Chief Financial Officer (m/f/d)

Advise. Invest. Build. Meet ALAIKA — a new kind of Financial Services firm — globally scaling, headquartered in Munich. The work is hard. The bar is high. You own the finance function end-to-end, build the automated backbone a scaling firm runs on, and thrive in it. About ALAIKA At ALAIKA, our vision is to build the future of Financial Services with three brands under one roof — Advisory (Strategy Consulting), Capital (Private Equity), Building (Company Builder). Right now, we are in the midst of building our trojan horse ALAIKA Advisory. The ambition: building the leading Financial-Services-specific entrepreneurial holding — Fortune 500 access, PE discipline, Silicon Valley technology-depth and thinking. Three networks that compound and multiply. • One industry. Financial Services. Nothing else. • One focus. The intersection of business and technology — across Strategic Transformations, AI & Data Intelligence, and Cybersecurity. • One goal. Being the go-to partner for the world's leading Fortune 500 financial services companies — and the ones we might help build into that. Founded in October 2022 by Johanna von Geyr (build-up and led Financial Services Practice for a NASDAQ-listed strategy consultancy) and Harald Braunstein (serial entrepreneur with exits incl. IPO), we bring together deep functional domain expertise and networks in global Financial Services, with a proven track record in building, scaling, and investing in leading software product companies. Curious what ALAIKA is all about? Explore our website and introduction deck . Join the movement — apply now. The role and what you will work on • Own. Own the finance function end-to-end. Accounting, controlling, reporting, tax, and the annual financial statements — and the judgment behind them. The numbers are yours: accurate, on time, founder-ready, and built to help the business decide. • Lead. Build the finance team from the ground up. Hire, steer, develop. Multiply the output of everyone in it, not just your own. • Build. We're scaling fast, and the finance backbone has to scale with us: systems, processes, controls, forecasting. Build a genuinely automated operation, not a manual one held together by effort. You don't inherit a finished machine — you build it. • Steer. Own the forward view: planning, budgeting, forecasting. Track cash, runway, and burn. You see what's coming and steer for it. • People. Own the systems that pay and grow the team: compensation, bonus structures, performance reviews, the people operation behind them. In a firm that hires the best, how you reward them is a competitive weapon. You build it, you make it work. • Govern. Own risk, compliance, and controls as the firm scales across borders. Own the external relationships that come with them: auditors, tax advisors, banks, authorities. • Expand. The role scales with the firm. New deals, new business units, new ground — you grow with it, and the finance backbone becomes the platform the whole firm builds on What you bring • Background: Strong degree in finance, business, or a comparably analytical field. A professional qualification (Steuerberater, ACCA, CPA) or an audit background is a plus. A track record that speaks for itself matters more. • Experience: Demonstrated experience in high-performance settings: fast-scaling company, top-tier consultancy, investment banking, or private equity. We don't count years, we count what you can run. Three exceptional years beat ten average ones. • Functional Experience. A minimum of three annual closes under your own responsibility, including the team, deadlines, and sign-off. • Finance Craft. Deep command of accounting and reporting under HGB. Real strength in controlling and corporate finance — cash-flow and scenario modelling, mont