Live-in housekeeper/nanny needed in South Oxfordshire

Job Status

Closed

Reference Number

003412

Job Title

Live-in housekeeper/nanny needed in South Oxfordshire

Job Description

Hello,. I am looking for a wonderful person to help our busy household run smoothly. We have 5 children – J- age 16, G-14, L-13, K-10 and F-8 plus 3 dogs, a cat and a bunch of fish. Dad works in London but travels A LOT for work. Mom is a stay-at-home mom who needs help managing the house and the busy family schedule. J is in boarding school full time, G is in boarding school during the week but home on weekends and the rest go to day school.

We are looking for someone who is happy to do whatever it is that needs to be done. Someone who is flexible and doesn’t mind if things change at the last minute. This doesn’t happen all the time but it does happen and some people do not like to have an unpredictable nature to their job. I understand that but with so much going on in our busy household, this is our reality. Generally the cleaning can be predictable, requiring about 16-18 hours a week for laundry, bed linens, ironing and full house cleaning (6 bedroom house about twice a week), in addition to helping keep things tidy on a daily basis. We need someone who can take pride in her work and who will be proactive. The cleaning could be managed in two long days or three shorter days, making it ideal if you wanted to take classes in the mornings or the two days that you don’t clean.

The flexibility comes with the childcare part of the job. It's mostly weekday afternoon and evening work, generally from 4 or 5 to 8 or 9 depending on who has an activity where. For instance, this past term L had netball on Monday night from 7-8, play rehearsal on Wednesday from about 6-9, G had gymnastics on Thursday from 7:30-8:30. F is collected at 4 everyday except Tuesday when it is 5:30. K had to be collected from school late two times a week and from the bus stop the other 3 days. Next term will be different but it gives you an idea of the crazy schedules! Sometimes I will do the driving and you would stay with the little ones, helping with homework, making dinner, reading with them and putting to bed. Sometimes you will do the driving. Sometimes dad is home on time so you have an unexpected early night off. Sometimes dad and mom go out in the evening so you will work later. We are not usually later than midnight on the weekdays, but can be later on a Friday or Saturday night. So you see, the need is flexibility. The job is about 40 hours a week, give or take, split pretty evenly between cleaning and childcare. With my past live-in nanny, sometimes she would work fewer hours one week and a few more hours the next but we both felt that it was always pretty even by the end of the month and liked not having to count hours and pay on an hourly basis. There will be some weekend work expected but usually just evenings and usually just one of the two weekend nights and not usually every weekend. Also, occasionally we would need you for the whole weekend or an overnight but this is known well in advance.

In addition to this, I may ask you on occasion to walk the dogs. We have three gorgeous dogs, Nikita – a large crossbreed, Poppy – a black lab, and Daisy – a pug. They are hilarious and run the house! We live in the country with beautiful walks out the front door and the River Thames a field away, so this is a really joy.

My past live-in nanny/housekeepers generally followed the following schedule, just to give you a feel of timings. Please remember though, that this is just a guide. Sometimes I lift share so don’t have to drive, meaning I can be home with the children. Some nights we will go out so I will need you longer. Sometimes if we know we will be out late on a weekday or weekend, you will have a night off to offset those hours. It’s flexible.

Monday
4-9 Childcare
10-4 Cleaning
Tuesday
5-8 Childcare
Wednesday
4-6 Childcare
10-4 Cleaning
Thursday
4-6:30 Childcare
Friday
4-8 or later Childcare
10-4 Cleaning
Weekend
As needed

We live in the beautiful countryside near the Thames with walking and riding/cycling trails out our front door. BUT, we are 15 minute walk to the train station which takes you to Reading in 20 minutes, Oxford in 30 minutes and London in under an hour. The best of both worlds. Our village, Goring, has many restaurants and pubs, a few shops, chemist, etc.

You will live in a 3-room flat separate to the house. The flat has a bedroom, office, sitting room, small kitchen, shower room and washing machine. It is lovely. It has wi-fi and a television. All utilities are included. The salary is negotiable based on experience. You will have 4 weeks of holiday including bank holidays. You will choose 2 weeks and we will choose two weeks of those holidays. Unpaid holiday would be considered.

Area

Oxfordshire

Job Postcode

RG8