Manny VaraHousehold Head of IT

The household's technology,in safe hands.

I'm Manny Vara, part of the household team a few days a month. I help with the family's technology, coordinate the household's suppliers, and make the family's money, privacy and homes safer.

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I'm Manny Vara.

I've spent my career where money, security and regulation meet. As a co-founder of ekko, a fintech, I run operations across the UK, South Africa and the US, and I took the company through ISO 27001 certification and a SOC 2 audit with no non-conformities.

Now I bring the same discipline into private households: quietly, as part of the team, about three days a month.

  • Banking background at Lloyds Banking Group and Metro Bank, where confidentiality isn't optional
  • Advisory Board member at De Montfort University
  • I build AI tools and automations myself, so I know what's safe for a household to use

The role

Household Head of IT, part-time
Through
A services agreement, with employment status checked for each household
Time
A day and a half or three days a month, at your homes and office and remotely
Response
Every request acknowledged by the next working day; urgent ones by phone when I'm free
Reports to
The principal, the estate or house manager, or the Head of Office
First step
A Home Technology Check, booked separately, then a written 90-day plan
Fee
A monthly fee agreed with each household, based on its homes, staff and time needed
Terms
The first 90 days on 30 days' notice, then month to month on the same notice
Vetting
Basic DBS check, references, and an NDA before we meet
Availability
Three households at most

Room by room, what I look after.

Every household runs differently, but its technology lives in the same places.

A floor plan of a house, with each room linked to what I look after there

  1. The front door and gate

    Who can open what: gate apps, door codes, alarms and cameras. When someone leaves, their access is removed: two working days' notice for planned leavers, and for urgent ones your supplier or administrator acts at once, and I check it's done during my working hours. Once a year I check what can be found about the family and the homes online, and what can be removed.

  2. The hall

    A one-page "who to call" plan for a hacked account, a lost phone or a suspicious payment request, practised once a year with the people who'd have to use it.

  3. The study

    The IT company, the installer, and the subscriptions and contracts in our agreement, kept in order: chased when they slip, reviewed every quarter, and checked so nothing is paid for twice. Sensible rules for what the staff put into AI tools, too.

  4. The drawing room

    A simple family rule for checking any payment request, a code word against cloned voices, and extra care whenever a house is bought or sold.

  5. The kitchen table

    Everyone's phones, laptops and accounts: checked for updates, backups and two-step login, and booked in by urgency when something stops working.

  6. The children's rooms

    Children's devices set up safely, always with a parent present, a plain briefing for parents on the risks online, and a proper handover when they leave for university.

  7. The comms cupboard

    The Wi-Fi, cameras and smart-home systems: I check that the family owns every admin account, that former installers no longer have access, and that the cameras are kept apart from the family's laptops, and record what the supplier needs to change.

  8. The annexe

    Grandparents, or a grown-up child's flat, as a smaller add-on with its own agreement: remote first, three hours a month. Older relatives can benefit from help spotting scams.

Part of the team, not over it.

I answer to the family, usually day to day through the estate or house manager, the PA or the Head of Office. I fix everyday things myself, within the time we've agreed, and coordinate the suppliers and specialists named in our agreement.

The familyThe principal and spouse
Estate or house managerPA, or Head of Office
Household Head of ITEveryday help, suppliers, security, privacy
IT companyOffice systems and backups
Home installerWi-Fi, CCTV and AV
SpecialistsFound when they're needed
Insurer and bankOut-of-hours lines
  • Out of hours. I work business hours. I set up and check the out-of-hours plan: who to call, when each one answers, and what isn't covered.
  • Engineering. The IT company and installer keep the systems they're contracted for.
  • Specialists. Security testing, forensics or legal help, found by me and contracted by the family directly.
  • Selling. I sell nothing and take no commissions; everything is bought at the supplier's price.

The year in the household.

Every month

Records kept up to date, access checked, suppliers chased, and a short note to you.

Every quarter

A sit-down with you: how each supplier is doing, and what's coming up.

Every year

Budget and policies reviewed, a fresh privacy check, and a "what if" rehearsal with the people who'd need to act.

When things change

New staff, a leaver or a child off to university, handled within the monthly time. A new home or a build, a separation, or planning ahead for the family's digital legacy, as separate projects, scoped and priced first.

Joining a household.

It's a careful process, and it should be.

  1. An introduction

    Usually through the agency that places your staff, or through your own advisers.

  2. Meeting you

    An NDA first, then a meeting at the home or office about how the household runs and what's on your mind.

  3. The Check

    A Home Technology Check, booked separately. Its findings become a written 90-day plan, then I set up the records and letters to your suppliers. I never need your passwords.

  4. Day to day

    Booked help within the monthly allowance, urgent issues triaged first, the suppliers named in our agreement coordinated, and a steady routine through the year.

The Check looks at eight areas, with the technical checks drawing on the five controls in the NCSC's Cyber Essentials (this isn't certification): the family's devices, accounts, money and payments, homes and networks, people and access, privacy, suppliers and office IT, and what happens when things go wrong. You get a plain-English picture of where things stand, the fixes and who is doing each one, a family payment rule, a "who to call" plan and an AI policy for the staff.

Discretion.

  • An NDA before anything else, and I never name a family I work for.
  • Least access. Where I need admin access, it's my own named account, kept in your password manager and removed when I leave. I never hold your master passwords.
  • Privacy work agreed in advance. You decide who and what is in scope. Working notes are deleted once it's done; only the records you'd need later, such as approvals and reports, are kept for a set period.
  • Safeguarding. With children's devices a parent is always present, and I never contact a child directly.
  • I answer to the family. No partners or preferred suppliers, no commissions, no markup on anyone's work.
  • Checked. A basic DBS check, which you're welcome to see.
  • A proper handover. If I ever leave, you get a full handover. My access ends when the service ends, or sooner if security needs it, and I confirm it in writing within five working days.

Terms.

Family technology lead

About a day and a half a month for one home with a few staff: booked help, the suppliers named in our agreement, and the household's rules for payments and access.

Household Head of IT

About three days a month for up to two homes and several staff.

Estates and family offices

About four days a month, where the estate's own suppliers are already in place.

Another home or household

A further property, or the principal's parents or a grown-up child, with their own agreement.

Extra time

For busy months, such as a house move or a run of new staff, agreed in writing before it's used, and only when I have the time.

Every role starts with a Home Technology Check, booked separately. The first 90 days are on 30 days' notice either way, then it carries on month to month on the same notice, with a written review each year. Projects such as a new home are scoped and priced separately. Not included: installation, regulated office IT, forensic investigation or guaranteed account recovery. I agree the fee with each household directly, or through your agency, once I understand the homes and the team. Anything else, including any specialist I find for you, you buy directly at the supplier's price. For a single home without staff, I offer a one-off Home Technology Check instead of the role.

Questions families ask.

How do you fit in with the rest of the household team?

I work alongside the house manager, PA and the rest of the team, not over them. Most are relieved: technology stops landing on their desk, and they have someone to call.

We already have an IT company. Why would we need you?

They run the systems they're contracted for and wait to be called. I'm in the household: I sort out everyday things myself within the time we've agreed, check they're doing what they're paid for, and pick up the gaps nobody owns, as agreed in writing.

Who do you answer to?

The family, usually day to day through the estate or house manager or the Head of Office. I have no partners or preferred suppliers, and I take nothing from anyone.

Do you need our passwords?

Not your master passwords. Where I need admin access to fix something, I use my own named account, kept in your password manager and removed when I leave.

How quickly will you respond?

I acknowledge every request by the next working day, and urgent ones by phone when I'm free. Visits are booked. For anything that can't wait, the out-of-hours plan I set up says exactly who to call.

What about evenings and weekends?

I work business hours. In my first month I set up your out-of-hours plan: a one-page card for the family and staff saying who to call for fraud, a hacked account, a lost phone or the cameras, a check with your insurance broker on whether your cover includes a 24/7 cyber incident line, and the emergency numbers for your installer and any IT company. The card isn't emergency cover: it shows who answers at night and what isn't covered. I pick up the follow-up the next working day.

We have one home and no staff. Is this for us?

Probably not every month. For a single home I offer a Home Technology Check instead: a half-day visit to look at accounts, passwords, payments, the router, cameras and the children's devices, with up to two simple fixes on the day, then a written plan and an out-of-hours card. Some families add a yearly check-up. More about the Home Technology Check.

What if it isn't working out?

The first 90 days are on 30 days' notice either way, then it carries on month to month on the same notice, and you always get a full handover.

Let's meet.

An introductory meeting at your home or office, under an NDA if you prefer.

Email me Save my contact

Recruitment consultant? Email me for my profile and the agency brief.

Manny Vara

Household Head of IT, part-time, for private households and family offices

[email protected] +44 7843 028725 LinkedIn
Based near Beaconsfield, working across London and the Thames Valley.
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