Job ID 959477
Chief of Staff/Director of Household Operations
London, UK (with international travel)
Salary: c. £120,000 D.O.E.
One of our private clients requires an experienced Chief of Staff to lead the running of their private household staff across multiple properties in the UK and abroad, and to oversee the family office's team of PAs/EAs. This is a senior leadership role suited to someone who combines the highest standards of household management with the ability to lead a support team, manage complex travel, deliver exceptional events, and bring structure and discretion to a busy private office. The role reports to the Managing Director of the family office.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and manage household staff (housekeepers, chefs, security, drivers and others) across multiple properties, ensuring consistently high standards and seamless service
- Create and maintain SOPs for all household staff to guarantee consistent quality across every property
- Lead, mentor and develop a team of PAs/EAs, setting the standard for the service provided to the principals and their family
- Oversee and quality-check all family travel, reviewing and sense-checking itineraries built by the PA team before they are presented to the principals
- Bring a strong sense of quality, drawing on first-hand knowledge of leading households, hotels and other 5* destinations
- Plan and deliver top-tier private and family office events to the highest standard
- Work with the in-house maintenance and property team to coordinate operations, refurbishments and vendors, minimising disruption to the family's use of the homes
- Own budgets and timelines for the private households and all events
- Introduce structure, process and governance to improve efficiency and service standards
- Handle all matters with the utmost discretion, confidentiality and awareness of privacy and security
Candidate Profile
- Extensive experience running complex, high-end private households or estates, with clear progression into broader leadership
- Proven experience leading and developing a team of household staff and PAs
- A strong track record of reviewing and sense-checking high-end travel arrangements before they reach a principal
- Excellent knowledge of leading hotels and other 5*destinations, ideally with an established personal network
- Demonstrable experience planning and delivering high-profile private and corporate events
- Hands-on experience overseeing multiple properties, household teams and external vendors, including refurbishment and maintenance projects
- Strong project management skills
- A strategic thinker equally comfortable in executional detail, with sound judgement on when to escalate
- Exceptional judgement, discretion and emotional intelligence, with flexibility around unpredictable hours