Address
Form of work
Salary An American family near Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 are looking for a full-time House Manager, with strong Butler skills to help manage their beautiful newly renovated home. You should have a driving license for this role and be looking for long-term employment.
Package Offered
£90,000+ gross per annum depending on experience. The family are willing to negotiate to secure the highest talent available
A lovely 3 bedroom Cotswold cottage in a beautiful village provided on-site
Access to house vehicle
Family Background
The clients are a husband and wife, who are originally from the USA, but have recently purchased a large estate in the UK. They have three children (one teenager and two adults in their early 20s), with all three children either living or studying in the USA. They have no grandchildren or pets. They are currently renovating the property to the highest specification, and the project is due to complete in 18 months (approx. April 2025). They typically visit the UK in the summer months, however they do come occasionally at other points of the year, and stay in Oxfordshire or in London, or use the UK as a base to travel round Europe. They love to entertain and enjoy regular events. This stunning estate is being entirely renovated and will consist of a 7 bedroom main property, a three-bedroom staff cottage, various outbuildings and large grounds. They currently have a team of gardeners already employed on the estate. They are now keen to find a new highly skilled House Manager, who has strong Butler skills to work alongside the Estate Office, and run the estate. They require this person to start as soon as possible (ideally no later than the beginning of June 2024), and will continue to manage the household and staff, running the house to the needs of the Principals.
Duties
You should be highly skilled in both house management and butlering skills. As the estate is under renovation, you should ideally have previous experience helping oversee contractors and renovation projects. You won’t need to be involved with the renovations as the builders and project managers liaise directly with the Estate Office and the Principals, however if you have an understanding of previous renovation projects, it would be useful if you can be on site to assist with any situations that may arise. The principals are very particular with how they want the finish to be, so you won’t be making any executive decisions for the build.
As a House Manager, you will be responsible for all household management within the house, and work with the Estate office to ensure that the household has been correctly staffed. You should be able to arrange internal and external household services and vendors, manage a household budget, keep supplies stocked, and make travel arrangements and preparations, while discussing significant purchases with the Estate Office. Maintain care of the client’s valuables, planning, and coordinating special events, running personal errands for the client and household (including grocery shopping), receiving guests, and answering phones, assisting in proper table setting when required. You should be happy to drive for this role, taking the principals and guests to meetings and appointments as needed as well as ensuring all vehicles are immaculately maintained, MOTs and servicing kept up to date.
You should also have strong Butler skills, being able to manage table service perfectly, dealing with all the packing and unpacking, ensuring that the housekeepers are doing their duties to the highest standards, and being able to support the principals in all aspects of the personal life at home. You should be able to hit the ground running, with a deep understanding of these skills. Of course, you will need to ask the right questions of the Estate Manager and American Household staff in order to learn the needs and desires of the principals, but once you have learnt them, then you would need to have the intuition and ability to foresee what the principals need ahead of time.
The ideal candidate will have previous experience managing private households, with an eye for details. Social etiquette is also necessary; therefore, you should have excellent interpersonal skills and understand appropriate practices within private households. Ideally you should have skills with wardrobe management and care of fine clothes, as they both have beautiful wardrobes. You should be excellent at communication and be able to liaise with oversees staff when dealing with the wardrobes, and also deal closely with the Estate Manager and office when needed.
It is imperative that you will be a strong team player able to manage and work alongside other Household staff, having a hands-on approach having a good team spirit is essential for this role. You should be confident to supervise them in their daily tasks and ensure any issues which inevitably crop up in the house are dealt with promptly and smoothly. The household staff need to have a formalized hierarchy, so that they deal with the House Manager who would then liaise with the Estate Manager, who has a clear understanding of the clients’ wishes as he has been working with them since the purchase of this estate. You will also liaise with the Estate office and ensure that all paperwork and invoices are kept up-to-date and in line with the Estate office systems.
Ideally, you should love country life, and be looking for a long-term role. The staff that work for this family stay for years, so they treat their staff well, and have a very good relationship with them all. The family love to shoot, so ideally you should have experience organizing and assisting with shoots, as this is something that will happen each year.
You should be very security aware, ensuring that the property and the grounds are always cared for and secure, keeping the estate safe when the principals are not in residence, and when they are, being extra vigilant for security and safety.
You may be asked to travel with the principal, and therefore you should be flexible to do so if needed. In which case you would delegate your duties to the head housekeeper, to ensure that nothing is missed. You will also be in charge of ensuring the household staff are correctly managed.
You will be in charge of the household and ensure that it runs smoothly and efficiently. You should be looking for a long-term role and be the very best of the best.
Location/Accommodation
The house is near Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18. You will be provided with a three-bedroom cottage to live on site. You can bring partners/dependents/pets if required.
Days/Hours
Working Monday to Friday, an average of 45 hours per week
When the principals are in residence (approx. 3-4 months of the year), your working hours and schedule will increase. You would be expected to be entirely flexible and work much longer hours, including weekends (you will always have at least one day off per week when the family are in residence)
Flexibility is key, your hours will be standard working days/hours when the family are not in residence, but when they are, all hands on deck are expected
Languages
You must speak an excellent level of English to communicate with the family.
Special Skills
You should have good experience working as a House Manager and Butler in a private household. You should be flexible and adaptive. You must have a driving license.
Start Date
The family are interviewing now for the right candidate to start as soon as possible.
