Full Time Nanny / NCS Position
We are looking for a full-time second nanny (and incredible human) to help our busy family in Venice (soon to be somewhere on the westside of LA). This position at the moment is 60 hours a week Monday – Friday. Eventually the family would like to pivot to 7 days on/ 7 days off.
A little about the family:
We are parents of a 7 year old boy and 8 month old figuring it out as we go. We are a two startup/entrepreneur household with busy and quickly-evolving schedules. Outside of current circumstances, we also travel regularly, mostly to NYC and San Francisco but we foresee some more frequent international travel this year. Our first nanny has been with us since our oldest was 4 months old and now we are looking for help with our soon-to-be-toddler. We work hard to maintain a loving and healthy environment for our children and only want them to be nourished in mind, body and spirit. How we model communication and resilience with a nanny is key to his interpersonal development. We are extremely health-conscious, especially around nutrition and care deeply about the combination of kindness, love and early childhood development knowledge to cultivate social, cognitive and emotional skills. One set of grandparents is in NY, the other in LA and Ojai. We have no family members to help us so we rely on all outside help. We are loving and welcoming—but to be most self aware, we know that our ever-changing schedule isn’t for everyone and that our expectations for child care are high.
Here’s our dream:
First and foremost, we are looking for someone kind, loving, intelligent, patient, curious, intuitive, committed to personal self-care and with extensive experience and developmental knowledge of caring for a child through their development into their toddler years and beyond. Ideally you have a formal early childhood education degree, deep knowledge and expertise of infant and toddler health and cognitive development, safety training beyond box-checking for agencies (water, CPR, etc.) and proficiency with communication, organization and digital tools. Tantamount to us is love, safety and a healthy, nurturing dynamic with exceedingly clear communication.
This role is about ultimate flexibility—we are very busy and our schedule changes often, so it’s about helping us to ensure our household is well-rested, supported and that there’s a seamless feeling of continuity between you, us, and anyone else working in our home. It’s critical that a spirit of partnership all around is cultivated.
We work incredibly hard so every moment we have with our children is precious and needs to be supported by whoever is with us. We care about clear and kind communication, fluidity and ease around scheduling, care for the spaces in our home with special attention to the cleanliness and organization of his things, preparation of his food and proactive thought for activities and materials.
We need someone we fully entrust to be with our son when we travel (and to travel with us), whether he is in our home, out in the community, or needs to be driven somewhere. Being adept with technology is also very important – this includes iPhone, text, camera app, driving directions, etc.
While we don’t need a housekeeper, the kitchen and the maintenance of his spaces and things—his room and drawers, bookshelves, his bathroom, our common spaces where his things are and/or while traveling, is something we value greatly as lack of clutter is important for a clarity of thought and play. The role also includes packing, organizing, moving out what’s not used or outgrown on a regular basis and coordination around what supplies are needed and ownership to communicate what needs to be ordered. This also includes age and developmental-stage-appropriate toys and other needs to ensure we have everything you need to do your job well and that he has everything he needs to help him thrive.
You are also clear about your needs—for example, when you need to eat and what you need to be able to do your job well. We cannot always read minds no matter how thoughtful we try to be and it’s important that you advocate clearly. Your health and self-care is important to us – if you’re happy and healthy, our son will be well taken care of 🙂 This clarity will also ensure no negative narratives can develop and that we maintain a healthy working dynamic.
As for schedule, we’ll need flexibility.
Lastly, and this is the part that we have learned a lot about—how you handle getting upset, a tantrum or a miscommunication is as important as all of the above. Your poise and patience in the hardest moments is what you are most proud of and what your references will say about you. You are a partner, can guide us in some moments and take guidance from us in a tough situation with our sons, similarly. The clarity of communication, how you process conflict and how that feels in our home is especially meaningful and critical to this to “work”. Overall, you are positive, grateful, optimistic, question before assuming, get way ahead of something that could compound or build up, are open to learning and new ideas (despite your years of experience), you are perceptive and empathic, and the world’s cup is half-full.
You are an early morning person (and we mean early 🙂 and how you process being tired (trust us, we are, too!) is also important to the energy of our home.
Schedule is Monday- Friday 7 am to 7 pm. Eventually the goal is to transition to a “live in” 7 day on, 7 day off schedule
Family offers a generous salary with benefits.
Please reach out to Michele@thehelpcompany.com if you are interested.
