CLIENT

Our client is headquartered in the Silicon Valley and is a well-established family office serving the business and investment enterprises of two wealthy families.

The families’ wealth is the result of highly successful technology businesses, as well as a significant diverse portfolio of investment, business, and real estate holdings.

The family office is a team of approximately 45 employees that handles the day-to-day operations of the Principals’ incredibly fast-paced lives, including finance, tax, legal, technology, human resources & people services, lifestyle management, home and property staff, business operations staff, commercial and rental real estate oversight, outsourced services, security, travel and executive support.

The family office was formed to bring professional and support services in house.  The family office operates as a business entity and functions as an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective organization with a highly professional and productive team of employees who are collaborative, creative and diligent.

OPPORTUNITY

The Director of People (Director) role is a new position that is being created to support the culture and continued growth of the family office.  

Reporting to the Executive Director (ED), with dotted line responsibility to the Principals, this individual will support the family office by providing hands-on leadership across all areas of Human Resource Management including employment policies and procedures; talent development; culture enrichment; benefits administration; performance management; compensation and incentives administration; training and education; conflict resolution and discipline; and risk management.  The Director will supervise an HR Administrator.

This individual will play a key leadership role and provide strategic and tactical support/advice to the ED, the Executive Team, and the Principals on broad array of Human Resources initiatives.

In this “hands-on, roll up your sleeves” role, you will become part of a dedicated team of professionals in diverse functional areas focused on supporting dynamic Principals who have multiple, fast-paced business, investment, philanthropic and personal activities. 

Finally, in addition to the human resource skills and experience outlined below, our Client is seeking a family office professional who fits in to the office culture and aligns with their core values including respect, compassion, integrity, loyalty, hard work, transparency and inclusiveness.

POSITION SUMMARY

This newly created role will consolidate and professionalize people processes and systems for the family office, yet must remain nimble and flexible to meet the evolving needs and objectives of the Principals.  This will include but not be limited to the following areas of involvement:

• Providing leadership and oversight for all employees including:

o Serving as the “culture enrichment” leader

o Development and evolution of employment practices, policies and procedures

o Compensation and employee benefits administration

o Recruiting - including drafting job descriptions, sourcing candidates, interviews and preparing offer letters 

o New hire setup, on-boarding process, and performance review process

o Conflict resolution, employee relations, and documentation

o Compliance with Fed and State employment laws in all states in which the employer operates

• Working with outside legal counsel/outside consultants to oversee the legal affairs as they relate to employee relations and employment practices for the Family Office.

• Streamlining communication related to policies, payroll, and employee benefits to insure employees understand and are taking full advantage of benefits structures.

• Working with Senior Management to support the performance management process; incentive plans, including goal setting and performance reviews.

• Overseeing the compensation structure including benchmarking; market rates; base compensation administration to ensure that compensation and benefits levels remain competitive and in line with market.  This responsibility includes wage and hour knowledge and compliance for all states.

• Overseeing the recruiting and hiring processes including screening and vetting, background checks, interview scheduling and management, and onboarding.

• Overseeing the offboarding process including exit interviews and separation documentation.

• Working with Senior Management to support the ongoing information technology and security needs of the Family Office, particularly as it relates to HRIS.

• Supporting special projects as needed.

DESIRED CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate will be a discreet, self-driven family office professional with strong People Operations and Human Resource Management experience.

Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 5-10 years of relevant experience in human resource leadership roles.

• PHR and/or SPHR or related certification 

• Experience in working with high net worth individuals and/or complex family owned and/or investment-driven businesses.

• Must possess a strong client-service mind set and be comfortable in an environment where priorities and schedules can change constantly, frequently on very short notice.

• Practical experience in recruitment, selection, supervision, and development of professional and support staff is essential, coupled with a solid working knowledge of Fed and State employment laws.

• Strong human resources management experience and familiarity with the issues common in family office environments including protocols, policies and procedures, governance and culture.

• Exceptional understanding of and familiarity with best practices in a tech/family office environment related to decision making, governance and operational structures.

• Excellent project management skills.

Essential Characteristics:

• Self-starter, self-regulating and self-motivated.

• Work well with little direction, very limited oversight to be effective.

• Creative with the ability to play a key role in the operational, strategic, and people leadership of the family office as it continues to evolve over time.

• Be a strong decision maker with a track record of taking ownership for and driving key initiatives in a dynamic, service-oriented business model.

• Thrive in a “check your ego at the door” type of culture where everyone’s mission is to collaborate and provide exceptional service to the family.

• Constantly engaged, always considering creative and thoughtful approaches for adding value and for navigating the dynamic and complex family office landscape.

• Able to exercise discretion and good judgment on what is being said and know how to respond appropriately.

• Ability and willingness to be both “hands-on” and to “delegate when appropriate” in the day-to-day family office operations.

• Comfortable in a boutique, professional service firm model where everyone is responsible for their respective tasks and getting things done is the standard.

• Uncompromising commitment to “service excellence” and be able to deliver this outcome across a variety of family entities and interests on a continuous and consistent basis.

• 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.

• Self-confident, knowledgeable, and able to exercise sound judgment in conducting research, analysis and decision making.  A confident, self-directed problem solver who knows when to seek advice.

• Excellent at providing and receiving feedback.

• Exercise sound judgment in assessing when responsibilities should be outsourced to existing/new service providers/advisors or be done internally, including assessing service providers on an ongoing basis to ensure they are acting in the best interest of the family.

• Consistently operate in a transparent and collaborative manner with a “team first” approach.

• Possess a strong understanding of – and appreciation for – how technology can be used effectively to improve operational efficiency.

• Flexible - highly organized and able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.

• Proactive, ability to develop creative solutions, ability to prioritize on the fly and be comfortable with change.

• Highest integrity, and is approachable, respectful and instill confidence and trust in their ability to handle complex and sensitive financial and personal information both internally and externally.

LOCATION

Silicon Valley…with limited travel.  

The current work model is a hybrid remote work model with some flex; however, the Director will need to reside locally in the Bay Area and in a reasonable commute proximity to the office.

REPORTS TO

This position will report to the Executive Director.

COMPENSATION

An excellent compensation package will be designed to attract and retain an outstanding long-term team player.