The Zuckerbergs Are Hiring a Lifeguard but Calling It a 'Beach Water Person'

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are hiring a seasonal, on-call “Beach Water Person” based in Kauai, Hawaii, where the family owns a sprawling compound, according to a new job listing on Greenhouse associated with West 10, the Zuckerberg family office.

This is an interesting choice for a job title, because according to the job description, the primary duties of this “Beach Water Person” include serving as a “Beach Lifeguard,” and “Pool Lifeguard.” In other words, being a lifeguard.

The job listing names a few additional duties related to water activities, such as instructing “stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), canoe paddling, snorkeling, and other ocean-based activities.” These, however, come after the water safety duties in the job description.

This position easily could have been called “Pool/Beach Lifeguard,” or simply “Lifeguard.” For the sake of comprehensiveness, “Pool/Beach Lifeguard and Boat Deckhand” would have also worked. Alternatively, the Zuckerbergs could have chosen “Beach/Pool Attendant,” a job title roughly synonymous with lifeguard that could reasonably be interpreted as encompassing extra duties associated with leisure, such as tending to a boat or teaching people how to stand-up paddleboard.

Arguably, any of these options would have provided more clarity than “Beach Water Person,” which does not appear to correspond with a job title anywhere else in the English-speaking world.

WIRED did not immediately hear back from representatives of the Zuckerberg family. Lacking a human to speak with, we decided to ask Meta’s AI chatbot “what is a ‘beach water person’?”

“‘Beach water person’ would just mean someone who loves being in/near the ocean,” the chatbot said. “The word for that is thalassophile—’a person who loves the seas and oceans.’” Ok!