Chief Financial Officer, Family Office

Who- The Company:
Our client is a well-established family office with a diversified investment portfolio that aligns with the values and passions of the primary shareholders / family office owner. The company has a very tight-knit team of people who enjoy collaborating and who truly care about the long-term financial health of the firm. The organization rewards and appreciates loyalty and the family office owner aims to hire people who will thrive in the flexible and entrepreneurial work environment and who have the potential to develop with the company over many years (ideally until retirement!).

What- the Role: 
CFO for a reputable family office. This is a very rare opportunity- one that doesn’t come up often in Vancouver! The CFO is functionally the most senior leader in the office and reports directly to the family office President/Owner.  
This new CFO will play an integral and influential role that involves financial stewardship, advising on investment strategy and deal structure, providing governance, and team leadership. The CFO provides financial expertise and business judgment to the family; the client organizations include several investments with a focus on real estate development and private equity. Given the smaller size of the family office, the CFO will be involved in all aspects of the organization and will work very closely with the Principals as well as with external stakeholders, advisors, and consultants.  There is an expectation for a strong work ethic and lots of self-motivation, but constant overtime does not happen at this firm- someone efficient, organized, and productive will be able to achieve good work/life integration.

What- the Responsibilities:

• Managing, mentoring, leading and developing two (2) direct reports
• Responsible for the overall financial and accounting requirements of the family office and its principals, including budgeting, treasury/cash management, financial reporting, tax, audit and financial planning and analysis.
• Works directly with the principals on the design and implementation of investment and business activities.
• Contributes to the investment decision process, including review of legal documentation (LP agreements, subscription agreements, etc.), deal due diligence and structure and assistance with qualitative/quantitative analysis of investment opportunities.
• Manages relationships with other professionals (i.e. external auditors, law firms, bankers, tax consultants, etc.) and external investment management firms – including understanding strategies and ongoing monitoring of activity/results.
• Ensures compliance with financial reporting requirements, both internal and external (i.e., personal and corporate income tax returns, GST/PST filings, audits, payroll filings, budget reporting, etc.), and CRA guidelines.

Who- the Candidate: 
We are looking for a very well-rounded accounting & finance leader who is eager to hone existing skills while continuously learning new things. The new CFO for this organization will be able to manage both the regulatory and compliance side of things (with an Accounting Manager as their right-hand) and the forward-looking and investments component of the role. Qualified candidates will be excellent communicators who can lead the team very self-sufficiently, while also keeping the family stakeholders looped in. Strong business summarization, memo writing, and report writing skills are all important. We are looking for people who are confident and savvy negotiators, as well as genuine relationship builders. This is a very values-based family office, and ideally the new CFO will align well with the personal values of the organization (which has a focus on investments that are environmentally responsible, sustainable, healthy, and just).

• CPA designation is highly preferred, likely required. Additional qualifications and credentials such as CFA designation, CFP certification, MBA Finance, PMP, etc. will be viewed very favourably.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive work experience in an accounting, consulting, investment management and/or business services environment.
• Experience working with founder and/or owner-operated privately-held organizations, with strong preference for experience working in a similar family office.
• Strong knowledge of accounting systems and analytics tools, including experience with a mid-size cloud-based accounting system such as QuickBooks or Xero.
• Working knowledge of investment accounting, taxation, and financial reporting.
• Strong knowledge of multiple asset classes including private market deal structuring and project finance structures (i.e. real estate).
• Ideally, familiarity with investment strategy and risk management principles.

Where:
The family office is based in Greater Vancouver, outside of downtown Vancouver. Exact location is currently confidential, but SWIM can check the average commute time and distance qualified candidates, based on their city of residence.  The current CFO works full-time from the office, and this is strong the preference for the future- but there may be some work-from-home flexibility if needed. There is also flexibility on hours, for example, potentially an earlier or later start/finish time if it can help reduce the commute by avoiding the worst of rush hour.  Required business travel is rare in this role. 

How Much:
Base salary will be commensurate with depth, scope, and relevance of work experience, as well as qualifications and credentials. For now, the salary range is quite wide at $130,000 to $200,000. There is also a discretionary bonus (not a formalized bonus program) good health/dental/vision benefits, CPA and PD support, cell phone allowance, free parking, and a healthy amount of paid time off.

When & How to Apply:
NOTE- Swim Recruiting will highly respect the confidentiality of all applicants. We know that folks who are employed by another family office may be particularly concerned about their candidacy getting back to their current employer, and we will ensure that it’s kept confidential.

Swim Recruiting has been engaged as the exclusive recruitment partner on this very important executive search. We will be presenting the profiles of shortlisted candidates directly to the hiring team. If you are interested in this opportunity based on what you’ve read so far, please let me know and we can discuss further. Upon being selected for interview by our client, we will ask you to sign an NDA and can then share more information about the family office. If you already have a Recruiter at SWIM, please reach out very soon. If you do not yet have a contact at Swim Recruiting, please hit 'APPLY NOW' to send us your resume (preferably in MS Word format as it works best with our internal systems). Thank you!