CHRIS

I'm looking for a responsible and fun part-time Finnish nanny or au pair to help take care of an active and thoughtful bilingual English / Finnish 7-year old in Berlin outside school hours. If you know how to build dens in the garden, sing songs and play hide and seek, my daughter would be very happy!

We're a small, well-read, well-travelled and down-to-earth family with lots of uncles and aunts in both the UK and Finland. Our current part-time nanny is leaving us after 7 years. She originally came to the UK as an au pair, did her degree in Brighton while babysitting for us, and then became a nanny when we moved to Germany. I think she stayed so long because my daughter is lovely! Now she is getting married and moving back to Finland so I'm looking for another au pair or p/t nanny. My daughter is half-Finnish and has grown up with Finnish as her second language. I am keen for her to maintain her links with Finnish language and culture and therefore am only looking at au pairs and nannies from Finland.

I attach below a general idea of what the role involves - do get in touch if you're interested or would like to know more.

Mornings: On weekdays we need to be out of the house by 0730 to make sure my daughter is in time for school. You will make sure my daughter is awake, help her to get breakfast, and ensure she has her snack, sport clothes and anything else she needs in her school bag. We all travel by train together to the city centre and then you would take my daughter to school 15 mins away while I go to my office, 15 mins away in the other direction.

Afternoons: Between 0830 and 1430 you would normally have free time to study, do a language course, sport or whatever you like. My daughter needs to be picked up from school between 1500-1800 depending on the day of the week and what sports and clubs are running. I try to pick her up on Friday afternoons unless I am traveling.

Evenings: You would normally bring Ilona back to the house and prepare a simple meal for the two of you before I get home. Once a week, I would pay for both of you to go for an early dinner at a child-friendly cafe or restaurant of your choice. I generally get back to the house between 1800-2100 depending on my work schedule.

Weekends: Normally your weekends would be completely free. You would have your own double bedroom and access to phone, wifi etc..

Total hours: On average, you would babysit my daughter for 15-20 hours each week. Our current nanny covers occasional overnights while I am travelling (I am never away for more than 3 nights and normally 1-2). If you and my daughter settled together well, we would gradually transfer this over the coming months.

Pay: I pay €9-12 per hour gross (before local tax, health insurance deducations) depending on experience.

Housework: there will be some light housework as part of sharing a house more than as part of the job. As a general guide, I would expect you to clear up after yourself, make sure my daughter clears up after herself while she is with you, and take turns to do communal tasks like emptying the dishwasher or putting out the recycling. I occasionally bring in a cleaning company for heavy cleaning work.

Food: We don't eat meat but do eat fish. I don't mind what you choose to cook and eat and am very welcoming of vegetarian and vegan diets. I previously worked in Turkey and love many Turkish dishes - I make my own hummus every weekend. We also eat a lot of Italian, Thai, Japanese and Indian food. My daughter's favourite foods are sushi, Finnish cinnamon rolls and chocolate.

Travel opportunities: My job involves European travel and there may sometimes be opportunity for you and my daughter to travel with me on short visits outside of school term time.

Family visits: I have always been happy to have our current nanny's family and friends visit our home. We keep a calendar to make sure that we don't double-book the spare room in summertime!

Holidays: You would have at least 30 days of holiday per year as long as most of it coincides with mine. I am generally able to take leave to coincide with your special occasions and long weekends as long as we arrange in advance so I can book with my office.