Partner - Head of Data & AI

Job description

Advise. Invest. Build. Meet ALAIKA — the new kind of Financial Services firm — globally scaling, headquartered in Munich. **This is a partner seat: you don't just join ALAIKA, you co-build it. Meaningful equity, real ownership, a practice you shape from day one.** ## **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**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanna-von-geyr-374b81/) (build-up and led Financial Services Practice for a NASDAQ-listed strategy consultancy) and [**Harald Braunstein**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/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](https://www.alaika-advisory.com/) and [introduction deck](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pX8HFTMUueKa5bTrP3k22kR1kFjq2Ot9/view). **Join the movement — apply now.** ## **The role and what you will work on** - **Lead.**Run the Data & AI practice as a whole — strategy, structure, hiring, IP, and P&L. Build the leadership team and develop the next generation of partners. Set the bar for what Data & AI advisory looks like in Financial Services. - **Build.**You are not joining a practice; you are building one. **Shape what ALAIKA’s Data & AI franchise becomes — and co-build the firm around it.** That is not a slogan — it is your Tuesday. - **Sell.**Originate at the highest level. Personally close ALAIKA’s biggest Data & AI mandates. Set the sales strategy — the book you build is the book the practice grows on. - **Connect.**Industry-shaping relationships. C-suite at the leading Financial Services firms. Your network walks in with you, extends with the role, and becomes the platform for everything the practice does next. - **Represent.**Be the public face of ALAIKA’s Data & AI practice — industry speaking, publishing, public IP. The market should know your name, and through you, ours. ## **When you are a fit** *“Show me an athlete who did well academically. An athlete because they know what it takes to win and they have had to experience loss.”* *— Kenneth C. Griffin, Founder of Citadel* You'll set the bar — and lead a team that meets it. Intrinsically driven people, who do "what it takes." Your job is to shape them, sharpen them, and prove that ALAIKA is where the best go next. - **Book-smart.**Strong academic foundation. Think in structures, not gut feel. - **Street-smart.**Read the room fast. Prioritise ruthlessly. Grasp commercial reality. - **People-smart.**Communicate with precision — clear, direct, persuasive. Build trust across functions and seniority. - **Athlete performance mindset.**High aspirations. Grit. Learn faster than the environment changes. - **Entrepreneurial guts.**You have built something, owned something, or bet on yourself at some point — and it shows in how you operate. P&L is not an abstraction. Ambiguity is not a problem. You move. ## **What you bring** - **Track Record.**A track record of building — a Data & AI practice, a Data & AI-native company, or a senior data and AI function at a majorstrategic consultancy or Financial Services firm. - **Senior Network.**Established relationships across data, AI, and Financial Services — C-suite, technical leadership, regulators, and the broader ecosystem. Your network walks in with you. - **Sales Track Record.**Proven ability to originate and close mandates at €3m+ scale. You have built a book before. - **Market Authority.**Deep domain credibility — named deployments, published thinking, conference and keynote presence. The market should know who you are before we introduce you. - **People Leader.**You have hired, developed, and graduated, as well as made the hard calls on people. **You understand that it is your task to build the best sports team — not a family.** - **Languages.**Fluent in English and German. Additional languages are a plus. ## **Why join ALAIKA** - **Equity & ownership.**A partner seat with meaningful equity. You own a piece of what you build — and you gain access to the full ALAIKA ecosystem: Advisory, Capital, Building, and the network behind it. Not just a seat at the table. A platform to build from. - **Compensation.**Above market with very entrepreneurial-driven bonus structures. *“My biggest economic misunderstanding was that people got rich from high salary, but almost no one on Forbes got there through salary but only with equity.”* *— Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI* - **Stellar Network.**Shoulder-to-shoulder with financial services executives running today’s giants and the founders building tomorrow’s.