Reviewed by Stan, Head of Hiring Department, TLNT.aeA private investor or a family that has moved its base to Dubai quickly collects moving parts: two or three properties with tenancy renewals and service charges, several cars, schools, a nanny and a driver on the family's visa, bankers who want documents, travel every month and a calendar that mixes a board seat with a school play. Nobody on the bank's or the lawyer's side runs this. This guide explains what hurts without a dedicated person, what a family office assistant, a lifestyle manager and a house manager each take over, when one person is enough and when you need a small team, what it costs, how to check people whose main qualification is discretion, and where the boundaries are.
Talk to usThe family is well organised in theory; in practice everything runs through one spouse's phone and a folder of PDFs nobody can find.
Three roles share this work; one person can hold all three in a smaller household. Nothing here is investment advice or a decision: the assistant files, schedules, gathers documents and reminds. Agree the three lists in writing.
A family office assistant works on the business and document side and reports to the principal or the family office head. A lifestyle manager runs travel, bookings, memberships and personal requests. A house manager runs the home, the staff and the contractors. One hybrid person is enough for one home, up to three or four household staff and one or two properties. A small team of two or three is needed with several properties, frequent travel with staff, five or more household employees, or when the principal wants the business side kept separate from the home. Market estimate, AED per month, total package (basic salary plus allowances); the employer also pays visa, health insurance and a gratuity provision.
| Type | When it fits | AED per month |
|---|---|---|
| Family office assistant | documents, bankers, lawyers, renewal calendar, meetings | 12,000 - 20,000, senior 20,000 - 30,000 |
| Lifestyle manager | travel, bookings, memberships, personal requests, events; orientation | 10,000 - 18,000 |
| House manager | home, staff, contractors, household budget; orientation | 10,000 - 20,000 |
| Hybrid multi-assistant | all three in one person for a smaller household | 10,000 - 18,000, senior 18,000 - 25,000 |
| Executive assistant to the principal | when the principal also runs an operating business | 20,000 - 30,000 |
These people are rarely on job boards. They come through other families, family office heads, private banks' client teams, five-star hotel and private aviation operations, and from being a senior personal assistant to one principal for many years. Checking takes longer than for an office role; do not shorten it.
In a private household the risks are personal, not just commercial: safety of the family, the home and the children, money and reputation. Boundaries are part of the job description, not an insult to the candidate.
TLNT is a hiring consultancy. For a private investor or a family we help decide between one hybrid assistant and a small team, write the scope, the limits and the confidentiality rules, set the salary range as a market estimate, find and assess candidates with a practical skills assessment on real tasks and deep reference conversations, and prepare the offer. You make the hiring decision and agree the terms with the candidate yourself; the person is employed directly by you, your company or your family office, the employer sponsors the visa and we give you a step-by-step checklist. See also our family office assistant, lifestyle manager, house manager and hybrid assistant pages.
Our fee is fixed for each role and agreed before the search starts. A 10% prepayment of the fee starts the search, the rest is due once the person has started work. If it does not work out, we find a replacement free of charge; the period is set in the contract. Consulting and CRM projects are priced after a free review.
If the family has more than one property, several household staff on its visa, regular travel and bankers or lawyers asking for documents, the admin already takes one person's time; today it is usually a spouse's. A family office assistant, a lifestyle manager or a house manager, or one hybrid person in a smaller household, takes this over and keeps one organised file of the family's affairs.
Market estimate: a family office assistant 12,000 - 20,000 AED per month, senior 20,000 - 30,000; a lifestyle manager 10,000 - 18,000; a house manager 10,000 - 20,000; a hybrid assistant for all three areas 10,000 - 18,000, senior 18,000 - 25,000. Total package; the employer also pays visa, health insurance and a gratuity provision. Discretion and references, not typing speed, decide where in the range a person sits.
Our fee is fixed for each role and agreed before the search starts. A 10% prepayment of the fee starts the search, the rest is due once the person has started work. If it does not work out, we find a replacement free of charge; the period is set in the contract.
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Message on WhatsAppReviewed by Stan, Head of Hiring Department, TLNT.aeCite as: TLNT.ae, "Assistant for an investor or a wealthy family in Dubai family office assistant, lifestyle manager, house manager: one person or a small team", 2026, https://tlnt.ae/en/guides/assistant-for-an-investor-or-hnwi-dubai/. Prepared by TLNT.ae, a hiring consultancy working in the UAE since 2022.