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What does a house manager do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

A household manager is someone who manages a household completely. Household managers have various duties and may manage staff depending on the size of a household. They can train and supervise the household staff. It is their job to organize and monitor the maintenance of the property and to manage household inventories. They arrange entertainment on social events and make travel and holiday arrangements. Also, they do administrative duties like budgeting, paying bills, and managing household schedules. To become a household manager, one must have a wide range of relevant skills and valuable job experience in a related job.

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House manager responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real house manager resumes:

  • Manage Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance authorizations.
  • Pass CPR, first aid, medication administration, and driving test.
  • Act as liaison to all agencies involve in services for consumers (DDS, DSS, SSA and day programs).
  • Enter relevant data in HMIS system on a timely basis.
  • Collaborate with guardians, parents, and DDS for individualize goals.
  • Develop planning for and present for two JACHO and one CARF accreditation processes
  • Shift scheduling; responsible for enrolling staff into CPR and first aid classes.
  • Facilitate workshops for nutrition, medication, life preservation, and Alzheimer's.
  • Complete weekly intakes for the homeless population and enter data into HMIS system.
  • Provide residential care for clients with various disabilities including autism, down-syndrome, and schizophrenia.
  • Provide customer service and conflict resolution to the families while exhibiting both compassion and optimism.
  • Assist in the discarding of unuse medications in accordance with state law and OPWDD regulations.
  • Assure staff receive required training and in compliance with fire, OSHA and other safety regulations.
  • Implement agency policies and procedures; ensure maintenance of OPWDD licensing standards and uphold financial procedures.
  • Assure compliance with regulatory, contractual, financial, safety, and CARF standards and requirements.

House manager skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of House Managers are proficient in Autism, Developmental Disabilities, and Compassion. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Interpersonal skills, and Organizational skills.

We break down the percentage of House Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Autism, 10%

    Worked in home with a 16 year old boy on the Autism Spectrum.

  • Developmental Disabilities, 10%

    Transformed specialist towards networking with the community services/support for adults with developmental disabilities by contracting with other variety of providers agencies.

  • Compassion, 7%

    Provided support and teaching to residents and families with compassion and professionalism

  • Direct Support, 6%

    Supervised several Direct Support Professionals/Caregivers.

  • Group Homes, 6%

    Monitored facility adherence to all government rules and regulations pertaining to Level III Developmental Disabled Adolescent group homes.

  • Early Intervention, 5%

    Work with Early Intervention, PT and OT to help disabled child reach milestones.

Most house managers use their skills in "autism," "developmental disabilities," and "compassion" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential house manager responsibilities here:

Communication skills. For certain house manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a house manager rely on this skill, as "social and community service managers must be able to speak and write clearly." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what house managers do: "perform adls, medication administration, cooking, cleaning and communication with physicians, family members and vendors. "

Problem-solving skills. Another common skill required for house manager responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." This skill comes up in the duties of house managers all the time, as "social and community service managers must be able to address client, staff, and agency-related issues." An excerpt from a real house manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a house manager does: "responded to emergency situations and utilized conflict resolution best practices. "

Time-management skills. While "time-management skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to house manager responsibilities. Much of what a house manager does relies on this skill, seeing as "social and community service managers must prioritize and handle numerous tasks, often in a short timeframe." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of house managers: "worked on time sheets for payroll for the staff"

See the full list of house manager skills

The three companies that hire the most house managers are:

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Compare different house managers

House manager vs. Residential supervisor

This job varies depending on the building and tenants. They oversee all activities involved in the premises, as well as repairs, chores, and banking activities. They also write reports on client behaviors and physical conditions. Their duties and responsibilities include training residents on emergency protocols and meeting with social workers to report on progress.

We looked at the average house manager salary and compared it with the wages of a residential supervisor. Generally speaking, residential supervisors are paid $2,092 higher than house managers per year.Even though house managers and residential supervisors are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require developmental disabilities, direct support, and group homes in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a house manager are more likely to require skills like "autism," "compassion," "early intervention," and "residential facility." On the other hand, a job as a residential supervisor requires skills like "social work," "rehabilitation," "money management," and "residential program." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Residential supervisors tend to make the most money working in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $40,199. In contrast, house managers make the biggest average salary, $36,188, in the education industry.residential supervisors tend to reach similar levels of education than house managers. In fact, residential supervisors are 3.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

House manager vs. Residential specialist

The residential specialist job is to provide quality support services to consumers that enhance physical, emotional, intellectual, vocational, communication, and social skills according to the individual's needs, abilities, and choices. Their duties and responsibilities include following the guidelines given by their agencies and assisting clients as needed according to their daily plan and schedule.

Residential specialist positions earn lower pay than house manager roles. They earn a $3,784 lower salary than house managers per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both house managers and residential specialists have skills such as "developmental disabilities," "compassion," and "direct support. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, house manager responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "autism," "early intervention," "supported living," and "payroll." Meanwhile, a residential specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "patients," "social work," "residential care," and "meal preparation." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Residential specialists may earn a lower salary than house managers, but residential specialists earn the most pay in the non profits industry with an average salary of $35,090. On the other hand, house managers receive higher pay in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $36,188.residential specialists earn similar levels of education than house managers in general. They're 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

House manager vs. Director of social services

A director of social services or social services director is an individual who works with the community to identify the suitable programs and services. Social services directors provide overall leadership for certain departments within organizations. Essentially, they take charge of the daily activities of a program or an organization. They perform as social services board secretary and executive officer. In nursing homes, the directors assess patients, develop care plans, and help patients adjust along with their respective families.

On average scale, directors of social services bring in higher salaries than house managers. In fact, they earn a $19,697 higher salary per year.By looking over several house managers and directors of social services resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "compassion," "crisis intervention," and "mental health." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a house manager is likely to be skilled in "autism," "developmental disabilities," "direct support," and "group homes," while a typical director of social services is skilled in "social work," "patients," "discharge planning," and "rehabilitation."

Directors of social services earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $59,532. House managers earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $36,188.Most directors of social services achieve a higher degree level compared to house managers. For example, they're 20.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

House manager vs. Program officer

A program officer is an essential part of a foundation or charitable organization. It is up to program officers to supervise program progress and proposals, seek grants, manage projects, and oversee budgets. They generally guarantee that an organization's activities and programs are met with the vision and mission statements of that foundation. It is the program officer's responsibility to complete various tasks in completing the demands of this position. Moreover, their job includes developing their staff, implementation, and daily management of activities.

Program officers typically earn higher pay than house managers. On average, program officers earn a $42,318 higher salary per year.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "autism," "developmental disabilities," "compassion," and "direct support" are skills that commonly show up on house manager resumes. On the other hand, program officers use skills like project management, program management, excellent interpersonal, and powerpoint on their resumes.In general, program officers earn the most working in the finance industry, with an average salary of $87,517. The highest-paying industry for a house manager is the education industry.The average resume of program officers showed that they earn higher levels of education compared to house managers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 19.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 2.9%.

Types of house manager

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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