Position Announcement: Director of Family Philanthropy Services

Mountain View, CA

POSITION DESCRIPTION
DIRECTOR, FAMILY PHILANTHROPY SERVICES  
SOBRATO PHILANTHROPIES, THE SOBRATO ORGANIZATION
Mountain View, CA – January 8, 2025

 

THE ORGANIZATION

The Sobrato Organization ("TSO") is a multi-generational, family-owned firm based in Silicon Valley. Sixty-five years ago, its Founder began developing commercial real estate for high-growth companies before expanding to include building multifamily communities, investing in entrepreneurial enterprises, and giving back to the communities in which the family lives and conducts business. TSO is comprised of three enterprise groups that are integrated for impact, all served by a shared enterprise operations platform. In total, the organization has 91 employees. The Sobrato family applies the same values of mutual accountability, collaboration, engagement, excellence, and integrity across all its philanthropic and business activities, working to leverage the combined power of their investments to create value and opportunity in their local community and beyond:

  • Sobrato Real Estate & Development: TSO’s Real Estate & Development group develops and operates world-class office buildings, apartment homes, and mixed-use projects in high-growth markets in the western United States. Its mission is to develop, acquire, own, and operate profitable real estate projects that prioritize sustainable design, the wellness of employees and benefit the communities in which they are located.
  • Sobrato Capital: Sobrato Capital leverages TSO’s investment expertise, network, capital resources, and long-term investment horizon to generate superior investment returns that complement the success of the firm’s Real Estate & Development operations and build the resources of Sobrato Philanthropies. Its mission is to sustainably grow the organization's assets in support of TSO’s broader business and philanthropic goals while serving as a partner of choice for investments.
  • Sobrato Philanthropies: Three generations engage in grantmaking, advocacy, and impact investing globally and, through a collective strategy, work to improve the Silicon Valley region by supporting thriving communities. The mission of Sobrato Philanthropies (“SP”) is to partner with communities to meet immediate needs, address systemic barriers, and pursue social justice to build a more equitable and sustainable world.

KEY FACTS

  • TSO has developed over 21 million square feet of R&D and office buildings and 10,000 apartment units. The firm’s current portfolio of real estate consists of 14 million square feet of office and multi-family properties, 100% owned by the Sobrato Family without institutional partners.
  • Sobrato Capital, a diversified portfolio of public and private investments, was started in 2009 to diversify the family’s holdings and manage the growing endowment of Sobrato Philanthropies. Sobrato Capital also has cumulative impact investment commitments totaling $450 million across TSO and affiliated external entities.
  • Since its founding, and due to the success of the Real Estate and Capital enterprises, Sobrato Philanthropies has donated cash, real estate, and free office space totaling nearly $1.5 billion dollars and is currently granting $100 million annually. TSO has been the largest donor to the Silicon Valley region for many years and has a diverse portfolio of work led by individual family members.
  • Today, 62 nonprofit agencies receive free office space in Sobrato Centers for Nonprofits, totaling 350,000 square feet in Palo Alto, Milpitas, San Jose, and Redwood City.

FAMILY MISSION AND GOALS

Three generations of family owners recently updated the family's vision and goals and affirmed the mission and values of The Sobrato Organization. The family’s mission is to leverage the family-owned enterprise to build a more equitable and sustainable world through business and philanthropic leadership. The goals in support of this vision are two-fold:

  • Integrate for impact, taking a disciplined approach to operationalizing how the family leverages all of its assets for positive impact.
  • Build a dynamic organization that is able to engage all owners across generations and attract and retain top talent from outside the family at all levels of the organization.

 

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Sobrato Organization and Sobrato Philanthropies seek a strategic, experienced philanthropic leader with stellar project management and interpersonal skills to serve in the newly created position of Director - Family Philanthropy Services. This role presents an opportunity to profoundly impact an organization experiencing exciting, transformational change.

The Sobrato Philanthropies platform was developed in 2019 with the key goal of supporting three generations of Sobrato family members to scale up impactful philanthropy that is strategic, responsive, and iterative and sustains family learning and engagement. To operationalize this goal, new processes, systems, and capacities are being developed across the family’s giving vehicles.

Family members seek to address a wide range of critically important causes and issues through individual giving and investing. These range from deeply local to global and cover issues as diverse as housing and homelessness, climate, financial inclusion, humanitarian relief, ethical technology, life sciences, mental health, disease research, and more.

The Family Philanthropy Services team was created to 1) support individual Sobrato family members in their philanthropic efforts, 2) develop portfolios and strategies to support new areas of giving, and 3) facilitate opportunities for the family to engage with each other around philanthropic pursuits, and for the family to learn more about potential new areas of giving. This team supports the Sobrato family’s philanthropic activity across various topics and issue areas.

Working closely with and reporting to the President of Sobrato Philanthropies and TSO’s Chief Impact Officer, the Director will focus on individual and collaborative family grantmaking. The Director will support these two areas by providing research, project management, planning, and grantmaking support. The Director will be a core team member, working collaboratively with 1) Sobrato Philanthropies teams: Finance and Grantmaking; Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation, and Silicon Valley Programs; 2) TSO teams, including Family Services and Sobrato Capital impact investing; 3) the Sobrato family members and support staff; 4) external partners that provide additional capacity for the work; and 5) grantees.

The ideal candidate must: 1) have substantive experience working directly with high-net-worth individuals and principal donors on their philanthropy and have a strong background in grantmaking and the nonprofit sector, including a fluency with nonprofit program models, finance and data; 2) be a stellar project manager, facilitator, and quick learner with a strong ability to design and execute philanthropic exploration and implementation across multiple issue areas in collaboration with key family members and internal stakeholders; 3) be highly skilled at engaging and coordinating with family members on their diverse philanthropic work, adaptive to individual family member’s philanthropic goals and styles, and able to navigate and solve any roadblocks to alignment and successful implementation including securing partners to support priorities as needed; and 4) be an engaging, positive, dynamic individual with excellent communication and facilitation skills, judgment and discretion, and be able to work well with family members, internal stakeholders, and external grantees and partners. There is a strong preference for candidates already based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This full-time exempt position is based in Mountain View, CA. TSO has designated Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays of each week as “Core Collaboration” days, where all employees are expected to be present in the office to facilitate a sense of community and belonging among employees and allow for inclusive collaboration within and among teams.

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director of Family Philanthropic Services will nurture synergies across individual family giving and the collective. Key responsibilities include:

  1. Manage Core Operations
  • Provide oversight to the family’s grantmaking administration across multiple giving vehicles and increase operational excellence, efficiency, and accountability for family grantmaking.
  • Standup a regular reporting infrastructure that provides a holistic view of individual and collaborative giving and impact investing across giving vehicles and reflects financial data alongside results, measured through qualitative and quantitative data.
  • Field, vet, and respond to diverse requests (grant inquiries, invitations to events, etc.) from internal and external stakeholders linked to individual family members. Coordinate with family members, related support staff, and other internal stakeholders to craft appropriate responses. Exercise judgment in what to pass along and what to manage independently.
  • Support periodic grant requests by developing grant terms and ensuring accurate entry into tracking systems.
  • Establish a due diligence process with the Sobrato Philanthropies grants team that is aligned across external providers.
  • Serve as a liaison to external grantmaking partners to ensure timely and smooth grant processing.
  1. Advance Learning and Sharing for Individual and Collective Family Philanthropy
  • Manage and facilitate two collaborative working groups - Impact Media and Women's Empowerment - including grants sourcing and due diligence.
  • Design, coordinate, and facilitate meetings and learning opportunities, including revitalizing the Family Philanthropy Council with an updated approach that uses reporting tools so family members can better understand trends and synergies among them, nurture opportunities for collaboration, and gain exposure to high-impact philanthropy, including inspiring ideas and leaders.
  1. Advise for High-Impact Funding
  • Provide robust advisory services to help family members achieve substantive change and impact in their areas of interest.
  • Develop project work plans to ensure strong support of family advisory projects, sequencing them as needed.
  • Services include:
    1. Conducting field research and due diligence to identify high-impact giving opportunities and partnerships. Conduct research to inform the family’s creation of new collaborative efforts as needed.
    2. Designing, coordinating, and facilitating meetings and learning opportunities.
    3. Building relationships with key organizations, funders, and networks in collaborative interest areas.
    4. Collaborating with TSO staff to support training and coordination for the family’s network of personal employees and contractors to ensure consistent, high-quality philanthropic support.

 

  1. Amplify Change through Communications and Network-Building
  • Support strong external communications and network building to broaden and deepen impact.
  • Partner with the SP President and TSO VP of Communications to advance family-wide communication priorities.

 

  1. Other Responsibilities
  • Represent Sobrato Philanthropies to various constituencies, including at outside conferences and meetings.
  • Build collaborative, positive working relationships and effective communication channels with internal colleagues, including regularly attending Family Services team meetings. Identify areas of synergy, seek input from others, and offer support in return.
  • Engage in cross-organization work needed to advance the family’s goals.
  • Special projects and duties as assigned.

 

QUALIFICATIONS

  • At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in senior roles in philanthropy, grantmaking, and/or philanthropic advising and consulting. Business acumen and private sector background experience are a plus.
  • Substantive experience working directly with high-net-worth individuals and principal donors on their philanthropy with the ability to translate across language and frameworks from business and nonprofit sectors to promote understanding of similarities and differences.
  • A stellar project manager, facilitator, and quick learner with a strong ability to design and execute philanthropic exploration and implementation across multiple issue areas in collaboration with key family members and internal stakeholders.
  • A background in the philanthropic sector that demonstrates a deep knowledge of what it takes to develop and expand innovative programming through strong program and economic models.
  • A sophisticated understanding of how to evaluate prospective grantee organizations programmatically and financially through comprehensive due diligence analysis and processes.
  • An informed ability to invest grant funds strategically with high accountability to accelerate their impact.
  • A self-starter with a passion for program strategy and effective philanthropy who has a track record of leveraging resources creatively and proactively seizing opportunities to increase efficiency and impact.
  • A skilled communicator and facilitator who can work closely with family members individually and collectively to align on programmatic vision, strategy, and goals and translate those discussions into philanthropic impact.
  • Ability to be proactive and constantly prioritize responsibilities in a fast-moving and rapidly changing environment.
  • Skilled at working independently and within a team, demonstrating a high degree of initiative, flexibility, and collaboration
  • Compelling personal presence, gravitas, and highly developed communication skills that can be leveraged to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Sets the highest of expectations for personal and organizational standards and achievement.
  • Highly ethical. Exercises good judgment and discretion.
  • Self-confident, self-aware, with a good sense of humor.
  • Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Word and Excel.
  • Undergraduate degree required.

 

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The target starting salary for this position is $214,000 to $268,000 per year, depending on experience.

The Sobrato Organization promotes equitable and rewarding compensation for its team. Salary is commensurate with experience, plus a competitive benefits package with perks including medical, dental, and vision coverage; life insurance; 401(k) plan with generous employer match; paid time off and holidays; access to professional development resources; matching gift contributions; an Employee Assistance Program (EAP); cell phone reimbursement; public transportation passes; dedicated parking; stocked kitchen snacks and beverages; and many employee events and lunches.

Beyond competitive salaries, benefits, and perks, joining The Sobrato Organization is an opportunity to build upon the Sobrato family legacy of strong values, deep commitment, and large-scale community impact. It is dynamic and growing, encourages collaboration and continuous learning, and is committed to fostering a culture of inclusion. Our team has the opportunity to contribute immediately, taking on meaningful work alongside caring, talented colleagues.

 

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

In alignment with our values, Sobrato Philanthropies is an equal opportunity employer committed to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are dedicated to building a team that represents a diversity of backgrounds, cultures, experiences, perspectives, and skills and to creating an environment of inclusion and belonging, welcoming to all regardless of race, skin color, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood. People of diverse backgrounds with lived experience in our communities and focus areas are strongly encouraged to apply.

 

TO APPLY

Martha Montag Brown & Associates, LLC has been retained to conduct this search.

If interested, please Apply through ADP Workforce Now.

All correspondence will remain confidential. Questions about the search and application process should be directed to search@marthamontagbrown.com.