Chief Administrative Officer

About Merrimac Ventures

Merrimac Ventures is a family-led real estate investment and development company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. With more than 40 years of experience, the firm has helped shape communities across South Florida and other markets through luxury resort, mixed-use, and residential projects. Its portfolio includes notable developments such as Miami Worldcenter, Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Fort Lauderdale, Paramount Fort Lauderdale Beach, The Gale Boutique Hotel and Residences, and Four Seasons Resort at Telluride. The company has completed more than $3 billion in projects and has an active development pipeline valued at over $3.7 billion.

Role Overview

Merrimac Ventures is hiring a Chief Administrative Officer to design and lead the internal operating framework that will support the firm’s next stage of growth. This is a senior leadership position focused on creating structure, visibility, and coordination across a complex and expanding business, while preserving the entrepreneurial, relationship-driven style that defines the organization.

The goal of the role is to turn a successful, opportunity-led platform into a scalable operating system. The CAO will help reduce reliance on specific individuals, improve reporting and workflow consistency, and allow leadership to spend more time on growth and strategy instead of day-to-day operational issues.

Core Mandate

• Improve visibility across projects and functions.
• Lower dependence on key people and strengthen organizational resilience.
• Introduce structure and dependable operating rhythms without slowing deal execution.
• Create repeatable systems that support continued expansion.

Key Responsibilities

• Set up and run weekly leadership meetings with clear priorities, owners, and follow-through.
• Build quarterly and annual planning routines across the business.
• Convert executive decisions into actionable initiatives with defined timelines and accountability.
• Monitor progress against company-wide goals and report status to leadership.
• Act as a central coordination point for the executive team.
• Create standardized reporting for development, asset management, and pipeline activity.
• Develop executive dashboards covering financial results, project schedules, and risk indicators.
• Replace fragmented ad hoc reporting with a consistent reporting cadence.
• Provide timely visibility into performance and emerging issues.
• Review current workflows across all functions and document how work actually moves through the firm.
• Design and roll out firm-wide standard operating procedures.
• Maintain a central Merrimac Playbook that serves as the company’s operating reference.
• Standardize how projects are executed, handed off, and decided upon.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve efficiency.
• Clarify ownership throughout each stage of the project lifecycle.
• Create structured handoffs from Acquisitions to Development and from Development to Asset Management.
• Implement tracking systems that keep every active project visible at the portfolio level.
• Identify bottlenecks early and resolve them before they grow.
• Assess and refine the organizational structure as the company scales.
• Define responsibilities and accountability across departments.
• Identify hiring needs, especially in asset management and operational support.
• Develop onboarding and training programs that reduce trial-and-error learning.
• Build performance management tools, including goal setting, reviews, and accountability frameworks.
• Track workload across teams and spot imbalances.
• Support prioritization and redistribute resources where necessary.
• Forecast future capacity needs based on the deal pipeline.
• Evaluate the company’s technology stack and improve it where needed.
• Implement systems for project tracking, reporting, workflow management, and communication.
• Connect tools across functions to reduce duplication and information silos.
• Introduce automation and AI solutions where appropriate.
• Drive adoption and provide training on new systems.
• Work with finance on budgets, forecasts, and cost tracking.
• Align execution with financial targets.
• Support investor reporting and portfolio-level operating insight.

Success Measures

• Fewer executive bottlenecks and less dependence on individual key people.
• Clearer, more consistent, and more timely reporting.
• Better visibility into active projects and the development pipeline.
• Smoother and more reliable handoffs between project stages.
• Less friction across functions.
• Scalable systems and infrastructure that can support ongoing growth.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of progressive operational leadership experience.
• Minimum 5 years in a COO, CAO, VP of Operations, or similar senior leadership role.
• Proven experience building operating infrastructure in a growing, entrepreneurial organization, ideally in real estate development, investment management, or a related sector.
• Strong background in creating SOPs, reporting frameworks, and organizational structures.
• Solid financial understanding and the ability to work with finance on budgets, forecasts, and performance reporting.
• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and drive accountability even without direct authority over every function.
• Track record of using technology and systems to improve efficiency and communication.
• Bachelor’s degree required.
• MBA or an equivalent advanced degree is preferred.
• Prior experience at a private real estate development, investment, or property management company is preferred.
• Knowledge of the real estate project lifecycle, from acquisitions and entitlements through construction and asset management, is preferred.
• Experience with EOS or a similar operating framework is preferred.
• Comfort working with project management tools, CRM platforms, and reporting systems is preferred.

Why This Role

• Opportunity to join a company with four decades of history and a deeply experienced portfolio.
• A high-impact role that helps shape the operating model for the firm’s next growth phase.
• Close collaboration with a lean, senior leadership team that values trust and openness to change.
• Competitive base pay and performance bonus, aligned with the scope of the position.
• Direct partnership with the founding principals across the business.

Additional Information

This is a full-time, exempt position based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and it is an on-site role. The company operates in a highly entrepreneurial, relationship-driven environment where quality and execution are treated with personal ownership.