We are seeking a long-term, live-in estate couple to manage our clients’ (an entrepreneurial couple without children) affairs at their private residence in Altaussee, Austria, and travel with them occasionally to Boston, USA.
The role combines household management, housekeeping, cooking, gardening, coordination of repairs and service providers, guest hospitality, and driving.
The estate couple position will replace the long-term housekeepers, who will retire as soon as a new couple has been found.
Properties
- Altaussee, Austria
A large estate (2-hectare estate with 3 buildings – the owner’s private residence when in Austria, a former guest house, now used for personal guests and short-term rental and a Garden Cottage (ground floor staff apartment and residence of the property managers, upper floor used for friends or short-term rental) - Boston, USA
A historic Greek Revival mansion on Beacon Hill, Boston, USA, used as the owners’ U.S. home base for business relationships and private stays.
Profile
Married or long-term couple, with a history of working together, ideally aged 40–50, with experience in their own hospitality business (restaurant, hotel, etc.), private households or estates. Both partners must speak one of German or English fluently and be proficient enough to hold a simple conversation in the other language. The couple should be discreet, reliable, proactive, and able to divide responsibilities between them according to their strengths in order to cover all the needs of the owners.
Core Responsibilities
- Housekeeping: cleaning, making beds, preparing rooms and bathrooms for owners, personal guests and STR guests; laundry and linen care.
- Cooking: one partner should be a very good and passionate cook, responsible for meals when the owners are in residence, which has historically been about a couple of months a year (Christmas and New Year; some time during June, July, August; intermittent short stays during the rest of the year).
- Gardening: lawn mowing, care of the rose garden, and keeping the park generally tidy and looking beautiful; heavy work (tree pruning, machinery) is outsourced.
- Managing Service Providers: organising and supervising repairs, gardeners, handymen, and other service providers. Overseeing building and construction work, if any, locally.
- Driving: airport transfers for the owners or friends and family to Salzburg, Munich and Vienna, and occasional longer drives (Trieste, Venice; 4–5 hours).
- Guest Service: looking after international family, friends and other personal guests.
- STR Guest Care: looking after paying guests.
- Events: coordination with local catering companies for larger events.
- Travel: accompanying the owners to Boston a couple of times per year, with housekeeping and cooking as the main tasks.
- High-Season Presence: required on 22 Dec – 3 January (Christmas and New Year’s celebrations). Vacations as agreed with the owners, outside of the main seasons when owners plan to be in Altaussee
- Working Rhythm: intensive periods when the owners are in residence (early starts, late finishes), balanced by independent scheduling and lighter schedules and time off when they are away.
Offer
- Long-term, stable employment with a private family.
- Free staff apartment in the Garden Cottage, nestled on the shores of Lake Altaussee in Austria
- Well above the minimum salary according to the collective agreement in the region of 4,000 gross/month (x14 payments per year) + variable parts (being based on STR guest income, as agreed between the parties).
- Travel and accommodation costs are covered for Boston stays.
- Respectful, professional, and family-oriented working relationship.
- Completely independent work environment when owners or private guests are not in residence, as long as required tasks get done.
- Living in Altaussee, nestled on the shores of Lake Altaussee, one of the most sought-after and beautiful places in Austria.
Application
Please submit CVs for both partners, references from hospitality businesses or comparable private households, as well as confirmation of eligibility for residence in Austria (unless Austrian or European Union citizens) and travel to the United States of America.
