The house manager keeps a sober living home running on the days and nights the owner isn't there. This guide explains what the role involves and gives you a job description template you can copy, a duties checklist, honest guidance for managers who also live in the house, the training topics that matter, and the usual ways the role is paid. Where NARR or SAMHSA says something about house managers, we quote them and link the source. Rules vary by state and city, and this is not legal advice. Check with your state's NARR affiliate and local rules.
Published and updated October 4, 2026
A sober living house manager is the on-site lead of a recovery residence. They apply the house rules the same way for everyone, orient new residents, run check-ins and house meetings, carry out and record drug tests, keep track of rent, respond to emergencies, and keep the owner informed. NARR describes Level II house managers as "senior residents, appointed by the owner/operator to serve as the head of household." In more structured Level III homes, SAMHSA describes a "paid house manager."
There is no single national license for the role. Most of what makes a good manager is consistency, a written role, real training, and clear limits.
Titles vary. Homes use house manager, house monitor, house lead or senior resident for roughly the same job. Whatever you call it, the role depends on the home's level of support. NARR describes four levels:
1. Keep the house fair and running. Apply the house rules the same way to every resident, run curfew and house meetings, assign and check chores, and look after the property.
2. Testing and incidents. Carry out drug and alcohol tests under the home's written policy, record every result, and follow the written steps when something goes wrong. That includes calling 911 or 988 when needed and using naloxone. NARR requires at every level that naloxone be "accessible at each location, and appropriate individuals are knowledgeable and trained in its use" (Standard 19.d).
3. Money, but only the home's. Record rent and fee payments and report overdue balances to the owner. NARR is explicit that staff "must never become involved in residents' personal financial affairs, including lending or borrowing money" (Standard 2.h).
4. Support and connection. Welcome new residents, model recovery, and point people to meetings, treatment, work and benefits. For certified Level II–IV homes, NARR requires that job descriptions "require staff to facilitate access to local community-based resources" (Standard 12.b).
5. Records and escalation. Write things down as they happen (tests, incidents, check-ins, notes) and pass decisions that are above the manager's authority to the owner.
What a house manager is not: a therapist, a case manager or a landlord's enforcer. NARR's Code of Ethics asks everyone working in a home to "operate within the residence's scope of service and within professional training and credentials." A manager can listen, support and refer. Counseling belongs to people licensed or certified to provide it.
NARR-certified homes at Levels II–IV are expected to have written job descriptions that "reflect recovery" and include "position responsibilities and certification/licensure and/or lived experience credential requirements" (Standard 12). Use this outline as a starting point. Fill in the blanks, delete what doesn't fit your home, and have a local employment attorney review the final version.
Home: Level of support:
The House Manager is the on-site lead at , a recovery residence for people in recovery from substance use disorders. The House Manager keeps the home safe and substance-free by applying the house rules consistently, supporting residents' recovery, connecting residents to community resources, and keeping accurate records. The House Manager reports to and passes on any decision outside this role.
Template outline from soberlivingcompanion.com/sober-living-house-manager. Not legal advice. Employment, wage, background-check and fair housing rules vary by state and city. Have a local attorney review before use.
A routine that runs the same way every week is what keeps a house fair. Adjust this list to your rules and your level of support.
In many monitored homes the house manager is also a resident: a peer who shares the kitchen with the people they test, check in and sometimes have to discharge. This can work well. Someone who is a few steps further along in recovery is a living example for everyone else, and taking on that responsibility can strengthen their own recovery. But it also creates real tensions. Be honest about them up front.
If you compensate a resident for managing: NARR's standard for residents who do paid work for the operator (2.g) asks that the arrangement be "completely voluntary," that residents "do not suffer consequences for declining work," that residents doing paid work are not "treated more favorably" than those who aren't, and that "wages are commensurate with marketplace value and at least minimum wage." SAMHSA also lists "freedom from forced or coerced labor" as a resident right. Whether reduced rent counts as wages under federal or state wage-and-hour law depends on the details, so check with an employment attorney or your state labor department before you set it up.
There's no single national training course or credential for house managers. For certified homes at Levels II–IV, NARR asks that staff be "trained or credentialed appropriate to the residence level" (Standard 10). The Standard does not set a number of training hours, so treat any hour counts credited to NARR with caution. Your state's affiliate decides what it checks.
Some states and coalitions add their own rules. Two examples:
For anywhere else, start with your state's NARR affiliate and our sober living certification guide. Many states also certify peer recovery specialists, and that credential can make a strong manager stronger.
Training is ongoing, not one-time. NARR asks certified homes for "policies and procedures for ongoing performance development of staff" (13.a). At Levels III and IV it requires "ongoing performance support and training" (24.b).
We don't publish pay figures. Pay depends on the region, the level of support and the hours, and we haven't found a reliable public dataset specific to sober living. Here are the structures homes use, plus a worksheet to price your own.
Fill these in for your home before you make an offer:
Get advice before you set it up. Whether a reduced-rent arrangement is employment, how it's taxed, and whether payroll, workers' compensation or overtime rules apply all depend on your state and the details. Ask an employment attorney or accountant, and put the agreed arrangement in writing in the job description above. This is not legal or tax advice.
Good answers sound consistent, calm and honest about limits: they follow the policy, keep people safe, protect privacy and escalate when they should. Write the questions into your interview notes so every candidate gets the same ones.
For the rest of the daily operation, see how to run a sober living home. If you're still at the planning stage, start with how to start a sober living home.
Sober Living Companion is sober living management software from Empower Next Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. It gives your managers the tools for the job above on their phones and on the web, while you keep control of the business side.
Add a manager under Account → House managers and assign them to one house or several. A manager assigned to a house sees only that house's residents. When someone leaves, removing them ends their access immediately on every device.
Managers record UA and breath tests on the resident's record. A positive result raises a flag that only staff can see, so the next person on shift knows what happened. More on testing →
Residents check in from the free resident app, and managers see who has and hasn't checked in. Meeting attendance →
Notes on a resident's profile are hidden from residents and show who wrote them and when, so the whole team knows where each note came from.
Managers can see who's paid and record cash, check, Zelle, Venmo or Cash App payments, with emailed receipts. Card payments go to the owner's own Stripe account. Rent collection →
Managers can post announcements to residents and send forms and written agreements for e-signature.
The owner keeps the business side. House managers can do most day-to-day work, but they can't see billing or set up Stripe. Those stay with the owner and any co-owners.
Managers who are also residents. A house manager who is also a resident can switch to their own resident view in the app to pay their own fees and check into meetings, then switch back. Pair it with the guardrails above, so someone else still handles their tests.
Price. One flat $60/month per organization, not per bed or per user, so adding managers costs nothing extra. No contract, cancel any time, and your first month is free with code FIRSTMONTHFREE. The resident app is free.
A sober living house manager is the on-site lead of a recovery residence. They apply the house rules the same way to everyone, orient new residents, run curfew and meeting check-ins and house meetings, carry out drug and alcohol tests and record the results, keep track of rent and fees, respond to emergencies, connect residents to outside help, and keep records the owner can rely on. In monitored (NARR Level II) homes the manager is usually a senior resident; in supervised (Level III) homes it is usually a paid staff role. A house manager is not a counselor unless they are trained and credentialed for that work.
There is no single national rule. Many homes require a house manager to be in recovery, often with a minimum period of continuous sobriety that the home sets itself. NARR Standard 3.0 says that ideally, eligibility to deliver services includes lived experience recovering from substance use disorders and the ability to reflect recovery principles. That is guidance for certified homes, not a law. What a manager needs depends on your home, your state, and the certification body you belong to, so check with your state's NARR affiliate and your local rules.
The common structures are free or reduced rent, a stipend, an hourly wage or salary, or a mix of these. SAMHSA's Best Practices for Recovery Housing describes Level 2 resident house managers as often compensated by free or reduced fees, and Level 3 homes as having a paid house manager. We don't publish pay figures, because pay depends on the region, the level of support and the hours, and we haven't found a reliable public dataset specific to sober living. Whether reduced rent counts as wages, and how it is taxed, depends on your state and the details, so ask an employment attorney or accountant before you set it up. This is not legal advice.
There is no single national training requirement. NARR Standard 3.0 asks certified homes at Levels II to IV to ensure staff are trained or credentialed appropriate to the residence level, but it does not set a number of training hours. Common topics are NARR standards and the Code of Ethics, crisis response and 988, naloxone, de-escalation, the home's medication and drug-testing policies, documentation and privacy, and Fair Housing basics. Some states and regions add their own requirements. Florida, for example, requires certified recovery residences to be actively managed by a Certified Recovery Residence Administrator. Your state's NARR affiliate can tell you what applies where you are.
Yes. In monitored homes this is a common setup: NARR describes Level II house managers as senior residents appointed by the owner or operator to serve as the head of household. It works best when the role is written down, someone other than the manager handles the manager's own drug tests and fees, residents have a way to raise a complaint that doesn't go through the manager, and the manager has support for their own recovery.
Each source was checked on October 4, 2026. Standards and laws change, so confirm the current version before you rely on them.
This page is general information for operators, not legal, tax or employment advice. Requirements vary by state and city.
Write the role down, train for it, protect the manager's own recovery, and give residents a way to reach you directly. The rest of the operator guides pick up from there.
