it hard to get everything you need done in a day? A family assistant is one of the first choices a family makes when building their family office. In this article we will help you understand the role of a family assistant and whether you need one to help you manage your estate family needs.
Why Hire a Personal Family Assistant
Sometimes domestic staff roles require merging to better fit the families needs. With some families, blending together the roles of a household manager, personal assistant, and a nanny creates a superhero position that helps save the day. This position is like having a personal assistant for your family where it is their job to assist everyone, from the baby to elders of the household.
Personal Assistants For Your Entire Family
A family personal assistant has an active role in almost every area of the family member’s life. Assisting with both professional and personal life tasks, the family assistant is an organized individual who can coordinate the family‘s needs, whatever they may be.
An example of personal tasks the family assistant may take care of are as follows.
- Scheduling
- Event planning
- Pet care
- Child care
- Light Housekeeping
- Travel plans
- Cooking
- Companionship
As an executive assistant for your household, the family assistant is the perfect fit for a family looking for one individual who can assume a wide range of responsibilities within the estate. Here is a look into some of the most common responsibilities that a family assistant will be in charge of.
Private Personal Assistant
Since the family assistant is the direct point of contact for estate owners, they often take on the personal assistant job helping to coordinate the family‘s life. The family assistant who takes on this duty may travel with the family to their other estates and assist them whenever/wherever needed.
Candidates for this position should be able to handle the following responsibilities.
- Phone calls
- appointments
- administrative tasks
- Running errands
Nanny & Childcare Services
What separates a family assistant from a personal assistant is their professional nanny experience and education. Often, the family assistant has a background in early child education, has childcare experience, and may even be a newborn care specialist.
Many UHNW families find that a family assistant becomes necessary once they bring a child into the household. That is why it’s important for a family assistant to have qualifications that allow them to take the utmost care of the younger family members.
Some of the nanny and child care responsibilities include.
- Assuming the role of a baby nurse.
- Becoming the tutor or leading the child’s education
- Being the baby’s primary taker.
- The point of contact for any emergency issues.
- Primary person for scheduling the children’s appointments.
Housekeeping Duties
When not directly attending to the estate owner tasks or childcare responsibilities, the family assistant will step in and address as many household chores as time permits. These household tasks may or may not be alongside a housekeeper, so it’s important that the family assistant be able to clean quickly and efficiently.
Here are a few of the light household chores the family assistant will take part in.
- dishwashing
- laundry
- picking up
- dusting
Cooking & Meal Prep Responsibilities
Sometimes, the family assistant will take on the role of a cook or assist the private chef. Not every family assistant is qualified for this duty, so it is important that they address the needs before hiring a candidate. What is most suitable for the family assistant is helping with meal prep by taking already cooked foods and making portions accordingly.
House Manager Administrative Duties
A busy family may also ask the family assistant to help with larger administrative duties. Like a house manager, they may be involved in scheduling projects, managing part-time staff, and working alongside other domestic staff.
If this professional takes on the role of an administrative assistant, they should have support for the other responsibilities they are accountable for. In this situation, a promotion may be necessary to further compensate the family assistant who is taking on a leadership role.
Elderly Care & Companion
In some situations, the family assistant will act as a caregiver to an elderly family member. Like the role of a personal companion, they can act as a personal care assistant both to support the family member for any emergency needs and social interaction.
Bedside manager and emergency training are important for the family assistant who takes on this role. Those trained in childcare will have some of the experience but should still have training in elderly care.
Personal Family Assistant Qualifications
Finding the right candidate for your personal family assistant role will depend on the specific needs you have for the individual. Their qualifications will need to align with your expectations. Like any position within your household staff, a background check and other determining factors can help you better qualify the candidate for the position.
A personal family assistant will have a college degree and training in childcare. When you work with a family assistant agency like 805 Estate Staffing, We will help you create your family assistant job description so that expectations and credentials match. This way, you only review candidates who fit your custom tailored position.
Family Assistant Staffing Agency
Do you need a family assistant to join your family office? We can help. As one of the leading estate staffing agencies, we help UHNW families find qualified candidates for all domestic staffing and household management positions. Our placements have years of experience and countless hours of training to exceed your expectations once they join your team.