Private Client · Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff for principals and family offices.
The most consequential appointment in a principal-led family office. Retained, confidential, senior-partner-led.
What the role is
A short definition.
A Chief of Staff sits alongside the principal and is the single point of coordination between the family office, the family’s adjacent investment platforms, philanthropic vehicles and household. The role combines judgement, discretion, calendar and mandate management, delegated decision-making within defined limits, and the temperament to operate in an environment where the principal remains the decision-maker on every material question. It is not a substitute for the Family Office CFO or CIO; those are functional roles. Chief of Staff is a role built around personal proximity.
Core responsibilities
What we assess candidates against.
- Managing the principal’s calendar and priorities across three or more time zones
- Acting as the primary conduit between the principal, the Family Office CFO/CIO, external legal and tax counsel, philanthropic advisors and household leadership
- Owning delivery on the principal’s standing commitments, from board seats to personal projects
- Preparing decision memos and running follow-through on principal-committed initiatives
- Maintaining absolute confidentiality, without exception, on principal, family and mandate matters
- Travelling alongside the principal where required
When to run this search
Typical triggers.
Most commonly at three moments: when a principal-led family office reaches the scale where the principal can no longer hold every workstream personally; during a generational transition when the office structure is being redefined; and when an existing Chief of Staff moves on and the role needs to be filled without disruption. In each case, the search is retained, run under NDA, and led personally by a named partner.
How we search for this role
The specific approach we take.
The market for genuinely-capable Chiefs of Staff to UHNW principals is small and largely off-limits. We map across three overlapping candidate pools: former Chiefs of Staff to comparable principals, senior military officers who have transitioned into private-office roles, and senior operators from single-mandate corporate development or private-office adjacent roles. Every candidate is met personally by the mandate partner. Shortlists are typically three to five names, presented with our written assessment of each candidate’s fit against the specific principal.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does a Chief of Staff to a family office principal actually do?
The Chief of Staff is the single point of coordination between the principal and everyone around them — the family office team, external advisors, household, philanthropic vehicles and investment platforms. It is a role about judgement, discretion and delivery, not domain expertise; the CFO and CIO handle functional work.
How is this different from a Family Office CEO?
A Family Office CEO leads the office as an institution — investment strategy, governance, headcount and P&L. The Chief of Staff sits closer to the principal personally, coordinating the principal’s calendar and standing commitments across the office, adjacent platforms and household. In some offices the same person fills both roles; in most, they are distinct.
What background do candidates typically have?
Prior Chief of Staff experience with a comparable UHNW principal or founder-CEO is the most common. Senior military officers moving into private-office roles are a second pool, particularly where discretion and operational rigour matter. A third pool is senior operators from single-mandate corporate development, family-office-adjacent private banking, or the executive suite of a founder-led business.
How long does a Chief of Staff search take?
Ten to fourteen weeks is typical, brief to accepted offer. Chief of Staff searches move slower than functional appointments because the principal is often personally involved from the shortlist stage, and cultural chemistry weighs as heavily as capability.
Is compensation for the role structured differently to a corporate equivalent?
Compensation is usually part cash, part long-term commitment (deferred bonus, private co-investment, or discretionary bonus tied to office milestones). The role tends to command a premium over the corporate-equivalent Chief of Staff, reflecting the demands on availability, discretion and personal alignment.
Related practice