Open any entry below for the definition. Where My Household Managed has a full article on the term, the entry links to it.
Job titles
Babysitter
Someone paid to watch children occasionally. Babysitters often have no formal childcare qualifications; basic children's first-aid training is worth asking for. Nanny vs babysitter.
Nanny
A childcare professional hired on an ongoing basis, full-time or part-time, live-in or live-out. A nanny's responsibilities are defined in writing and can cover every aspect of childcare: meals, laundry, social calendars, academic and personal development. Nanny.
ROTA nanny
A nanny working a rotation, typically two professionals alternating blocks of days or weeks, so a household has continuous coverage. Common in households with intensive care needs or principals who travel often. ROTA nanny.
Newborn care specialist (NCS)
A professional who works with families of newborns, usually from birth to about six months, on feeding, sleep conditioning, swaddling, and routines. An NCS has no medical training and does not diagnose illness, which is why the older term "night nurse" is used less. Many work overnight shifts or in pairs. Newborn care specialist.
Governess
An educational nanny who combines structured academic instruction, often with language immersion, with daily childcare. Governess.
Family assistant
A hybrid role that supports the family across childcare and household tasks: school runs, errands, returns, scheduling, light household coordination. Family assistants are often mistaken for house managers; the family assistant executes tasks personally while a house manager runs the household. Family assistant vs house manager.
House manager (household manager)
The professional responsible for the day-to-day operation of a single residence: coordinating staff, vendors, schedules, maintenance, and the household manual. House managers may live on site, work set hours, or be on call, depending on the household. The title is sometimes applied loosely to family assistants and, at the other end, to people doing estate manager work; scope matters more than the title. What is a house manager?
Housekeeper
The professional responsible for the upkeep of a home: cleaning on a set rotation, deep cleaning, laundry and ironing, linen and wardrobe care, organization, and restocking. In some households the role includes cooking, pet care, or errands. Housekeeper.
Executive housekeeper
A senior housekeeper with specialist knowledge of fine textiles, antiques, art, china, and crystal, who works solo to a formal standard or leads a housekeeping team. Executive housekeeper.
Laundress
A specialist in the care of fine clothing and household linens: washing, pressing, wardrobe organization, and the handling of delicate and couture fabrics. In larger homes, laundry moves from the housekeeper to a laundress. Laundress.
Estate manager (EM)
The senior professional overseeing a complex operation: usually multiple properties, a larger staff team, budgets, vendors, projects, and coordination with a family office. Also titled estate director or director of properties in some households. What is an estate manager?
Director of residences
Senior oversight of a principal's full property portfolio, managing the estate managers and house managers at each location and holding standards consistent across all residences. Director of residences.
Chief of staff
The most senior private operations role: managing priorities, decisions, and the people and systems around the principal at a strategic level rather than an administrative one. Chief of staff.
Personal assistant / executive personal assistant
Support for the principal or the whole family: calendars, correspondence, travel, errands, gifts, and personal coordination. An executive personal assistant works at the executive level for a principal whose professional and personal lives run as one. Executive personal assistant.
Butler
A formally trained service professional managing guest reception, dining, and the presentation standard of a household. Butler.
Majordomo
A senior, versatile professional who oversees the operation of a private household, blending elements of butler, estate manager, personal assistant, and social coordinator. What is a majordomo?
Domestic couple
A two-person team, often a couple, covering housekeeping, cooking, property maintenance, and household management for a residence that needs full-time comprehensive care. Domestic couple.
Houseman
Versatile household support across maintenance, event setup, grounds, errands, and the physical work behind a well-run estate. Houseman.
For every role My Household Managed staffs, see all household roles.
Acronyms
HNW, VHNW, UHNW
Wealth bands borrowed from wealth management. High-net-worth (HNW) is commonly defined as liquid assets of one million dollars or more, very-high-net-worth (VHNW) at five million or more, and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) at thirty million or more. In staffing, the labels signal the scale and complexity of a household rather than anything about the role.
DINK
"Dual income, no kids." A couple who live together, both earn, and typically have higher disposable income and staffing needs centered on the home rather than childcare.
HENRY
"High earner, not rich yet." A person or household with above-average income and limited accumulated wealth, often because of housing, education, or debt. HENRY households frequently hire their first household professional, most often a nanny or housekeeper.
PSP
Private service professional: anyone who works in a private household or estate in a career capacity, including house managers, estate managers, nannies, housekeepers, private chefs, personal assistants, butlers, chauffeurs, and residential security. Private Service Alliance is the professional association for PSPs in the United States. Private Service Alliance.
NDA
Non-disclosure agreement. A written agreement protecting a family's privacy by stating what an employee may and may not share with the public, media, or others. An NDA does not prevent a candidate from giving an agency or prospective family the name of a past principal for employment verification. What is an NDA?
Employment terms
Fair and legal pay
Paying a living wage for all hours worked, including correct overtime, and paying the required employment taxes on those wages. The term is used across the industry to describe compliant household employment.
Guaranteed hours
A set number of hours the household professional commits to being available each week and the family commits to paying each week, whether or not all of those hours are used. Guaranteed hours give the professional stable income and the family a reliable schedule, and they are standard practice for long-term household roles. How guaranteed hours work.
W-2 employee
An employee formally employed and paid through payroll, with taxes withheld and reported on a Form W-2. Household professionals employed by a family are W-2 employees of that family, and payroll is run through a household payroll provider. Paying household staff through payroll.
Gross pay (pre-tax)
Pay before taxes and deductions. Household compensation is negotiated and stated as a gross hourly rate, which is the industry standard and avoids confusion between what a family pays and what the professional takes home.
Overtime
Under federal wage and hour law most household employees are non-exempt and owed overtime for hours worked over 40 in a week. Some states add their own rules. Overtime is part of why household roles are structured as an hourly rate with guaranteed hours rather than a flat salary.
Healthcare stipend
A fixed, taxable amount a family pays toward an employee's health insurance or medical costs. Families are not required to provide health benefits to household staff, and many do because it improves retention. Health insurance stipends.
Yearly raises and bonuses
Raises adjust for cost of living and for added responsibility (a new child, a pet, expanded duties) and reward strong performance. Bonuses may be performance-based or given as holiday pay. Both are written into the work agreement. Yearly raises and bonuses.
Work agreement
The written agreement between a family and a household professional covering scope, schedule, guaranteed hours, rate, overtime, benefits, time off, and termination terms. My Household Managed provides a customized work agreement with every introduction.
Industry terms
Career nanny / career household professional
A professional with five or more years in the role who has committed to private service as a long-term career and invested in professional development. The distinction matters in a search because career professionals are hired for tenure.
Live-in vs live-out
Live-in staff reside on the property in dedicated quarters and may travel between residences with the family. Live-out staff work set hours and return to their own home each day. The choice shapes compensation, housing, and schedule.
Domestic staff / household staff
Everyone employed in a private residence, from roles that work directly with the family (nanny, housekeeper, house manager) to roles that support the property (chauffeur, gardener, residential security). Household staff and domestic staff are used interchangeably.
Household employee
A person paid to provide a service within a private residence. The term carries a legal meaning for payroll and tax purposes: the family is the employer of record, responsible for payroll taxes, overtime, and applicable benefits.
Fully staffed home
A household with a team rather than a single hire, often nannies, house managers, housekeepers, executive housekeepers, an estate manager, a private chef, drivers, and gardeners. In a fully staffed home, staff usually report to a house manager, executive housekeeper, or estate manager rather than directly to the principal.
High-profile household
A household whose principals are known publicly, through sport, entertainment, business, or public life. Roles in high-profile households usually carry a more rigorous interview process and additional security screening.
Principal
The person or people a household serves and who employ its staff. My Household Managed uses "principal" rather than "employer" for the families and individuals it works with.
Household staffing agency
An agency that recruits, screens, and introduces career household professionals to principals. A nanny agency is a household staffing agency focused on childcare roles. How My Household Managed works with principals.
Introduction
The point in a search at which a screened candidate is presented to a principal. My Household Managed uses "introduction" for what the industry often calls a placement; a typical search results in three introductions.
Discovery Call and consultation call
The two steps in My Household Managed's client process. The Discovery Call is a short conversation to confirm mutual fit and explain how the process works. The consultation call is where the role, scope, compensation range, and search plan for a specific household are built.
Household manual / estate manual
The document that records how a home runs: cleaning and maintenance schedules, vendor contacts, systems, preferences, and procedures. Held by the house manager or estate manager in a staffed home. Home maintenance schedule.
Family office
A private company that manages a family's wealth, investments, and affairs, often including administrative staff, accountants, HR, and executive assistants. In many households the family office and the household staff coordinate closely, especially through the estate manager or chief of staff. What is a family office?
Vendors and contractors
Third parties who supply goods or services to a home, from HVAC service and landscaping to catering and event planning. Coordinating them is a core part of a house manager's or estate manager's role.
Discretion
The professional judgment to protect a family's privacy: reading the room, knowing when to step in and when to step away, and never sharing details of the household, including photos of the family or children, on social media or elsewhere. Protecting confidentiality in private service.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a house manager and an estate manager?
A house manager runs the day-to-day operations of a single residence: staff, vendors, schedules, and the household manual. An estate manager oversees a more complex operation, usually multiple properties, a larger team, and financial and administrative responsibility. The titles are sometimes used loosely, and the scope of the work matters more than the title.
What does HNW, VHNW, and UHNW mean in household staffing?
They are wealth bands used across private service. High-net-worth (HNW) is commonly defined as liquid assets of one million dollars or more, very-high-net-worth (VHNW) at five million or more, and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) at thirty million or more. In staffing, the labels signal the scale and complexity of a household rather than anything about the role itself.
What are guaranteed hours for household staff?
A set number of hours the household professional commits to being available each week and the family commits to paying each week, whether or not all of those hours are used. Guaranteed hours give the professional stable income and the family a reliable schedule, and they are standard practice for long-term household roles.
What is a PSP?
PSP stands for private service professional: anyone who works in a private household or estate in a career capacity, including house managers, estate managers, nannies, housekeepers, private chefs, personal assistants, butlers, chauffeurs, and residential security. Private Service Alliance is the professional association for PSPs in the United States.
Definitions of employment terms are general and are not legal or tax advice. Wage, hour, and tax rules vary by state; confirm current requirements with a household payroll provider or counsel.