Operations Intern for AVD (Altersvorsorgedepot) (f/m/d)

Job description

At Upvest, we are on a mission to make investing as easy as spending money. Upvest empowers businesses to offer a wide range of investment products and the best experience in the field of capital market investment and retirement planning. Upvest’s Investment API is easy to integrate so that fintechs and financial institutions can save resources and fully focus on their core business. We are proud to partner with Europe’s leading Fintechs and financial institutions such as DKB, Revolut, N26 and Raisin. Founded in 2017 by Martin Kassing, Upvest now brings together over 270 talented professionals from more than 70 nationalities. Upvest is backed by €280M in total funding from world-class investors, including BlackRock, Tencent, Sapphire Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners, Earlybird, Notion Capital, and Motive. Our latest €105M funding round in March 2026 - led by Sapphire and Tencent - serves as a massive catalyst for our growth, allowing us to offer premier investment experience. ABOUT THE ROLE: Germany's private pension system is being rebuilt from the ground up. From 1 January 2027, the Altersvorsorgedepot (AVD) replaces the Riester-Rente as the country's state-subsidised private pension and Upvest is building the operational infrastructure that lets fintechs and banks offer it to millions of savers. Join us as an AVD Operations Intern and you'll be there before Day 1: helping design the processes, then running them once they go live. This is a rare chance to see a regulated financial product being built from a blank page, rather than inheriting one that already works. WHAT YOU’LL DO: - Support day-to-day AVD operations: Help run the core processes that keep the product working, e.g. contract registration with the ZfA (Zentrale Zulagenstelle für Altersvermögen), contribution management, the annual bonus application (AZ01), and payment reconciliation. You'll learn how a state-subsidised pension product actually functions behind the interface. - Help build the playbooks: As we prepare for launch, we're writing the processes from scratch. You'll help document workflows, build step-by-step guides and error catalogues, and keep them current as the rules and our systems evolve; the foundations the team will scale on. - Support error handling and reconciliation: Work through recurring error cases from the ZfA, check that payments and records match, and help spot the patterns behind repeat issues so they can be fixed at the root rather than one at a time. - Support our client teams: Our partners' support teams field questions from their end-users about subsidies, transfers and payouts. You'll help prepare clear, accurate answers and learn to translate dense regulation into language a customer can act on. - Spot what should be better: You'll see every manual workaround first-hand. We want your view on what's slow, error-prone, or worth automating; and you'll have the room to say so. WHAT YOU BRING: - You are fluent in German (C1 or above) and comfortable working in English. This one is a hard requirement rather than a nice-to-have: the regulation, the correspondence with the ZfA, and most of the documentation you'll work with day to day are all in German. - You're a student in Business, Economics, Finance, Law, or a related field — or on a gap year between degrees. - You're structured and genuinely precise. In this role, small details carry real consequences for someone's pension, and you're the kind of person who notices when a number doesn't add up. - You're curious about rules rather than put off by them. You're willing to read the actual regulation to understand why a process works the way it does. - You're comfortable with ambiguity. The product is brand new, so some answers don't exist yet; you'll ask good questions instead of waiting for perfect instructions. - You're confident with spreadsheets. Any prior exposure to financial services, operations or a regulated environment is a bonus, but not required. - You're available for a minimum of 4 months (6 preferred) and based in Berlin. HOW WE UPVEST IN YOU: - Impact-driven work: We’re building the infrastructure that will power the future of investing in Europe. It’s complex, ambitious, and meaningful. You’ll work with modern technologies and create something entirely new. No legacy systems, no limits. - Team celebrations: Participate in company-wide events, such as UpFest, dinners, offsites and our Holiday party, to connect with colleagues and celebrate our achievements. - Inclusion: We’re committed to a culture where everyone belongs and thrives. Our Employee Resources Groups foster inclusion and connection, like Upfem for our female Upvengers, or UpVergent supporting neurodivergent Upvengers and allies. OUR VALUES: - Make it easy for others. We simplify the complex and act with the best intentions. - Own the outcome. We are proactive, fast and confident to get the job done, valuing progress over perfection. - Rise to the challenge. We aim high and push the boundaries. We stay curious, learn and celebrate our wins together. - Tell the story. We start with the Why to align on purpose. We are transparent and share knowledge to empower and inspire others. Upvest is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.