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You're looking for a nanny. What you need might be a house manager with the kids at the center.
A house manager with childcare in the role is often the hire a nanny search is really looking for. A nanny's job is built around the children. A house manager's job description is written by you: pickups, bedtimes and a childcare block if that's the heart of it, plus dinner, laundry, the calendar and the errands that still land on you at 9pm. One hire for the whole week.
If a nanny turns out to be the right hire, we place nannies too.
After school
Backpacks unpacked, snacks out, homework started. Dinner is already on.
Roles with the kids at the center usually run 25 to 40 hours a week.
- 10,000+ families supported
- 90-day guarantee
- Flat fee, never a % of salary
What people are saying
Families who went looking for childcare and hired for the whole house.
“We were worried about the challenge of finding part-time childcare in our new town. The idea of a house manager seemed like a dream. We've been able to be more present with our kids and feel like our heads can stay above water.”
You set the mix
Sixty percent kids, forty percent house. Or the other way round. The job description is built around your week, and it can shift as the children grow.
One hire
Instead of a nanny plus a cleaner plus you doing the rest, one person who owns the children's hours and the running of the home.
Flat fee
Not a percentage of what you pay your hire. The fee is the same whether the role is 15 hours or 40.
The difference
Same hands-on care. Wider job.
A house manager with a childcare-heavy scope does what a good nanny does. The difference is what happens in the hours the kids are at school, asleep or at practice: that time goes to the house as well.
What a nanny covers
- Hands-on care while you work
- Naps, feeds, play, the park, pickups
- Kids' meals, their laundry, their rooms
- Hours built around the children's day; the rest of the house is still yours
What a childcare-led house manager owns
- All of the above, as much of it as you need
- Family dinner planned and prepped, groceries ordered
- Everyone's laundry, the daily reset, supplies
- The calendar, school logistics, appointments, the forms
- Vendors, returns, errands, the dog
Not sure which you need? That is exactly what the call is for.
Seen enough? Pick a time now.
A free 30-minute group call with a Sage Haus hiring specialist. No obligation, and the fee is covered live.
What you'll get
A search run for you, built around your kids' week.
1
Kickoff call with your specialist
We map the children's hours first, then everything around them that still lands on you.
2
A job description you'd never find on a job board
Childcare block, household scope, hours, pay band and a title that attracts people who can do both.
3
Vetted finalists with real childcare experience
Sourced, screened and interviewed by a person. You meet the top candidates. References and a background check before any offer.
4
Onboarding and a 90-day guarantee
Onboarding call, six-week check-in, and a one-time re-match inside 90 days if it isn't right.
Case studies
Childcare in the role, house around it.
The Pinfold family · Nanny to House Manager
Consultants know how to staff a project. This was the project.
Two management consultants with demanding hours and travel, three children with the youngest still a baby, school and daycare running to 5:30, a nanny covering the infant — and a family dog in the mix.
The Winslow family · Nanny to House Manager
Their long-time nanny couldn't come with them. The list did.
A move out of the city to the suburbs, and the nanny who had been with the family for years couldn't make it with them.
The Quenby family · Nanny to House Manager
They didn't replace the nanny. They rethought the role.
A Northeast family whose nanny years had run their course — the kids older, the needs shifted from childcare toward everything around it.
Read all the stories at sagehaus.com/case-studies.
Not ready to book? Take the three-minute quiz.
It builds a scope for your family: the hours, the tasks and the kind of role that fits. You get the result straight away.
The numbers
Nanny or house manager: see the difference in your own numbers.
Put in the sitter and delivery costs you have today and the hours you'd want covered. The calculator shows the true weekly cost of each route, your own time included, and when a house manager pays for itself.
- Your cost today, including your own time
- A childcare-led role at 25 to 30 hours a week
- Return on the search at one and two years
How the calculator works
- 1What you pay today for sitters, delivery, cleaners and errands, plus the hours you put in yourself
- 2A house manager at the hours and rate you choose, with W-2 costs if you want them
- 3How you find them: a flat fee, an agency percentage, or your own time
- 4The return on the search at one and two years, and the hours you get back
Nothing is filled in for you. Add the Sage Haus fee from your call when you have it.
Book a call
Ready for support?
A free 30-minute call with a Sage Haus hiring specialist. We'll look at your week, tell you honestly what kind of role fits, and if a search makes sense, what it would look like for your family.
More from our families
What changes after the hire.
“The kids have an additional friend to be with them when necessary and it is always easier to know that there is another adult to help us at home.”
“I can now regularly volunteer in my daughter's classroom and even start taking ballet classes, things that felt completely out of reach before.”
“She found us not one but two incredible providers: a house manager and a nanny. I can feel the mental and physical weight I've been carrying this past year starting to lift.”
Questions families ask
Before you book.
Is this just a nanny with a different title?
It's a wider role. The childcare can be most of it, and the job description also covers the house, so we recruit people who want both. If what you need is mostly hands-on infant care, a nanny is the right hire, and we place nannies too.
Free resource: The mental load, explained and time and cost calculator
How many hours do families start with?
Most start at 15 to 25 hours a week and grow. Childcare-led roles often run 25 to 40. Under 30 hours is part-time, 30 or more is full-time, and you can start part-time and settle the tier later.
What will I pay the house manager?
Childcare-led house manager roles sit at the upper end of the range because the hours are longer. Typically $25 to $50 an hour depending on scope and location, higher in New York and the Bay Area. They're a W-2 household employee; we point you to a payroll partner that handles taxes and pay stubs. Our own fee is covered on the call.
Free resource: time and cost calculator
How do you vet someone who'll be with my kids?
Regional hiring specialists source from local boards and our certified talent pool. Every candidate is screened and interviewed by a human, with childcare experience checked where the role needs it. References, a background check and an employment agreement come before any offer.
How long does it take?
About four to six weeks from an approved job description to your first candidates. If school starts or a parental leave ends on a date, we work back from it.
What if it doesn't work out?
A guarantee matters most when the hire is around your children. A one-time re-match with up to two new candidates inside the first 90 days, no extra fee, provided you did the onboarding call and the six-week check-in with us.
My partner thinks we just need a nanny.
Bring them to the call, or start with our guide for the conversation at home.
Free resource: Pitch in the Kitchen and the calculator
Do you cover my area?
Childcare-led roles are among the easiest to fill because the candidate pool is the widest. Families across the United States and Canada, with regional specialists who know the local market. Rural and small-town searches take a little longer; tell us where you are on the call.