Strategy Lead - Acquisition (German Speaking)

Job description

The company Small businesses move fast. Opportunities often don’t wait, and cash flow pressures can appear overnight. To keep going, and growing, SMEs need finance that’s as flexible and responsive as they are. That's why we built iwoca. Our smart technology, data science and five-star customer service ensures business owners can act with the speed, confidence and control they need, exactly when it's needed. We’ve already cleared the way for 100,000 businesses with more than £4 billion in funding. Our passionate team is driven to help even more SMEs succeed, through access to better finance and other services that make running a business easier. Our ultimate mission is to support one million SMEs in their defining moments, creating lasting impact for the communities and economies they drive. The team The Acquisition Strategy and Tech team is the integrated growth engine for iwoca in Germany. We bridge the gap between high-level commercial strategy and the technical systems that power our customer journey. By combining growth analytics, performance modeling, and full-stack engineering, we own the end-to-end acquisition funnel – from the very first touchpoint to a completed loan application. Our Core Focus: Strategic Growth & Analytics: We serve as the central hub for our Direct Marketing and Sales channels. We translate complex data into actionable strategies, ensuring our outreach is both scalable and profitably managed. Technical Infrastructure: We build and maintain the proprietary systems and models that drive our German operations. This includes optimizing the "User Experience" (UX) to ensure a frictionless onboarding process for small businesses. Operational Excellence: We connect the dots between data-driven decision-making and real-world commercial impact. Our mission is to ensure every potential customer receives a clear, relevant, and rapid understanding of how iwoca can fund their business. We are a fast-moving, cross-functional unit designed to turn strategic hypotheses into measurable results. Whether it’s refining a marketing model or shipping a new feature in the application journey, we ensure that iwoca’s expansion in the German market is backed by robust tech and a clear commercial North Star. The role This role sits at the intersection of commercial strategy, data, and technology. Reporting into the Head of Direct Acquisition, you will lead a high-performing, interdisciplinary team of three and own acquisition and activation outcomes for the German market. Your primary objective is to co-define the growth strategy and partner closely with engineering and data teams to build the systems, onboarding journeys, and experiments that bring that strategy to life. The scope of this role is broad and we're not looking for someone with deep expertise in every domain the team covers – spanning strategy, analytics, product development, and data science – but rather someone intellectually curious, and skilled at asking the right questions. You'll define hypotheses, lead cross-functional initiatives, and own the roadmap for how iwoca engages with German businesses. You will be accountable for measurable impact on acquisition and conversion, bringing ideas to life through rigorous commercial insight, strong customer empathy, and practical delivery. As a Lead, you will also be responsible for coaching your team and establishing the operating rhythm for this new unit. Market and problem understanding - Deeply understand the German SME lending landscape, customer needs, and competitive context to sharpen our go-to-market strategy. - Translate market and customer insight into clearly defined product problems and prioritised commercial opportunities. - Inform targeting and segmentation strategies to help Marketing and Sales reach the right customers. Product build and optimisation - Own the roadmap for acquisition and onboarding, working with engineers and data scientists to develop tools such as lead scoring systems, eligibility checkers, and onboarding journeys. - Work with marketing and sales to evolve website content, sign-up flows, and decisioning logic to increase conversion. - Influence future team capability by helping define priorities, roles, and processes as we scale. Experimentation and insight - Design, run, and interpret A/B tests across messaging, targeting, onboarding tools, and product flows. - Identify opportunities using first-principle reasoning supported by data, customer research, and funnel analysis. Cross-functional collaboration - Manage, coach, and develop a team of at the beginning two commercial strategy analysts and a data scientist focused on acquisition strategy and operational excellence. - Lead cross-functional initiatives, aligning engineering, data, marketing, and commercial stakeholders around clear goals, hypotheses, and success metrics. - Translate high-level business goals into testable hypotheses and actionable briefs for our technical teams. - Help establish the operating rhythm, rituals, and roadmap processes for this new team. The requirements Essential: - Strong commercial mindset with proven experience driving go-to-market strategy and measurable acquisition growth. - Experience in growth strategy, revenue operations, or a highly analytical commercial role with a track record of driving tech-enabled or product-led growth. - Proven people management or team leadership experience, with the ability to build culture and establish operating rhythms in a newly formed team. - Fluency in German and strong written communication skills tailored to customer-facing environments. - Strong analytical capability and experience with experimentation frameworks and A/B testing tools. - Experience working with (or a strong desire to learn about) technical models such as lead scoring, predictive targeting, or qualification logic. - Ability to work from first principles and thrive in ambiguity with curiosity and autonomy. Bonus: - Experience in fintech, lending, B2B SaaS, or regulated products. - Experience working closely with engineering, product, or data science teams to ship features or models. - Knowledge of the German SME ecosystem or B2B financial products. The culture At iwoca, the best idea wins. We model our culture on independent thinking, challenging untested logic, and evidence-based decisions. We prioritise learning and growth, and give people the autonomy to develop in the direction that makes them most effective. We're a tech company and believe in the power of AI to help us work faster and better. We provide the infrastructure where every iwocan always has access to the best models and where those models have access to all of our data. We will help our people to learn how to use and grow with the new tools available to them. The offices We put a lot of effort into making iwoca a great place to work: - Offices in London, Leeds, Berlin, and Frankfurt with plenty of drinks and snacks. - Events and community-led groups, including running groups, padel, and monthly ping-pong and pool competitions. The benefits - Flexible working hours. - Medical insurance from Vitality, including discounted gym membership. - A private GP service (separate from Vitality) for you, your partner, and your dependents. - 25 days’ holiday per year, an extra day off for your birthday, the option to buy or sell an additional five days of annual leave, and unlimited unpaid leave. - A one-month, fully paid sabbatical after four years. - Instant access to external counselling and therapy sessions for team members that need emotional or mental health support. - 3% Pension contributions on total earnings. - An employee equity incentive scheme. - Generous parental leave and a nursery tax benefit scheme to help you save money. - Electric car scheme and cycle to work scheme. - Two company retreats a year: we’ve been to France, Italy, Spain, and further afield. And to make sure we all keep learning, we offer: - A learning and development budget for everyone. - Company-wide talks with internal and external speakers. - Access to learning platforms like Treehouse. Useful links: - iwoca benefits & policies https://coda.io/@iwocauk/iwoca-benefits-policies-uk