CLIENT Our client family is headquartered in the greater Los Angeles area and is a well-established, business owning, single family office that has been running effectively for more than ten years. The family’s wealth is the result of a highly successful business that includes the food service, retail and real estate arenas, and has both domestic and international operations. This is first generation wealth created by a second generation immigrant family including the co-founder, patriarch - a driven, entrepreneurially spirited visionary – and his co-founder, matriarch wife – a highly educated and extremely successful engineer. And like many immigrant families, they came from very humble beginnings. The family spans three generations - (G1) husband and wife, hereinafter “Principals”; (G2) their three adult children; and (G3) one infant grandchild. The COO/CFO position will support the family to oversee a very diverse set of interesting and complex business and personal family interests in which the family is highly engaged, and provide the critical operational and financial management support to help manage these interests. In addition to the family office team, currently 25 employees, the family utilizes a small group of trusted and proven external resources and consultants as needed including attorneys, investment advisors, and CPA’s. THE OPPORTUNITY Reporting to the two Principals, the COO/CFO will work collaboratively with the existing family office team and provide the strategic, operational and financial management leadership for the family’s varied business, personal and foundation interests (entities). These entities are currently functioning well day-to-day but will need ongoing oversight and/or integration fine tuning, especially in light of the growth that both the core business and family office investment base have experienced in recent years. In addition, there are succession planning initiatives that will need to be addressed that involve both multi-generational family considerations as well as human capital planning for the family office team. Finally, much of this role is about strategic leadership and working collaboratively with the family and family office team to improve and professionalize the family office structure; to deepen the education experience for G2 relative to wealth management and stewardship; and to insure that the core values of the family office are strengthened and remain aligned with those of the core business. Recently a new Chief Investment Officer has joined the family office team and will play a key role in strengthening and evolving the family office investment function, especially with investment strategy, fund management oversight, alternatives and direct investments. This change marks a significant new chapter for the family office and will afford the opportunity for the COO/CFO to play a collaborative role in helping support these critical investment initiatives. In addition to operational, financial and managerial leadership experience, the family is seeking a COO/CFO who aligns with their core values and can help to support and maintain these values throughout their related organizations. These core values include continuous learning and self-improvement; respect; hard work; pursuing excellence; creating a win-win environment; integrity; honesty; loyalty; transparency; and helping and acknowledging others. POSITION SUMMARY The COO/CFO will work collaboratively with the Principals and a experienced team of department heads to instill a “best practices” philosophy in all functional areas in order to improve workflow, simplify reporting procedures, and enhance service delivery to the family. Family Office Management • Oversee the day-to-day operations of the family office including the four main departments: o Real Estate Investments o Design, Construction & Property Management o Finance and Accounting o Legal • Provide strategic financial input and leadership decision making on issues and/or initiatives impacting the organization. • Hire, manage and mentor staff as needed. Also, develop a plan for ongoing professional development of the staff including himself or herself. Provide cross-training opportunities to ensure flexible staffing. • Plan and facilitate periodic meetings with Principals, family members and appropriate advisors, including preparation of meeting materials. Tax/Estate Planning and Compliance • Serve as liaison and work with external tax and estate planning advisers. • Provide ongoing support for tax reporting and compliance for family members, trusts and other legal entities as needed. • Plan and report on philanthropic giving in order to maximize tax efficiency and comply with pledges. Investment Management Involvement • Work collaboratively with Principals, family members, CIO, family office team and external investment managers and advisors to ensure sound investment and portfolio management practices. • Work with the CIO to develop a dashboard and other meaningful reporting across the investment portfolio to keep the Principals and family members apprised of investment performance, and potential current and future impacts to investments and cash flow. • Also work collaboratively to provide guidance and suggestions to the family, as needed, to help ensure wise long term management of the family’s wealth. • Participate in periodic family investment meetings along with Principals, family members and outside advisors as needed. • Develop reports to assess performance of investment managers, each family’s portfolio, and the combined family portfolio. Financial Management and Reporting • Work collaboratively with the family, tax advisors and investment advisors to assess the accounting and financial reporting structure, articulate current and anticipated reporting needs, make recommendations for improvement, and oversee the implementation of the same. • As needed and in collaboration with the family office team, provide financial analysis, modelling, and/or projections for project or planning initiatives for family members. • Provide periodic financial reporting including income, expense and cash reports, analysis and forecasts. • Appraise family’s financial position and issue periodic reports related to financial stability, liquidity, and growth as requested by Principals and family members. • Assist family members with financial planning, insurance, home purchases and renovations, property management, tax guidance and other areas as needed. Human Resources Responsibilities: • Work in collaboration with the Principals and the Human Resources Department of the core business to oversee the following for the family office: o Employment practices – policies & procedures o Compensation and employee benefits o Recruiting functions including sourcing, drafting job descriptions, scheduling interviews, preparing offer letter and packets o Manage professional service providers and associated budgets Legal and Risk Management • Work with legal counsel on structures, transactions and planning on various issues and outstanding legal settlements as needed. • Evaluate, strengthen and periodically review the internal control environment to ensure appropriate processes and procedures are in place to safeguard the integrity and security of all critical functions including, but not limited to, financial management, investments and cash. • Evaluate and periodically review insurance providers and policies to assure that appropriate types and levels of coverage are in place given the evolving needs of the family, including review of family member, real property, and trust holdings to determine proper levels of insurance. Family Foundation • Work collaboratively with family and help to advise on Foundation matters and initiatives. • Key areas of collaboration and support may include, but are not limited to: o Ensure compliance with all private foundation laws and regulations. o Review accounting, reporting and compliance processes and procedures to ensure that effective internal controls are in place and make suggestions as appropriate. o Review financial and investment reports and make suggestions as appropriate. o In collaboration with outside investment advisor, review portfolio management for the foundation. General Administration • Manage professional service providers and associated budgets. • Manage relationships with, and oversee the activities of, outside professionals as appropriate. • Develop and maintain effective and secure business systems, and work with outside IT consultant to provide safe, secure and effective information technology systems. DESIRED CANDIDATE The ideal candidate will be a discreet, self-driven family office executive with broad business management. The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications/characteristics: Skills and Experience: • Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 15-20 years’ of relevant experience. • CPA, MS, JD, and/or CFP designation highly preferred. • Strong leadership experience in working with high net worth individuals and/or family businesses, including experience working with and supporting a family through a generational transition of wealth and/or business interest. • Exceptional understanding of and familiarity with best practices in a family office environment related to decision making, governance and operational structures. • Exceptional technical accounting and financial reporting skills including the ability to aggregate, translate, and report on financial information; and to develop meaningful and effective financial reporting and forecasting processes, reports and systems. • Strong demonstrated background in tax planning with specific emphasis in the real estate and/or fund investment arenas. • Strong financial management and executive leadership experience in the real estate development and investment arenas, including strategic planning, budgeting, project management and cash management. • Ability to work successfully in a deal-based, project oriented business model (and culture) that is highly entrepreneurial and largely opportunistic. • Practical experience in recruitment, selection, supervision and development of professional and support staff is essential. • Ability to manage employee performance in a closely-held, family owned and operated business model setting where there are many long standing employees who have grown up with the organization. • International business experience including an understanding of values and cultural norms – particularly with Asia and/or Pacific Rim markets – considered a plus. Essential Characteristics: • Must embrace continuous learning and demonstrate ongoing self-improvement. • A creative visionary with the ability to play a key role in the operational, financial and strategic leadership, direction and vision of the family office as it evolves over time. • Must be able to have good judgement on what is being said and know how to respond appropriately…from listening to agreeing to deferring to disagreeing. • Ability and willingness to be both “hands-on” and to “delegate when appropriate” in the day-to-day family office operations. • Must be comfortable in a boutique, professional office model where everyone is responsible for their respective tasks and getting things done is the standard. • Must have exceptional emotional intelligence and be a highly skilled communicator and facilitator; with the ability to effectively communicate complex concepts and strategies in a clear and concise manner to a variety of audiences. • Must be self-confident, knowledgeable and able to exercise sound judgment in conducting research, analysis and decision making. • Must exercise sound judgment in assessing when responsibilities should be outsourced to existing or new service providers/advisors or be done internally. This includes assessing service providers on an ongoing basis to ensure they are acting in the best interest of the family. • Must be highly organized and able to effectively manage multiple priorities simultaneously. • Must be willing to travel as needed. • Must have integrity and be approachable, respectful and instill confidence and trust in their ability to handle complex and sensitive financial and personal information both internally and externally. LOCATION Los Angeles, California REPORTS TO This position will serve all of the G1 and G2 family members but have primary reporting responsibility to the G1 Principals. COMPENSATION An excellent compensation package will be designed to attract an outstanding individual, including relocation as needed.