Associate Consultant - Financial Services (m/f/x) - #2775710

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. Partner in 7-9 years possible, for the ones who can keep up and actually build a business themselves on our platform.

Stop reading if any of these describe you:

• Drive. You need someone to fire the starting gun → We only hire people who can prove they are intrinsically driven and execute.
• Ownership. You spot the problem and walk it to your boss → We fall in love with problems. Own them. Solve them. Ship solutions.
• Speed. Slow is your default → Speed compounds. Be smart and brave enough to select 80/20 in the right way.
• Mindset. "Not possible" is part of your vocabulary → We hire people who always find a way.

Still there? Then ALAIKA might be for you.

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

• Advise. Take on the most pressing strategic and technology challenges of the world’s leading financial services companies — across Strategy, Data & AI, and Cyber. In the room with decision-makers from day one.
• Own. Own your deliverables end-to-end. You are not support staff for the partnership.
• Lead. Run workstreams and projects from day one — with real responsibility, not just preparation for it. Multiply the output of everyone around you — not just your own.
• Sell. Drive business development from day one — no waiting for seniority, no permission needed. At ALAIKA, building the business is not a privilege reserved for managers and partners. It is an expectation.
• Grow. Become the rare profile the market is short on — analytical mastermind, financial services expert, entrepreneurial dealmaker. Partner-track from day one.
• Build. We are scaling, with real building left to do — IP, processes, go-to-market, strategy. You do not just deliver client work; you co-build the firm. That is not a slogan — it is your Tuesday.

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 will work alongside intrinsically driven people chasing an uncapped career — people who do "what it takes". You fear "being one more number stuck in middle management".

Your goal is to make it to the top: at ALAIKA itself, at a leading investment or financial services firm, or in a company you build yourself — ALAIKA can help with that too.

• 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. Self-confident achiever. Act first, apologise later — speed is everything. Take full ownership of work normally reserved for far more senior profiles.

What you bring

• Background. Top 10–20% of your class at a top-tier university. Analytical field — CS, Math, Physics, Finance, or equivalent rigour.
• Experience. 6-12 months in a high-pressure, results-driven environment — top strategy consultancy, PE/VC-backed company, fast-growing tech, or demanding corporate financial services role. Hands-on Data & AI experience is a plus.
• Leadership. You have led — a team, a club, a project, a cause. We hire people who make things happen.
• Analytical edge. Data-driven by default. Leverage data to drive decisions, not just decorate slides.
• Languages. Fluent in English and German. Additional languages are a plus.

Why join ALAIKA

• Partner track from day one. Seven years from early careers to partner possible.
• Compensation. Above market with very entrepreneurial-driven bonus structures.
• Stellar Network. Shoulder-to-shoulder with financial services executives running today’s giants and the founders + investors building tomorrow’s.
• Offices. Munich and Barcelona. More coming.

Plus: the essentials done right — EGYM Wellpass, bike leasing, a kitchen stocked with healthy food and team events worth showing up for: Oktoberfest, team dinners, and more.

Advise the leaders. Build what comes next.

Invest in the future of Financial Services.

Apply with CV, transcripts, and references. Let’s see if you are the one.