The Calendar Group

Hiring guide

Family Assistant

A flexible right hand for the whole family — childcare, errands, logistics, and the hundred small things in between.

Begin a search for this role(877) 404-5290

Compensation

$75,000–$120,000 base

Typical base compensation, major U.S. markets, 2026. Scope, travel, and household complexity move the range.

We advise on offer structure — schedule, housing, benefits, bonus — before every search. The right package is how great people stay.

Some households do not need a dedicated nanny or a full personal assistant — they need one capable person who can do most of both. A family assistant covers the school pick-up and the dry cleaning, wraps the birthday gift and books the vet, keeps the calendar honest and the pantry stocked. She is the utility player who makes a busy family's week actually work.

The role suits families with school-age children, working parents, and days full of moving parts. Mornings might be errands and household admin; afternoons shift to homework supervision, activity shuttling, and dinner prep for the kids. The job description changes with the season — and the right candidate likes it that way.

What we screen for is range with judgment. Plenty of candidates can drive a carpool or manage a to-do list. Far fewer can move between children and logistics all day, prioritize without being told, and hold household discretion while being everywhere at once. Those are the ones worth hiring.

What the role owns

  • After-school childcare, homework supervision, and activity transport
  • Family calendar management — appointments, lessons, camps, and school events
  • Errands, returns, gifting, and household purchasing
  • Meal preparation for children and light family cooking
  • Household administration — vendors, deliveries, reservations, and paperwork
  • Travel preparation, packing, and trip logistics for the family
  • Pet care coordination and veterinary scheduling
  • Seasonal projects — holidays, birthdays, school transitions, summer planning

What great looks like

A great family assistant runs the week from a list she wrote herself — by Monday morning she has already seen the orthodontist appointment, the science fair, and the gap in the babysitting coverage.

She shifts registers cleanly: patient and playful with a nine-year-old at 4 p.m., crisp and professional with a contractor at 4:45.

Things simply stop falling through the cracks — the permission slip is signed, the cleats fit, the gift arrived before the party — and you notice mostly in retrospect.

She communicates in the format you actually read, whether that is a Sunday-night text summary or a shared calendar kept surgically current.

She knows what is hers to decide and what is not, and the line never has to be redrawn twice.

Interview questions worth asking

  1. 01

    Describe a day in your last role where childcare and household logistics collided. What gave, and how did you decide?

  2. 02

    What systems do you personally use to track a family's moving parts — show me, don't just name an app.

  3. 03

    Tell me about a purchase or decision you made without asking. How did you know it was yours to make?

  4. 04

    How do you handle a child who tests you differently than he tests his parents?

  5. 05

    What part of a family assistant role do you quietly dislike, and how do you make sure it still gets done well?

Questions

Hiring a family assistant, answered.

How is a family assistant different from a nanny?
A nanny's day is organized around the children; childcare is the job. A family assistant splits her time between childcare and household logistics — errands, scheduling, admin, and projects. Families with infants or toddlers generally need a nanny's dedicated attention. Families with school-age children and busy calendars often get more from a family assistant, whose afternoons are with the kids and whose mornings keep the household running.
How is this different from a personal assistant?
A personal assistant supports a principal — one adult's calendar, travel, correspondence, and personal affairs. A family assistant supports the household as a unit, children included, and spends real hours in hands-on childcare. If you need someone managing your inbox and your board dinner, that is a personal assistant. If you need someone managing the carpool, the pediatrician, and Tuesday's dinner, that is a family assistant.
What schedule is typical?
Most family assistant roles run forty to fifty hours across weekdays, shaped around the school day — often a late-morning start and an evening finish, with occasional weekend events. Some families need split coverage or travel flexibility. Be candid about the real schedule during the search, including the unpredictable parts; the placements that last are the ones where the hours on paper match the hours in practice.
Can a family assistant grow into a bigger role?
Often, yes — it is one of the natural paths into household management or personal assistant work as children grow and the family's needs shift. If you anticipate that arc, tell us at the outset. We will weight the search toward candidates with the administrative depth to grow, rather than pure childcare specialists, so the person you hire this year is still the right person in five.

Begin

Looking for a family assistant?

Tell us about the household and the role. A senior advisor — not a coordinator — will come back to you within one business day.

Held in confidence. No obligation.