Executive Housekeeper Job Description

What Does an Executive Housekeeper Do?

By mid-morning the front desk wants to know which rooms are clean, and the executive housekeeper has the answer. Executive housekeepers set the cleaning standards and shift schedules for room attendants, custodians and laundry staff in hotels, resorts, hospitals and large campus buildings, then inspect rooms before guests arrive. On some university campuses the title is center housekeeper.

Also known as: Center Housekeeper, Assistant Center Housekeeper

Executive Housekeeper Duties and Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of an executive housekeeper include:

• Set cleaning standards and checklists for guest rooms, public areas and back-of-house spaces.
• Schedule room attendants, custodians and laundry staff to match occupancy and event bookings.
• Inspect rooms, restrooms and meeting spaces and send items back for recleaning.
• Order linens, cleaning chemicals and guest amenities within the department budget.
• Train staff on chemical safety, bloodborne pathogen rules and correct equipment use.
• Coordinate with the front desk so clean rooms are released quickly for arriving guests.
• Report maintenance problems such as leaks, broken fixtures and pest sightings to engineering.
• Manage lost and found items and keep records of how each one was returned.
• Interview, hire and evaluate housekeeping staff and handle attendance and conduct issues.
• Plan deep cleaning and floor care projects around slow seasons and building closures.

Required Skills and Qualifications

To succeed as an executive housekeeper, you will need the following skills and qualifications:

• Scheduling and labor cost control
• Inspection standards for rooms and public areas
• Safe handling of cleaning chemicals under OSHA rules
• Hotel property management systems such as Oracle Opera
• Inventory control for linens and supplies
• Leading large teams across several shifts
• Fair, consistent handling of attendance and conduct issues
• An eye for detail on every walkthrough

Education and Training

The usual path runs from room attendant to housekeeping supervisor to assistant executive housekeeper. A high school diploma is the typical minimum, according to BLS, and courses in hospitality are a plus. Later moves include running housekeeping at a larger property or managing a hotel's rooms division.

Salary and Job Outlook

Employment of housekeeping and janitorial supervisors, the wider group that includes executive housekeepers, should grow about 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, according to BLS projections. Openings across that group should run to roughly 30,800 a year. Pay figures cover the whole supervisor group, so an executive housekeeper at a large hotel or hospital may earn toward the top of the range. Running a large team well is what sets candidates apart.

Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, First-line supervisors of housekeeping and janitorial workers.