In ultra high net worth staffing, a standard approach doesn’t work. When you place a professional into the private environment of a home, the stakes run higher than a typical corporate hire.
This person enters your family’s daily life. They see your children’s routines, know your schedule, handle your possessions, move through your private spaces. A poor hiring decision doesn’t just affect productivity. It disrupts the sanctuary of your home.
That’s why Morgan & Mallet (M&M) moved away from off-the-shelf software to build a proprietary Applicant Tracking System designed for private service.
Development started in 2020. Our ATS isn’t just a database. It’s a matching engine that prioritizes the human element of domestic staffing.
Why We Built Our Own
Standard recruitment software is designed for offices, focusing on keywords and technical skills. Our custom system tracks the details that actually make a household run smoothly.
In the early years, we built candidate folders manually on individual laptops, hand-typing information into Word documents, formatting CVs from scratch, storing references in personal files where mistakes crept in and information couldn’t be shared between recruiters.
We tried Bullhorn, a platform designed for enterprise sales departments, and Job Adder, which packed everything into a single scrolling page with UK-centric location fields. Neither could filter for what mattered: live-in availability, domestic couples, pet allergies, boat permits, willingness to travel with principals.
In 2020, we made the decision to build our own. It’s been a significant investment. The system evolves constantly as our business grows and regulations change across markets. But it transformed how we work.
What Makes It Different
The Filters That Matter
Our system tracks HNW and UHNW household-specific requirements that generic platforms ignore.
Household-specific details: We filter for experience with certain floor materials (marble, antique wood), pet allergies, specialized driving requirements like boat licenses or permits for specific vehicle types.
For clients: eliminates candidates who physically can’t perform the role. If you have four dogs, you won’t receive profiles of candidates with severe pet allergies. Shortlists arrive pre-filtered for practical fit.
For candidates: stops wasted interviews for roles you can’t accept. Your time isn’t spent on positions that won’t work due to health limitations or missing certifications.
Travel requirements and visa eligibility: We track willingness to travel, passport nationality, existing work permits, and visa eligibility across regions.
For clients: if you need a French-speaking governess for your estate in Australia who can travel between properties in Dubai, the system identifies candidates already vetted for that exact combination of mobility and background.
For candidates: if you’re a traveling butler comfortable with yacht-based placements, that preference is documented and you’ll be matched to those specific opportunities rather than static household roles.
Soft skills and behavioral observations: Fields exist for discretion level, mindset under pressure, cultural fit, communication style during the interview.
For clients: moves beyond technical qualifications to behaviors that determine whether staff integrate successfully into private households. A housekeeper who stays calm during last-minute dinner parties gets that documented and matched to homes where that trait matters.
For candidates: allows recruiters to advocate for strengths that don’t appear on CVs. Your ability to adapt quickly or maintain composure becomes part of your professional profile.
Regional compliance automation: The system automatically adjusts what information can be requested based on local laws. It restricts birthdates and photos for US candidates to ensure legal compliance, while managing different requirements for UAE or Europe.
For clients: reduces legal risk when hiring internationally. Searches proceed without compliance delays or documentation errors that could derail a placement.
For candidates: protects your privacy according to local law. Your application won’t be rejected for refusing information you’re legally entitled to withhold.
From Interview to Placement: How Recruiters Use the System Daily
The Long Form Interview
When a candidate applies, a recruiter conducts a thorough interview, often around 90 minutes. This isn’t a brief phone screen.
During that conversation, technical skills get verified. A housekeeper applying for luxury roles will be asked to name appropriate cleaning products for specific materials. Can they identify the correct method for Carrara marble versus honed limestone? Do they know which products damage antique wood?
For clients: you receive evidence of competence, not just candidate claims. When a CV lists “luxury housekeeping,” recruiter notes confirm they can actually perform at that level.
For candidates: thorough vetting means clients take your application seriously. You’re not competing against unscreened bulk applicants.
Capturing the Full Picture
Notes get entered in real time. Situational responses are recorded. Personal circumstances are logged: family status, location preferences, salary expectations.
Often candidates undersell their own experience. A housekeeper might mention during conversation that they also handled vendor payments and maintained household inventory. That’s estate management experience. It gets documented. Suddenly they’re eligible for higher-level roles they hadn’t considered.
For clients: hidden skills get surfaced. The candidate who casually mentions coordinating tradespeople and managing property maintenance schedules is actually performing house manager duties, even if their job title was housekeeper.
For candidates: details you mention casually during interview become recorded skills that can open doors months or years later when the perfect role appears.
Standardized CVs
The system generates professional, standardized M&M profiles for every candidate. Clients don’t receive a messy pile of varied formats.
Before the ATS, recruiters spent hours reformatting each CV manually, adding photos, rewriting job descriptions to highlight relevant details, but now the system pulls interview data and produces a uniform profile automatically.
For clients: speeds decision-making. No time wasted interpreting unclear layouts or vague job descriptions. Every CV follows the same professional format with relevant details highlighted.
For candidates: poor CV formatting won’t cost you opportunities. Even if your original resume undersells your experience or uses an outdated template, the M&M version presents you at the level elite households expect.
Reference Checks and Documentation
Reference checks get tracked in the system. Criminal record status is visible. Documents are stored: ID, work certificates, P45/P60.
Sometimes candidates request we don’t contact references immediately, particularly with high-profile employers. The system flags “cannot contact” and the reference check moves to later in the process.
For clients: verification is completed before you see the candidate, or clearly flagged if it’s pending. Reduces hiring risk and speeds final due diligence.
For candidates: references are contacted professionally through a structured process. We also respect timing requests to protect your current employment.
The Global Database Advantage
200,000+ Registered Candidates Worldwide
Our database holds over 200,000 fully registered and vetted candidates. Getting in is selective: for every four applications received, roughly one candidate makes it through to registered status.
For clients: access to a vastly larger talent pool than local agencies can offer. Rare skill combinations become findable.
For candidates: registration in one office makes you visible for roles across the entire network, dramatically increasing placement opportunities without multiple agency applications.
Eight Offices, One System
Once a candidate is in our system, they’re visible to recruiters in London, Paris, Geneva, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Palm Beach, and Dubai.
“Our clients are international but our candidates also,” says Mallet. “You have a lot of traveling butlers, traveling nannies. They can work in France and next time it will be on a yacht based in the Bahamas.”
For clients: fills international positions faster. No need to brief separate agencies in each country.
For candidates: single interview opens opportunities across eight markets without starting the vetting process from scratch with new recruiters.
Real-Time Updates and Complex Filtering
Information updates instantly. When a candidate earns a new certification, changes their availability, or updates salary expectations, every office sees it immediately.
The system handles multi-variable searches that would be nearly impossible manually. Need someone who speaks English and French, holds a driving license, has no pet allergies, and is willing to live-in?
The filters narrow 200,000+ candidates to a targeted shortlist in seconds.
For clients: receives focused matches within hours for complex requirements rather than weeks of manual searching.
For candidates: you won’t be approached for roles that don’t match your actual criteria. The system respects your stated preferences and deal-breakers.
Maintaining Standards as We Grow
As the company has expanded internationally, we’ve built compliance into the system itself. Eric Rios, one of our senior team members, now manages quality control for the ATS.
He audits candidate profiles monthly and checks every placement to ensure folders contain all required elements: references contacted, criminal record completed, necessary certifications uploaded.
For clients: guarantees minimum due diligence is completed before a candidate reaches your consideration. Quality doesn’t vary by office or individual recruiter.
For candidates: fair evaluation process. Every applicant goes through the same verification steps, creating a level playing field where corners aren’t cut.
Learning from Every Placement
The system improves continuously based on difficult cases. When a new scenario appears (a remote island placement, a specific allergy requirement, a rare certification needed), we add filters to track it. After 11 years of placements, the database reflects thousands of real-world scenarios.
For clients: the system evolves to match increasingly specialized needs. Today’s unusual request becomes tomorrow’s standard searchable filter.
For candidates: unusual skills or circumstances don’t disqualify you. If you have a rare certification or non-traditional availability pattern, the system adapts to track and surface it.
The Three-Month Guarantee
M&M offers a three-month guarantee on placements. If a placement fails during that period, the company provides a replacement at no additional fee.
That guarantee requires regular follow-up. Recruiters check in at 10 days, then periodically throughout the first three months. Currently managed through the CRM, the next development phase will make these checkpoints mandatory within the system.
For clients: structured support during the critical settling-in period. Issues can be raised through an established channel before they escalate.
For candidates: you’re not left to navigate the first weeks alone. Regular check-ins provide an opportunity to address concerns or request support while you’re learning the household’s rhythms.
What’s Coming Next
We’re developing new AI-powered features:
- Automatic resume translation for international clients (French principals reviewing English CVs, Dubai families reading French applications)
- Audio-to-text interview notes capturing recruiter impressions immediately after interviews while observations are fresh
- Video training modules for new recruiters, allowing them to learn at their own pace across time zones rather than requiring live training sessions
For clients: removes language barriers, preserves subtle candidate observations, enables faster recruiter onboarding for quicker response times.
For candidates: language skills become less limiting, interview performance gets documented comprehensively, you interact with better-trained recruiters.
What This System Means for You
For Candidates
- Your profile reaches eight offices, not one.
- Recruiter notes reveal skills you undersell.
- Standardized CVs present you professionally to elite households.
- Global mobility increases your options.
For Clients
- Faster shortlists from precise filtering.
- Verified documentation already collected.
- Consistent standards across offices.
- Access to global talent for international properties.
ATS Features at a Glance
| Feature | Benefit for Clients | Benefit for Candidates |
|---|---|---|
| Household-specific filters (allergies, floor materials, boat permits). | Eliminates physically incompatible candidates. Shortlists arrive pre-filtered for practical fit. | Prevents wasted interviews for roles you can’t accept due to health or certification gaps. |
| Domestic couple and children tracking. | Avoids logistical mismatches. Accommodation constraints addressed at filtering stage. | Only approached for positions where living arrangements work for your family situation. |
| Travel and visa eligibility tracking. | Finds candidates already vetted for international mobility and specific country combinations. | Traveling butler or yacht-based preferences get documented and matched to those specific opportunities. |
| Soft skills and behavioral observations. | Surfaces behaviors predicting household integration. Reduces turnover from personality mismatches. | Advocates for strengths beyond CVs. Composure under pressure becomes part of professional profile. |
| Regional compliance automation. | Reduces legal risk in international hiring. No documentation errors delaying placements. | Protects privacy according to local law. Won’t be rejected for withholding legally protected information. |
| 90-minute structured interview with skills verification. | Receives evidence of competence, not unverified claims. Technical skills tested during interview. | Thorough vetting signals to principals you’re a serious candidate competing against other screened professionals. |
| Detailed recruiter notes beyond resume. | Surfaces hidden skills. Candidate who mentions coordinating tradespeople is actually performing house manager duties. | Casual mentions during interview become recorded experience opening higher-level roles. |
| Standardized CV generation. | Speeds decision-making. Uniform format. | Poor CV formatting won’t cost opportunities. Presented at level elite households expect. |
| Reference and criminal record tracking. | Verification completed before candidate presentation. Reduces hiring risk. | References contacted professionally through structured process. |
| Document storage (ID, certificates, P45/P60). | All required documents accessible in one location. | Upload once, use for multiple applications. |
| 200,000+ registered candidate database. | Access to vastly larger talent pool. Rare skill combinations become findable. | Registration makes you visible for roles you wouldn’t discover through individual job board searching. |
| Eight-office global visibility. | Fills international positions faster. | Single interview opens opportunities across global markets. |
| Real-time cross-office updates. | Sees immediately when candidate becomes available or updates credentials. | Profile updates reach all offices instantly, maximizing responsiveness. |
| Multi-variable precision searches. | Receives targeted shortlist within hours for complex requirements. | Won’t be approached for mismatched roles. System respects stated preferences. |
| Quality manager oversight. | Consistent vetting standards regardless of recruiter or office. | Fair evaluation process. Every applicant goes through same verification. |
| Mandatory verification checkpoints. | Guarantees minimum due diligence before candidate presentation. | Process integrity maintained. Not competing against unvetted candidates. |
| Continuous filter additions from real cases. | System evolves to match increasingly specialized needs. | Unusual skills or circumstances don’t disqualify you. Rare certifications get tracked. |
| 11 years of accumulated placement learning. | Matching logic incorporates patterns from thousands of placements. | Profile captures more dimensions of background. Career gaps can be contextualized. |
| Three-month guarantee with systematic follow-up. | Structured support during critical settling-in period. | Not left to navigate first weeks alone. Regular check-ins provide opportunity to request support. |
| AI resume translation (in development). | Removes language barriers when considering candidates from other regions. | Language skills become less limiting. |
| AI audio-to-text interview notes (in development). | Receives recruiter’s unfiltered first impressions while memory fresh. | Interview performance captured comprehensively. |
Specialized Tech Designed for Lasting Relationship Growth
Private household staffing needs specialized tools. We built our system because nothing else worked.
The result is faster placements, better documentation, and consistent quality across eight international offices.
For clients, this means less time sorting through unsuitable candidates and more confidence that professionals have been thoroughly vetted for your specific needs.
For candidates, it means your profile reaches a global network, your skills are documented comprehensively, and you’re matched to roles where you’ll actually succeed.
Interested in working with Morgan & Mallet? Clients can reach our team through our global offices in London, Paris, Geneva, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Palm Beach, and Dubai. Candidates can register through our website to begin the vetting process and gain access to our international placement network.
Discretion is the invisible thread that keeps a luxury household running smoothly.
Whether you are a principal looking to protect your family’s privacy or a candidate aiming for the world’s most prestigious roles, remember: silence isn’t just golden. It’s professional.
