The Opportunity:

The Family is seeking a Chief Operating Officer (COO), which is a newly created position, to support the President as a collaborator on all family office/family enterprise matters. The current President was promoted from Chief Financial Officer when their predecessor resigned due to health issues. Operating as a close-knit, collaborative team, the family office has a flat organizational structure. The family office mission statement is as follows:

➢ Our mission is to serve as strategic advisors, committed to the long-term success and well-being of the Family members. By providing transformative wealth management services, supporting philanthropy, and remaining dedicated to continual improvement and innovation, we aim to build collaborative relationships as we work with each other and the Family members.

➢ Guided by our values and strengths, we approach our work as a purpose-driven, collaborative effort which must remain adaptive to changing Family dynamics to ensure the collective and individual prosperity of the Family for generations to come.

In conjunction with Family leadership, the COO will serve as an operating and thought partner to the President in developing, initiating, and executing the strategic goals and priorities of the family office today and in the future while maintaining the family office’s efficiency, professionalism, and best in class philosophy. The Family is in the midst of a healthy and intentional generational transition, in which the rising G4 family members have assumed responsibility for family enterprises while being mentored by the older generations and the family office. The COO will be a key figure in supporting the Family in this process.

While supporting the President on all family office matters, the COO will be the primary relationship manager for the fourth and fifth generations (G4 and G5) providing holistic wealth planning services and wealth management education as needed or requested to empower family members. Advising, counseling and distilling complex concepts in an understandable manner, she/he will promote well-informed, sound decision making and wealth stewardship and will become a trusted advisor and sounding board to Family members. (While the President will serve as the primary relationship manager to G2 and G3, the COO will partner with the President in managing those relationships. Likewise, the President will partner with the COO in managing the G4 and G5 relationships.) Exhibiting strong oral and written communication skills, the COO will further the family office’s commitment to transparency and the continuance of Family cohesion and harmony.

The family office provides tax, estate, investment, insurance and philanthropic planning as well as financial management and reporting. The family office conducts annual household meetings to thoroughly review each household’s financial affairs. Additionally, the President supports the Family’s foundation and business interests, and the COO may become involved in these affairs.

Possessing strong project management and organizational skills, she/he will modulate between high level strategic work, day-to-day tasks and client service. Personable and empathetic, the COO will complement the collaborative, proactive, responsive and nimble family office team. She/he will have a strong work ethic coupled with high emotional intelligence, integrity, humility, a family-orientation and a client-service heart.

To a degree, the role can be shaped by the skills and expertise of the candidate; however, broad knowledge across the disciplines of wealth management and an understanding of their integration is required to serve the Family and to support the President and the family office functions overall. Also, experience working with multi-generational families and an understanding of family enterprise governance and succession planning is important.

Assisting the President with the management of the external service providers, the COO will ensure that all services are provided in a high-quality and cost-effective manner. Familiarity with a wide range of legal matters including estate planning, regulatory and business law, compliance, and general document, agreement, and contract review may enable the successful candidate to take on a leadership role overseeing the outside counsel. Likewise, experience with investments could enable the successful candidate to facilitate investment committee meetings and assist with the investment business overall, as a non-voting member on investment decisions. An understanding of the human resource function and issues would be additive to the existing family office skillset.

Broadly, the COO will manage Family relationships, provide holistic wealth planning and education services, and serve as an operating and thought partner to the President on long-term strategy, strategic planning, family office services and the oversight of external advisors. The position offers an excellent opportunity for an experienced family office/wealth management professional who is interested in serving an entrepreneurial, magnanimous, multi-generational family.

Reports to:

The family office President.

Works closely with:

The family office staff (the President, the Accounting and Finance Manager, the Investment Manager and the Senior Executive Assistant), the trustees, the Investment Committee, the Family Council, and Family member clients and their related entities. The COO will also be involved in managing the external advisors including the trust and estate planning attorney, the tax accountants, the custodians, private bankers, the governance consultant, other attorneys, and the back-office operations service provider. The COO may participate in affairs related to the Family’s foundation or their business interests. The Ideal Candidate The successful candidate will have a strong background in the family office and/or wealth management industries and will have experience working with multi-generational families and complex wealth transfer planning strategies and entity structures. They must possess compelling business acumen, sound judgment, common sense, and an entrepreneurial mindset, and they must be well versed in the disciplines of wealth management and their integration. The individual must have strong interpersonal skills, high emotional intelligence and exemplify the highest levels of honesty, integrity, and loyalty. Demonstrating professionalism, discretion, confidentiality and a client-service orientation, the successful individual will become a trusted advisor to Family member clients. Representing the Family, the COO must be diplomatic, objective, tactful, respectful, non-judgmental, collaborative, and pragmatic in all interactions with Family members, staff, advisors, and all external constituencies.

Experience, Skills, and Qualities

➢ Undergraduate degree required; advanced degree preferred e.g., JD, MBA; relevant certifications desirable, e.g., CFP, CFA.

➢ Minimum of 15 years of experience working with and advising ultra-high net worth family clients in a family office or related advisory firm; knowledgeable about family office best practices and an understanding of family dynamics.

➢ Broad knowledge across the disciplines of wealth management (estate planning, risk management, investments, foundations and philanthropy, tax and financial management and reporting) and an understanding of their integration, possessing a network of advisors and resources to address the needs and issues of clients.

➢ Comfortable working in small, flat, collaborative professional environments. ➢ Experience interfacing with external technical experts and acting as the client advocate. ➢ Experience with sophisticated trust and estate planning and administration necessary. Exposure to foundations and a wide range of legal matters including regulatory and business law, compliance, and general document, agreement, and contract review important.

➢ An entrepreneurial spirit with the ability to anticipate needs and issues and proactively develop creative solutions.

➢ Exceptional interpersonal skills, high emotional intelligence, a critical thinker, and an empathetic listener with a strong client-service orientation; utmost integrity and discretion; approachable with the ability to instill confidence to serve as a trusted advisor; effectively modulates between clients of all ages and all levels of financial acumen while maintaining confidences.

➢ A flexible, self-starter with the ability to pivot when necessary and “roll-up their sleeves”, prioritize, and multi-task.

➢ Intellectually curious, resourceful, strategic, big-picture orientation with the ability to see all sides of an issue; strong organizational, project management, analytical and innovative problem-solving skills.

➢ An open collaborator with strong communication skills who can complement the existing family office team and engage, mentor, and educate the fourth and fifth generations and advance transparency to continue the Family’s legacy. Clear, concise written and verbal communication skills with the ability to distill complex concepts into layman’s terms in an understandable manner.

➢ Exhibits patience, polish, professionalism, and self-confidence, yet is humble, warm, down to earth and has a good sense of humor. Compensation A competitive compensation and benefit package will be offered, commensurate with the role, responsibilities, and market – and the background and experience of the individual.