Last updated:
Morgan & Mallet, a luxury household staffing agency, places vetted private nannies with high-net-worth families across the US.
Hiring a private nanny for a high-net-worth household isn’t the same as hiring through an app or a friend’s referral.
You need someone who’s worked in homes like yours, can run a full day on their own, knows how to fit in alongside other staff, and is comfortable signing an NDA before they meet your children.
We have 3,854 nannies in our network and offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.
The business was founded in 2015 by Laurine Mallet, a former private nanny who worked for high-net-worth families, and Morgan Richez, a former butler and chauffeur.
We staff nationwide. For most US searches, we’ll have three to five candidates ready to meet you within two to three weeks, with paid trial days arranged before you commit.
When you hire through us, we cover you with our three-month replacement guarantee, and we have a 96% placement success rate for nannies.
Contact us today to hire a nanny.
Source: Morgan & Mallet candidate database, people with a nanny job in their work history, June 2026; placement success rate from our 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report. How we count
Why use a Nanny Agency?
A nanny agency like Morgan & Mallet has a database of thousands of qualified, experienced nannies that we have handpicked to work with us.
We shortlist candidates based on what you tell us you actually need from a nanny.
If you advertise yourself, you will have a lot of sorting through applications to do.
Since 2022, the nanny, governess and nanny-housekeeper jobs in the US we’ve recruited for families have had more than 3,600 applications, about 32 for each nanny advert.
By hiring us, one of the things we take off your hands is that sorting, and we accept about 1 in 4 applicants.
We do full background checks, 90-minute interviews and offer a replacement guarantee.
If you decide to hire a nanny on your own, there’s no back-up if your nanny pulls out. Morgan Richez hears from these families most in September:
“We face many requests for the nanny, because some people, they found some nanny by themsel[ves], but at the last minute the nanny didn’t show up … and they need to replace the nanny. And this is a big panic.”
Our network has taken many years to build, finding the level of candidate we have access to yourself is not easy.
Source: Morgan & Mallet job ads, US nanny, governess and nanny-housekeeper jobs, August 2022 to June 2026, with 3,612 applications. How we count
Do You Need a Nanny, a Governess, or a Maternity Nurse?
It depends on the age of your children and what you actually need them to do every day.
Many families who call us end up needing to hire a governess or newborn care specialist instead. We go through all that on the first call.
If you need a governess, the chances are it will be a longer search. In the US, our governess adverts have had about half as many applicants as our nanny adverts.
Most families who brief us for a nanny have young children.
Nearly two in three of our US nanny briefs (64%) have a child under four, and about 1 in 4 include a baby under one, or more on the way.
Most commonly our briefs are for a nanny to work with two children (44%), just over a third are for one child, and roughly 1 in 5 are for three or more.
Most families who hire a nanny through us want a permanent, full-time nanny. That was 91% of our searches in the US since 2022. We’ve also done part-time, summer and short newborn searches, but they’re more unusual for us.
Full daily care for children, usually from early years to around 12. Routine, meals, school runs, activities, homework, bath, bed.
Where US families are clear about a living arrangement on their nanny job brief for us, just over half ask for a live-in nanny, about 3 in 10 ask for live-out, and the rest would accept either.
So about 7 in 10 families offer live-in accommodation.
A teacher and carer for school-age children, normally 5 to 12.
Tutoring, supervised study, language teaching, etiquette, prep for top schools.
Our network includes 534 governesses, with an average age of 44, and 25 different nationalities.
Newborn specialist for the first 8 to 12 weeks after birth.
Sleep training, feeding routines, helping the mother recover, and twin care if needed.
Often live-in, sometimes around the clock.
If you’ve got an older child plus a newborn, you’ll usually need to hire for two roles.
Morgan Richez, our co-founder on why we ask for full briefs upfront:
“I’m going to ask some question[s] about your children. For example, if you got a boy: this is a very active boy, this is [a] very shy boy, does he face some issue[s] at school?”
“Many question[s], because we need to know the personality of your children. If you choose a nanny, we need to find a nanny who knows how to handle the character of your children.”
Source: Morgan & Mallet job briefs, US nanny, governess and nanny-housekeeper searches, August 2022 to June 2026; and our candidate database, June 2026. How we count
How Does our Nanny Placement Process Work?
For most searches, you’ll have candidates to meet within two to three weeks of your first call. Searches for newborn specialists, traveling nannies with unusual languages, or special needs roles can take eight to twelve weeks.
When you call, a recruiter spends around an hour on the phone. We ask about your children’s ages, personalities, schools, dietary needs and many other things so we can get a clear picture of what you actually need.
We discuss whether you need a live-in nanny or someone who only visits when their shifts start.
If you can offer accommodation, it gives you more choice of nanny. In our searches in the US, live-in jobs had more than twice as many applicants per advert as live-out ones.
Families in Florida who hire through us ask for live-in nannies the most. Nearly 9 in 10 of our requests from clients are for a live-in nanny in the state.
We will probably ask a few awkward questions too.
We once placed a nanny with a family who hadn’t told us their child was autistic, worried it would scare candidates off.
The nanny realized straight away, so it’s important to tell us as much as you can about the role at the beginning.
How we find your shortlist
We then search the 3,854 nannies in our network. Across all roles, we have more than 50,300 vetted candidates.
We built our own applicant tracking system in 2020 so we could filter our database to find the right candidate for each role.
We filter our searches by things like
- live-in availability,
- ability to travel,
- language combinations,
- special needs experience,
- pet allergies,
- and visa eligibility.
All of our offices use the same system too, so if you’re looking to recruit from another part of the country or our overseas offices, it makes it very easy.
We can place staff wherever your family lives: our nanny searches in the US since 2022 have covered 18 states and Washington, DC.
More than half were in Florida, California and New York, and others were in Aspen, Cape Cod, Montana, Hawaii and the Oregon coast.
The nannies in our network are from 54 nationalities, mostly French, Filipino, British and American. The average age of nannies in our network is about 40.
Candidate vetting
When you hire a nanny with Morgan & Mallet, every candidate we present to you has been through a 90-minute structured interview with one of our recruiters, criminal background screening and verified employment history.
You will normally be given three candidates, sometimes one if we think we’ve found the perfect match.
We also organize paid trial days so you can see how each one works in your home, with your kids.
Source: Morgan & Mallet candidate database, June 2026; and our job ads, US nanny searches, August 2022 to June 2026. How we count
What Does a Private Nanny Actually Do in a UHNW Household?
In high-net-worth households a nanny works with tutors, drivers, housekeepers, and chefs.
They can run playdates and after-school activities, pack the kids for travel, keep their wardrobe and rooms in order, and keep an eye on their development.
If you’ve got other staff in the home, your nanny needs to know how to work with them.
Laurine Mallet, who worked for years as a private nanny before founding the agency:
“When I was a nanny, I’d say to the housekeeper, ‘The little one had an accident in her bed, would you mind changing it for me while I take her to painting class?’
And the next day, ‘Don’t clean the kitchen, I’m going to cook for the little ones, I’ll clean up myself afterwards.’
You need to think cooperatively, otherwise you’re going to have a lot of conflicts.”
For high-net-worth placements, discretion is part of the job. Laurine on her own approach to gossip as a nanny:
“Every time, I said, ‘It’s not my business. I don’t want to know anything about it.’ Because obviously my boss would like me to answer this way. I completely don’t care about my boss’s life. It won’t change mine.”
More than a third of the nanny briefs we work on in the US ask for homework help (35%), tutoring, or other academic help and about a third include school runs.
Being discreet is very important for any nanny role we work on. Discretion or confidentiality has been written into around half of the job briefs we have worked on in the past.
But for most roles it’s just taken as standard that the nanny will be discreet.
For a full breakdown of a typical nanny role see our private nanny job description.
Source: Morgan & Mallet job briefs, US nanny, governess and nanny-housekeeper searches, August 2022 to June 2026. How we count
What US families put in the nanny brief
These are the most common requirements that our clients want to put in their brief for a nanny role.
| Briefs that mention | Share of briefs |
|---|---|
| The children's meals or snacks | 78% |
| The children's laundry, bedrooms or play areas | 73% |
| Travel with the family, at least occasionally | 71% |
| Discretion or confidentiality | 49% |
| Driving the children, or a driver's license | 49% |
| Some evening, night or weekend work | 44% |
| A second language | 36% |
| Working alongside other household staff | 35% |
| CPR and first aid certification | 35% |
| Homework help or tutoring | 35% |
| A background in early childhood education | 29% |
| Existing authorization to work in the US | 28% |
Source: Morgan & Mallet job briefs, US nanny, governess and nanny-housekeeper searches, August 2022 to June 2026. How we count
How Do You Know You're Hiring the Right Nanny?
Laurine Mallet on the most common agency mistake:
“An agency can make the big mistake of not checking all the references, or just checking once and saying it’s fine, while maybe the two previous ones are really bad.”
We do reference checks differently to this. We make at least one reference call, and up to three, with previous employers, by phone.
For candidates who had only one long placement before, we go further back and check non-childcare references if they have them.
If you check references yourself, remember that even a really glowing one can have problems. Morgan Richez gives this example:
“For example, I am a family and I employ a nanny, and this nanny, she’s still working for me … I really want her to leave the family because I am not happy.
“But I can’t fire the nanny because she’s with a French contract.”
“When an agency will contact me as a previous employer and say, okay, can you tell me more about this nanny? I’m going to say, yes, she’s really good, please employ her.”
That’s why, before we introduce anyone to you, we speak to more than one family the nanny has worked with before, when the candidate has had more than one job.
We test discretion a lot in interviews. Laurine says she is always trying to test how discreet someone really is with her interview questions. She asks something too personal, then sees what the response is.
Laurine on what we listen for:
“I want to know their life from the beginning. I ask, ‘Can you explain your education? What kind of hobbies do you have? What was your first job, even if it’s not in household staff?’
“The whole journey tells you a lot about the person.”
What should you ask a nanny in an interview?
When you interview a nanny, ask for real examples from jobs that are like the one you are hiring for. Ask how they managed the hardest days with children the same age as yours, and why each job ended.
You will get some real insight from those answers.
Every nanny we shortlist has already answered questions like these in our 90-minute structured interview, so these are the ones it’s good to ask again when you meet your shortlist.
Our interview questions come from Laurine Mallet‘s years as a nanny. Morgan Richez:
“She influenced a lot about the child recruitment, because she’s an expert [in] child care management…
“First of all, what kind of question and exercise and situation you need to do during an interview.”
Four of them, and why they are important to your family:
“When did you look after children like ours?”
Match the ages and the situation to your family.
For a family that has twins, Laurine asks: “Can you please tell us in which experience did you work with twins? … What was the most difficult situation you faced with twins, and how did you manage it?”
“Why did each job end?”
Nannies in our network have stayed for about two years in each nanny job on average, so when they have had lots of shorter jobs it is worth asking them about it.
If you want someone for the long term, make it clear that you do. About 1 in 4 of the families who brief us in the US ask for a long-term nanny who will stay with the family.
“What did a normal day look like?”
We find that good nannies quite often undersell what they do every day, so ask them to tell you about a normal day, from when they get up to when they go to bed.
“What would you need from us?”
A good candidate will be very keen to know about your routine and what you expect of them, so leave time for their questions too.
An experienced nanny will be checking if you are the right fit for them too.
After your interviews, we will arrange a paid trial day in your home, which often shows you a lot more about the nanny.
Source: Morgan & Mallet candidate database, nannies’ work histories, June 2026; and our job briefs, US nanny searches, August 2022 to June 2026. How we count
Does a professional nanny need a certification?
Not normally, apart from first aid. When families hire a nanny with us, they ask for experience first. When they want a minimum number of years, three in four ask for five years or more.
CPR and first aid are the certificates families ask for most of the time, but only about 1 in 8 of our briefs makes them a must.
The rest list them as preferred, or as something the nanny can get before starting.
We’d still ask for first aid. Morgan Richez:
“When it comes to a diploma, the kind of thing, the first [aid] is a must. And after, the experience.
“This is the most important: at least five or 10 years[‘] experience as a nanny.”
Other qualifications come up not so often in the briefs families give us, and are almost never required:
- Training in early childhood education: nearly always “preferred”.
- A college degree: in 13% of briefs, mostly for a governess, and required only once.
- Montessori or Waldorf training: a handful of briefs, never required.
- A Norland-trained nanny: asked for in one brief, as a plus.
Laurine Mallet hears the same from families:
“Most of the time, [the] most important for them [is] the soft skills, etiquette, attitude, much more than certificate[s].”
When you hire a full-time nanny with us, we will check every candidate’s CPR and first aid certification and verify five to seven years of their employment history before you meet them.
Source: Morgan & Mallet job briefs, US nanny, governess and nanny-housekeeper searches, August 2022 to June 2026. How we count
What Should You Budget for a Nanny?
When you hire a nanny with us, it’s best to plan for $60,000 to $120,000 a year, or $70,000 to $150,000 for a traveling nanny.
That’s the normal range in the private households we recruit for, according to Morgan & Mallet’s 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report.
If you’d rather pay by the hour, expect $30 to $45. That’s what most of our nanny adverts in the US offered when they had an hourly rate.
Morgan Richez tells families not to save money in the wrong place:
“Sometimes [it’s] better to get the best nanny, even if she ask[s] for more money, because … this is the most important thing in your life.”
For a full breakdown by type and city, see our guide to how much a nanny costs.
Source: our 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report; and the pay in Morgan & Mallet US nanny job ads, August 2022 to June 2026. How we count
What About the Legal Side?
The state regulations vary a lot.
| Where | What applies |
|---|---|
| Federal | Federally, private nannies are W-2 employees, which means FICA, FUTA, and a Schedule H at year end. |
| New York | New York's Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights covers overtime and days off. |
| California | California's AB 241 sets overtime for most nannies after 9 hours a day or 45 hours a week. |
| Illinois | Illinois has had its own Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights since 2017. |
If you want to pay your nanny through your company, read our guide to paying household staff through a business first.
We connect you with employment lawyers in every state where you’re hiring. We also deal with international payroll if your nanny travels with you to homes in London, Paris, Geneva, or Dubai.
Most local agencies can’t run domestic payroll across multiple countries. We can because we are an international agency.
What Happens If Something Goes Wrong?
We see how it’s all going after 10 days, then again throughout the first three months. We find that most placements that don’t seem to be working at the beginning are actually fine and it’s normally some kind of miscommunication.
Morgan Richez, co-founder of Morgan & Mallet, on why being clear early on matters:
“When you say everything to the candidate at the beginning, the good things and the bad things, you can make sure that when he gets the job, he’s going to stay for a long time. He knew everything.
“He can’t say, ‘I didn’t know about this.’ If you try to hide something, maybe the candidate won’t appreciate it after one month and he’s going to resign.”
You get a three-month replacement guarantee. If it doesn’t work out, we replace at no extra cost.
If the same problem is there again with a second nanny, we’ll be honest with you about it. Morgan:
“If I send a candidate and she get[s] fired, and then I send a second one and maybe a third one, and every time I hear about the same feedback, I’m going to talk to the client and say:
“There is an issue with your children. I’m sorry to say that.”
When the match is right, nanny placements last.
Laurine remembers a nanny who stayed with one family for 14 years. When the children were 13 and 14, the family kept her on while she looked for her next job, because they didn’t want to rush her.
We then placed her with a new family.
What Other Types of Nanny Roles Do You Place?
Traveling nanny
Travels with the family, in the US or abroad. 141 nannies in our network have actually worked as traveling nannies. Read more about the role on our travel nanny page.
Rota nanny
Often two weeks on, two weeks off. They share the shift with a second nanny so the kids always have someone they know, and each nanny gets time off. 101 nannies in our network have actual rota experience.
See our page about hiring a rota nanny.
Bilingual nanny
A bilingual nanny is a native speaker of one language, fluent in another, and uses both languages with the children every day so they grow up bilingual.
More than a quarter of the nanny briefs we have worked on ask for a second language, usually not as an absolute requirement, but as a plus.
French and Spanish are the most requested, both are in 1 in 6 briefs. Mandarin is coming up more and more in our recruiters’ calls with clients.
The nannies in our network speak more than 40 languages, most often English, French and Spanish.
Newborn care specialist
Families often hire a newborn care specialist to help with the first weeks after a baby is born. The role is in charge of feeding and sleep, and gets the baby into a routine that works for the household.
Celebrity and UHNW nanny
Full NDAs before the first interview. No social media, no photos of the children. Laurine on principal NDAs: “When you’ve got an NDA, it means a very important person. Usually they’ve got their own legal team to draft it.
“We make sure the staff understand what they’re signing.”
Special needs nanny
For children with autism, ADHD, learning differences, or medical needs. A special needs nanny needs specialist training and proven experience.
Night nurse
A night nurse does overnight care so the parents can sleep. Common from birth through 18 months, often paired with a day nanny.
Norland nanny
Families who hire a Norland trained nanny want a nanny that is trained at the well respected Norland College in Bath, England. It gives families the reassurance that their nanny has strong qualifications and practical experience.
Source: Morgan & Mallet candidate database, June 2026; and our job briefs, US nanny searches, August 2022 to June 2026. How we count
Nanny Hiring Resources
Some of our most useful resources around hiring a nanny are below to help you make more informed hiring decisions.
Nanny salary guide→ US pay ranges by type, city, experience and certification. Plus the total cost to a family.
Private nanny job description→ An example of a nanny job description and what it should cover.
Live-in nanny→ Read more about what a live-in nanny does and why that could be the right choice for you.
Travel nanny→ Travel nannies are popular for families who move around a lot, read more about how to hire one here.
Rota nanny→ Nannies that share shifts, learn more about the role on this page.
Bilingual nanny→ A nanny that helps your child become immersed in another language every day.
Norland trained nanny→ These nannies are trained in England at the Norland College, respected for its training.
Newborn care specialist→ Specialist help from a trained newborn carer when a baby is first born.
Night nurse→ Someone who looks after a newborn during the night to give the parents rest.
Private nanny job description
A private nanny looks after children in a private household. The role covers everything from morning waking and feeding to bedtime, with playtime, outings, and rest in between.
This is an example of a job description we would write for a high-net-worth family hiring a full-time, live-in private nanny for two young children, based in Los Angeles.
Example of a private nanny job description
About the family
A high-net-worth family is hiring a private nanny for their two children, aged 2 and 5. The five-year-old started kindergarten this year, so the role covers the school day for the older child and full-time care for the younger one.
Both parents work, and the nanny will often be fully in charge during weekdays.
The role is full-time and live-in. The household has a housekeeper but no other childcare staff.
Responsibilities
Daily care and routine
- Manage the children’s daily care, including feeding, dressing, bathing, and bedtime
- Do the school run for the older child and plan the day at home for the younger one
- Plan and lead age-appropriate play, learning activities, and outings
- Keep the children’s rooms tidy and their clothes washed and put away
- Cook healthy meals and snacks following the parents’ dietary choices
Health, safety, and development
- Watch for changes in mood, behavior, sleep, or eating, and flag them to the parents early
- Manage doctor and dentist appointments and follow through on any medical advice
- Hold the boundaries and routines the parents have set
- Keep the children safe at home, on outings, and around water (the home has a pool)
Family coordination
- Work alongside the housekeeper well
- Talk to both parents about the day’s events, the children’s mood, and anything worth knowing
- Support the family during travel: packing for the children, helping them adjust to time zones, keeping routines as consistent as possible
Requirements
Essential
- Minimum 5 years as a private nanny in HNW households, or equivalent experience in early years education with private families
- Verifiable references from previous private families
- Up-to-date pediatric first aid and CPR
- Background check clearance
- Strong swimmer and comfortable around water
- Comfortable traveling internationally with the family for several weeks at a time
Personal qualities
- Warm, patient, and genuinely good with young children
- Discreet about what happens inside the family: what the children say, what the parents discuss, anything seen at home stays at home
- Energetic enough to keep up with a 2-year-old, calm enough to settle a 5-year-old at bedtime
- Comfortable with sole charge and able to make confident decisions when the parents aren’t around
- Fluent English; a second language a strong plus, particularly French or Spanish
Work conditions
- Full-time, live-in (private bedroom and bathroom in the home in LA)
- Five days per week
- Travel with the family on most trips, with travel pay during overseas stays
- Health insurance, paid vacation, and use of a family vehicle for school runs
- Salary based on experience
This job description was reviewed by Laurine Mallet, co-founder of Morgan & Mallet, who worked as a private nanny before founding the agency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Call us on +1 (646) 965-2308 or tell us about your family and a recruiter will get back to you.
How long does it take to hire a nanny?
Two to three weeks to have candidates ready to meet, for most searches. Specialist searches like newborn specialists, traveling nannies with rare language combinations, or special needs roles can take eight to twelve.
What background checks do you run on nannies?
90-minute structured interviews, at least one reference call, and up to three, with previous employers, criminal background screening, five to seven years of verified employment history, pediatric first aid and CPR certification check, and right-to-work documentation.
Should I hire a nanny through an agency or privately?
Privately is cheaper upfront. It’s also where most of the bad placements happen.
The most common issues we see from families who tried alone are wrong tax classification (1099 instead of W-2), no contract, no NDA, no replacement plan, and references that didn’t actually get checked.
Do nannies do housework?
3 in 4 US nanny briefs that we take on ask for the nanny to prepare the children’s meals or snacks. Fewer than 1 in 5 also ask for meals for the family.
Asking for general housekeeping isn’t normal and that would be for a nanny-housekeeper role. 967 nannies in our network have also worked as housekeepers.
Live-in or live-out?
About 3 in 10 of our US nanny briefs are live-out. Live-in suits families with lots of travel, large estates, or kids who need a nanny on duty outside normal working hours.
Where the briefs we work on set the working week, five days is normal.
Just under half ask for some evening, night or weekend work, from occasional flexibility to roles that are focused on the weekends.
Can the same nanny work across multiple homes?
About 7 in 10 of the nanny briefs we work on in the US ask the nanny to travel with the family, at least on occasion, and about 4 in 10 need their nanny to travel internationally.
1 in 5 asks the nanny to move between two or more family homes, for example Puerto Rico and Greenwich, or Connecticut, New York and Miami Beach.
What if I need staff in other countries too?
The same recruiter deals with everything. Morgan & Mallet has offices globally.
All offices use the same applicant tracking system, so a candidate interviewed in Paris can be seen by recruiters in New York almost straight away.
Do you place nannies outside major US cities?
Yes. We place in the Hamptons, Greenwich, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Aspen, Jackson Hole, Scottsdale, the Berkshires, and anywhere else our clients have homes.
Rural and remote searches take longer because the strongest candidates are based in major cities.
Morgan Richez: “The best candidates are in New York, Miami, or Los Angeles. If you’re looking for someone in the middle of the country, it’s about opportunities, not the candidates themselves.”
Do you handle NDAs?
Yes. Every Morgan & Mallet contract includes an NDA between the candidate and the agency.
If your family has its own NDA, the candidate signs that too.
Most UHNW placements involve two layers of confidentiality, and we make sure the candidate understands what they’re signing.
Are the nannies you place legally able to work in the US?
Yes. Every candidate we present has documented right to work in the US. We don’t place undocumented workers.
If you want to bring an international nanny over, we can help you set up the visa side, but it adds time and cost.
Source: Morgan & Mallet job briefs, US nanny, governess and nanny-housekeeper searches, August 2022 to June 2026. How we count
Call us on +1 (646) 965-2308 or tell us about your family and a recruiter will get back to you.
Get in touch to hire a nanny
Call Morgan & Mallet on +1 (646) 965-2308 or get in touch online.
New York
office address
260 Madison Avenue, 8th floor, 10016, New York, NY - United States
phone
+1 (646)965-2308
opening hours
Monday - Thursday : 9AM - 6PM
Friday : 9AM - 5PM
Saturday & Sunday : Closed
Miami
office address
1221 Brickell Ave Brickell, Miami, FL 33131, United States
phone
+1 305 710 3380
opening hours
Monday - Thursday : 9AM - 6PM
Friday : 9AM - 5PM
Saturday & Sunday : Closed
Los Angeles
office address
895 Dove St, Newport Beach, CA 92660, United States
phone
+1 305 710 3380
opening hours
Monday - Thursday : 9AM - 6PM
Friday : 9AM - 5PM
Saturday & Sunday : Closed