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Date
27 February 2026
Private markets remain central to many family office portfolios. Even with tougher deal sourcing and slower exits, families continue to back private equity, private credit, real assets, and secondaries. That said, the main constraints on growth and success are not capital-related – they’re people and process. The family offices that succeed in this space are those that can combine the right leadership, a tight investment engine, and clear governance.
Higher private market allocations increase the workload across the board, from underwriting to monitoring, which can put strain on smaller teams. Added to this, new types of funds, secondaries and NAV lines make liquidity planning more complex, and demand niche skills and experience. Onboarding specialist talent in the right positions is therefore crucial, both to handle the uplift in workload and innovate in terms of investment focus.
At the same time, principals are prioritising predictable governance, expedited decision-making, and, most importantly, fewer surprises. That demands tightly defined roles, hierarchies and effective oversight, for example, from an Investment Committee (IC) – another trigger for family office hiring managers to recruit the right experience into the operation.
From strategy through to execution, there are several key roles that family offices require to maintain and grow their private market operations. Getting the right talent onboard in these positions is crucial to building a high-performing and well-governed investment engine, from initial deal sourcing to successful exits.
For family offices growing their private markets allocation and seeking to bring more underwriting in-house, appointing a Chief Investment Officer (CIO) can strengthen investment strategy and pacing, as well as provide leadership as chair or co-chair of the investment committee.
The ideal profile for a family office CIO is a seasoned investor with a strong understanding of multi‑asset private markets, able to switch easily between high-level strategy and tactical detail. They must be able to develop a trusted relationship with principals, explaining complex deals and strategies clearly and concisely. Soft skills crucial to the role include a proven track record of good judgment under pressure, as well as close cultural and strategic alignment with the family.
To strengthen day-to-day investment management, many family offices are appointing Heads of Investments to translate the strategic direction set by the CIO and IC into effective execution – covering annual pacing, pipeline, and due diligence. The need often arises as the CIO’s workload increases, investment activity expands, or better coordination with the IC is required.
Ex‑PE, credit or secondaries professionals are often strong candidates for this role, able to professionalise deal sourcing and reporting without layering unnecessary bureaucracy. Family office hiring managers should screen for hands‑on underwriting and manager selection experience, ability to demonstrate a repeatable underwriting process and strong leadership skills.
Family offices bring in portfolio managers to execute underwriting and monitoring, own specific sleeves (e.g., private credit or infrastructure), maintain manager relationships, track KPIs, and flag problems early. This hands-on role provides the data behind key decisions, so hiring the right talent is critical.
A proven track record of 5 or more years in PE, credit, secondaries or LP teams is a good indicator of suitability. Strong modelling and discipline are central to the role, as is the ability to interface with principals as needed. Delegation is a critical skill that can be overlooked here – an expert delegator with decent analytical skills may add more value than a highly skilled analyst who struggles to share the workload.
As family office operations expand, data quality and reporting speed can suffer. That’s when hiring managers usually look to bolster their investment operations team by bringing in new talent. We’ve placed successful candidates from a variety of backgrounds into investment operations roles: from endowment or foundation operations to Big 4 administration roles, as well as professionals already working in similar family office positions.
Experience is key – both in terms of the modern tech stack, and key responsibilities such as performance measurement, capital calls/distributions and forecasting. Detail-oriented candidates who can straddle the tech-people interface perform well, with the communications skills to coordinate effectively and the technical ability to build easy-to-use dashboards and reports for principals.
ICs are generally composed of the CIO and family principals, but we’re seeing increased demand to add external advisers to the committee who can provide specialist input on specific investment areas and provide an independent, neutral voice to query and challenge decision-making.
As with any advisory role, soft skills are as important as sector knowledge and experience. Conflict management is key, as is the ability to ask difficult questions without dominating meetings. Strong candidates should be highly independent thinkers, confident in their recommendations and able to back direction with data – educating their fellow committee members rather than influencing them.
If your family office is looking to fill key executive, leadership or advisory roles, Victus Search can assist. We combine an extensive global professional network with an intimate understanding of the family office ecosystem. We’re therefore able to pinpoint the most qualified individuals for our family office clients, including those not actively in the market. Contact us today to arrange a confidential discussion about your needs.
Whether you’re looking to fill a specialist role, or seeking the right position to deploy your unique skills and experience, the first step is to get in touch with one of our expert consultants.
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