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Publish Date
April 20th, 2026
Last Update
April 20th, 2026
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A family office is a private organisation that manages the financial, legal, administrative, and personal affairs of a wealthy family. It exists because beyond a certain level of wealth, the complexity of managing money, properties, staff, tax, philanthropy, and family governance exceeds what any single adviser or team of advisers can handle in isolation. A family office brings it all under one roof.
The concept is not new. The Rockefellers established one of the first formal family offices in the 1880s. What has changed is scale. There are now an estimated 10,000+ family offices globally, managing trillions in assets. The growth has been driven by the expansion of private wealth, the increasing complexity of international tax and regulation, and a generation of entrepreneurs and founders who want dedicated infrastructure around their families rather than relying on banks and external advisers.
For anyone considering working in a family office, hiring for one, or setting one up, understanding how they operate — and specifically who works in them — is essential.
The two primary structures are the single family office (SFO) and the multi family office (MFO).
A single family office serves one family exclusively. The family funds the entire operation — staff, systems, office space, everything. This gives complete control over investment strategy, privacy, and how the office is run. The trade-off is cost. Running an SFO typically requires £2–5 million per year in operating expenses before investment fees, which means it only makes sense for families with £200 million+ in investable assets. Some families run leaner operations with fewer staff and outsource specific functions, but the core principle is the same: one family, one office, total control.
A multi family office serves several families through a shared infrastructure. Each family receives personalised service, but the costs of the team, technology, and compliance are spread across clients. MFOs typically serve families with £25–200 million in assets — wealthy enough to need dedicated support, but not enough to justify the full cost of a standalone office. The trade-off is reduced control and shared resources.
There are also virtual family offices — lighter structures where a family appoints a small team (sometimes just a chief of staff or family office director) who coordinates external advisers rather than employing a full in-house team. This model is increasingly popular among first-generation wealth creators who want structure without the overhead.
The scope varies, but a well-functioning family office typically covers:
Investment management. This is often the origin of the office. Portfolio construction, asset allocation, manager selection, co-investment opportunities, direct investments, and performance reporting. Some family offices run capital in-house with a CIO and investment team. Others outsource to external managers and focus on oversight and governance.
Financial planning and tax. Multi-jurisdictional tax structuring, estate planning, trust administration, and coordination with external tax advisers and lawyers. For families with assets across multiple countries, this alone can justify the existence of the office.
Legal and compliance. Entity management, regulatory filings, contract review, employment law, and governance documentation. Family offices with complex structures — holding companies, trusts, foundations, multiple entities across jurisdictions — need dedicated legal coordination.
Property and estate management. Many UHNW families own multiple properties across countries. The family office coordinates maintenance, renovations, staff, security, and seasonal logistics. In some structures, this function sits within a separate household or estate management team; in others, the family office oversees it directly.
Philanthropy. Foundation management, grant-making, donor-advised funds, and impact reporting. Families with active philanthropic programmes need someone to manage the pipeline, reporting, and governance.
Family governance. Family meetings, next-generation education, decision-making frameworks, and succession planning. This is the least visible function but often the most important for families with multiple generations involved.
Lifestyle and personal administration. Travel coordination, household staff management, insurance, vehicle fleets, security, and day-to-day logistics. This is where the family office intersects with the private household. In some structures, a PA or chief of staff handles this; in larger offices, a dedicated lifestyle or operations team manages it.
This is where most online content about family offices falls short. Articles focus on investment strategy and wealth management theory. They rarely explain who actually sits in the office, what they do, and how they work together.
A typical single family office team includes some or all of the following:
Family Office Director / Manager. The person who runs the office day to day. They report to the principal or a family board and are responsible for operations, staff, compliance, and coordination across all functions. This is a senior hire — typically someone with 15+ years of experience in private banking, professional services, or a previous family office. See our Family Office Director recruitment page.
Chief of Staff. In many family offices, the Chief of Staff acts as the principal's operational right hand — managing decision cadence, coordinating between advisers, and ensuring nothing falls between the cracks. The role is strategic, not administrative. See our Chief of Staff recruitment page.
Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Responsible for investment strategy, asset allocation, and manager selection. Found in family offices that manage capital actively rather than outsourcing entirely to external managers. See our CIO recruitment page.
Director of Operations. Manages the back-office infrastructure — HR, IT, facilities, vendor relationships, and processes. In smaller offices, this role may be combined with the Family Office Director. See our Director of Operations recruitment page.
Executive Assistant / Personal Assistant. Supports the principal directly with diary, travel, correspondence, and personal logistics. In a family office, this role often spans both professional and personal spheres. The best FO PAs combine administrative precision with lifestyle management. See our PA recruitment page and EA recruitment page.
CFO / Finance Director. Manages financial reporting, budgeting, cash flow, and tax coordination. In larger offices, this is a dedicated senior hire. In smaller offices, it may be outsourced or combined with the Director role. See our CFO recruitment page.
Investment Analyst / Portfolio Manager. Supports the CIO with research, due diligence, and portfolio monitoring. See our Investment Roles category.
Family Office Assistant. A junior or mid-level generalist who supports across functions — scheduling, document management, light research, and coordination. This role is often the entry point for a family office career. See our Family Office Assistant page.
The size of the team depends on the family's wealth, complexity, and preferences. A lean SFO might have 3–5 people. A fully staffed SFO for a billionaire family could have 20–50+ across investment, operations, legal, and household functions.
Family offices attract professionals from banking, professional services, private equity, and hospitality — people who want the intellectual challenge of complex mandates without the politics and bureaucracy of large institutions.
The appeal is real: close proximity to decision-making, broad scope, and often a better quality of life than investment banking or Big Four consulting. The risks are also real.
The principal is the business. In a corporate environment, you serve shareholders, a board, a strategy. In a family office, you serve a person. If the principal's priorities change, the entire operation pivots. If the relationship breaks down, your role disappears. Personal chemistry matters more here than in almost any other professional setting.
Boundaries are ambiguous. The line between professional and personal is inherently blurred. A CIO might be asked to advise on a property purchase. A PA might be pulled into a family dispute. A finance director might manage the household budget alongside the investment portfolio. This suits some people and frustrates others.
Discretion is everything. Family office staff know things that nobody else knows — financial positions, family tensions, health issues, legal matters. The expectation of confidentiality is absolute. Breach it once and your career in this world is over.
Career progression is lateral, not vertical. There is no corporate ladder. Progression means broadening scope, earning trust, and becoming indispensable. Some people spend 15 years in one family office and never want to leave. Others find the ceiling limiting.
Compensation reflects the intimacy. Senior family office roles pay well — often above equivalent corporate positions. A Family Office Director in London earns £120,000–£200,000+. A CIO can earn £200,000–£500,000+ depending on AUM and performance. PAs and EAs in family offices earn 20–40% above corporate equivalents because the scope is wider and the demands are greater.
Family offices do not hire like corporations. There is no HR department (in most cases). There is no applicant tracking system. The principal or a trusted adviser decides who to hire, often based on personal referral or through a specialist recruitment firm.
This creates specific challenges:
Confidentiality constrains the search. Most family offices do not want to advertise that they are hiring. The family's name, the structure of the office, and the nature of the role may all be sensitive. Open advertising on job boards is rare for senior roles. Discreet, targeted search is the standard approach.
The brief is often undefined. Principals know what they need but struggle to articulate it in a formal job description. The best family office recruiters spend significant time scoping the role before any candidate is approached — clarifying reporting lines, authority, boundaries, and what success looks like in the first 12 months.
Cultural fit outweighs technical skill. A finance director who excelled at Goldman Sachs may be entirely wrong for a three-person family office where the principal expects direct access at all hours. The environment is intimate, the pace is unpredictable, and the personality match matters as much as the CV.
Referral networks dominate. Many family office hires happen through word of mouth. The best candidates are known within a small community of advisers, recruiters, and peers. They do not appear on job boards. This is why specialist recruitment firms — rather than generalist agencies — are critical for family office hiring.
Oplu runs discreet, senior-led recruitment for UHNW family offices across the UK, US, and internationally. We recruit across the full family office team: executive support (PA, EA, Chief of Staff), operations and management (Director, Director of Operations, CFO), and investment roles (CIO, Analyst, Portfolio Manager).
Our approach is built for the way family offices actually hire — controlled disclosure, targeted search, and candidates assessed for operating style and fit, not just qualifications. Most of our FO mandates come through referral because discretion is non-negotiable.
For current family office opportunities, see our job board. To discuss a family office search, get in touch. To explore the full range of roles we recruit, visit our Family Office recruitment page.
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