Partner - Head of Data & AI
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 (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
- 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.