For years, the hiring conversation inside a family office was mostly about investment capability, and that is changing now that founders are starting to plan their exits. The 2025 Bank of America family office study reports that a third of these offices expect to transfer control within five years, and Cerulli Associates puts the assets changing hands by 2048 at nearly $124 trillion. Whoever leads an office through that transition is going to be working for two generations at once.

Those two generations often want different things from a portfolio. GenTrust’s Jim Besaw told Chief Investment Officer that risk appetite is rising among younger family members, which makes sense when you consider they came up entirely during a long expansion. In the firm’s education sessions, crypto tends to come up in the first hour. Bill Smith of the Trust Company of the South says many multigenerational families are still at 70% equities and 30% fixed income, even as interest in the endowment model grows. Howard Weiss, who advises family offices for the private bank, says real estate can account for half of a client’s assets, with other illiquid holdings reaching 35%.

That combination creates two different jobs, and they are not the same hire. One person is there to keep liquidity available for commitments the office has made. Another helps the family move faster toward what interests the heirs now. Both are reasonable, but the searches look nothing alike, and an office that has not decided between them tends to interview for both.

There is also a part of the role that rarely makes it into the job description. Molly Baumberger, a senior wealth manager at Eton Advisors, works with families as a lead relationship manager and chief operating officer, building formal frameworks and smoothing communication between generations. She tells founders that the next generation is stepping into something new and that it takes time. Someone has to carry that education, and it is a skill in itself that finance executives are almost never evaluated on. Mel Lagomasino of WE Family Offices describes families whose investing is already covered but who need help creating governance or an investment committee they have never had.

For principals, this is worth settling before anyone gets interviewed. UBS found in its 2026 family office report that only 35% have a defined succession plan, which means most families are building this structure from scratch rather than inheriting one. Once you decide which of the two jobs is actually open, it gets clearer which backgrounds are worth reading and what the interview needs to test.

For candidates, the advantage sits in the part nobody writes down. Technical credibility opens the conversation. What decides the hire is whether a founder can picture you working across both generations without unsettling either side. These roles also move through relationships rather than job postings, so introductions matter most.

Dossier helps families define that role before a search begins, then places the chief operating officers, controllers, and finance leaders who can hold it once the work is clear. That holds whether they are joining an existing team or becoming the first outside executive with real authority. Reach out while the founder is still the one making the introductions.

Dossier is an affiliate firm of Pocketbook Agency, an award-winning boutique recruitment firm placing exceptional, high-level administrative and support roles across the US in both corporate and domestic settings. Pocketbook is recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Professional Recruiting Firms for 2024, 2025 & 2026, as well as by Business Insider America’s Top Recruiting Firms and Inc Magazine’s PowerPartner’s List. For additional inquiries, please reach out to Hello@dossiersearch.com.

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