South Florida has been our fastest-growing market since 2021. Principals have moved family offices and primary residences from New York, Chicago, London and Latin America to Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach County, and they have arrived without the household and office teams they left behind. Much of our work here is building those teams from the ground up, often for a multi-residence estate that did not exist two years earlier.

Roles we place in South Florida

Estate and household leadership. The most frequent brief is for an Estate Manager or House Manager to run a waterfront property or a compound of several residences, with vendors, construction projects, boats and security to coordinate. Where the estate spans several states or countries, the role becomes a Director of Residences or a Facilities Manager with a team beneath them. Management Couples and Domestic Couples suit the properties that are used seasonally.

Household staff. Housekeepers, Private Chefs and Butlers, with a strong demand for Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking staff for families from Latin America and Brazil. Childcare briefs run from Newborn Care Specialists to travelling and lead nannies and Governesses; several of our South Florida placements have been nanny and PA hybrid roles for families who travel for much of the year.

The office. Family offices relocating to Florida hire Executive Assistants, Family Office Assistants and Directors of Operations locally while keeping investment staff in New York. We place the assistant to the family manager as often as the family manager.

How Oplu works in South Florida

The local candidate pool is thinner than New York or London for senior household roles, so a South Florida search almost always includes relocation candidates. We know who is willing to move from the north-east, from California and from Europe, and we have placed candidates into Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton from all three. For local roles, we draw on staff already working in private service on the coast, many of whom we have met through earlier searches.

Searches are led by Antonia Edwards for household and estate roles and by Fırat Bay for office roles. First interviews are by video; principals usually meet finalists at the residence, and we recommend a working trial day for senior household roles where the family's rhythm is unusual.

Discretion in South Florida works differently from London. The communities are small, the properties are visible, and staff talk. We approach candidates individually and we do not use job boards for senior roles.

Compensation in South Florida

Household salaries in Palm Beach County and Miami have caught up with New York for senior roles, and the absence of state personal income tax changes the comparison for candidates relocating from the north-east. Live-in roles are less common than in Europe; accommodation, car and relocation support are the usual additions to base salary. Ranges are set out in the Private Staff Salary Guide and the Family Office Salary Guide.

Employment notes for South Florida

Florida generally follows at-will employment, subject to contractual and statutory protections. It has no state personal income tax, but rules on overtime for domestic workers, I-9 right-to-work verification and payroll tax still apply. Household workers are generally employees when the household can direct both their tasks and how they carry them out; classification and W-2 reporting duties must be checked for the arrangement. Many South Florida households employ staff through the family office entity or an LLC; we advise on which, because it affects insurance, liability on the property and the staff member's benefits. For relocating or foreign candidates, visa status has to be confirmed before offer; we do not run searches that depend on sponsorship unless the family has already decided to sponsor and an eligible visa route is available. Hurricane season needs a written understanding on staff duties and evacuation.

Working with Oplu in South Florida

The first conversation is confidential and usually by video or phone with a Managing Director, followed by a visit to the residence for estate and household briefs. We scope the property, the household's rhythm and the reporting line before the search opens.

Questions we are asked about hiring in South Florida

Most of our staff will be new to Florida. Is that a problem? Not if it is planned. Many of our South Florida placements are relocation candidates, and we check the practical side (housing, schools, a partner's work) before shortlist so a move does not fall through after offer.

Can one person run a Miami residence and a house in the north-east? An experienced Estate Manager can, with a deputy at each property. We scope the properties, the travel calendar and the local teams before deciding whether the brief is one role or two.

Do you recruit for yachts as well as the estate? We recruit shore-based staff and the household staff who travel with a family on board, and we work alongside the yacht's own crew agency for maritime positions.

How quickly can you fill a housekeeper or chef role in Palm Beach? Three to five weeks for a well-defined brief, longer if the role is live-in or needs a specific language. Senior estate roles take eight to twelve weeks.