Founder's Associate - Finance

VIDA; München; Hybrid; EUR 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Real impact

Leadership

Growth opportunities

Permanent contract

Equity (VSOP)

Hybrid work

Home office setup budget €500

28 vacation days + public holidays

Job summary

VIDA is seeking a Founder's Associate – Finance to own the finance function across budgets, forecasts, investor reporting and compliance. You’ll partner with the CEO on financial decisions and drive strategic projects across the company.

The role spans multi-country finance operations, invoicing, cash flow, and internal controls while engaging with investors and partners. English is the working language; German is a plus, and the start is December 2026 or January 2027.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Finance, Business, Economics or related field.
• 2+ years in finance or strategy, startup/consulting/investment bank examples.
• Strong finance operations, accounting and reporting.
• Business-fluent English; German a plus.
• Entrepreneurial, proactive and data-driven.

Responsibilities

• Lead budgeting, forecasting and scenario modelling.
• Be the CEO's sparring partner on financial decisions.
• Drive strategic projects: cost optimisation, new products, new markets.
• Coordinate monthly and annual closing with tax advisors.
• Prepare investor updates and support partnerships.
• Own invoicing, cash flow, payments, and internal controls across countries.
• Understand customer contracts to sharpen forecasts and pricing.
• Support onboarding/offboarding and other operations.

Skills

Finance operations

Forecasting

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder communication

Automation

English fluency

German language

Education

Master's degree in Finance/Business/Economics

Job description

As our Founder's Associate – Finance, you'll own VIDA's finance function: budgets, forecasts, investor reporting, financial accuracy and compliance. You'll be the CEO's sparring partner on every financial decision and also work on strategic projects across the company.

VIDA's clients are development banks, infrastructure investors, and governments, and most of our work is delivered across Africa and Asia. We are looking for someone who can think their way into these clients and their processes.

Your responsibilities

• Planning & analysis: Lead budgeting, forecasting and scenario modelling.
• CEO sparring: Test assumptions, propose data-driven solutions and help set priorities.
• Strategic projects: Build business cases for cost optimisation, new products and new markets.
• Reporting & compliance: Prepare internal and external reporting, and coordinate monthly and annual closing with our tax advisors.
• Investor & partnership communications: Prepare investor updates, support partnership activities and act as the contact for financial diligence.
• Finance operations: Own and improve invoicing, cash flow, payment runs and internal controls across countries, currencies and contract types (public tenders, bank and government frameworks).
• Customers & business: Understand how customers contract and pay, and build relationships with their finance contacts. Get to know our market, customers and product well enough to sharpen forecasts and weigh in on pricing, the business model and risk.
• Operations: Support finance-related onboarding and offboarding, plus other operational tasks.

Is it you we’re looking for?

• A Master's degree in Finance, Business, Economics or similar, or equivalent experience.
• 2+ years full-time in a demanding finance or strategy role. A startup, consultancy or investment bank are examples, not requirements.
• A strong grasp of finance operations, accounting and reporting.
• Business-fluent English (C1/C2), spoken and written. German is a plus.
• Entrepreneurial and proactive. You see where VIDA should go and act to get it there.
• AI and automation are already how you work, not an add-on.
• You build trust across the company, communicate clearly and hold your own with senior external stakeholders.
• You enjoy taking responsibility, are comfortable with uncertainty and work independently.

What we offer

• Real impact: Help build a mission-driven tech company.
• Leadership: Own a critical function alongside the CEO and leadership team.
• Growth: Join an ambitious, international team where your scope keeps broadening.
• Contract: Permanent, full time.
• Equity: A share in VIDA's success through our VSOP.
• Hybrid work: Our team spans many countries. For this role, we'd prefer regular presence in our Munich office.
• Setup budget: €500 for your home office.
• 28 vacation days, plus public holidays in your country of residence.

We are looking for someone who can join us in December 2026 or January 2027.

Our working language is English.

On salary: We'll confirm the specific figure for your level before the first interview.

We handle your application data in line with our applicant privacy notice.

Learn more about VIDA and our work at vida.place or find us on LinkedIn.

About us

VIDA is the go-to infrastructure and programme planning tool for investors, donors and governments across emerging economies. Our software combines more than 50 data layers — covering climate, environmental, social, political, accessibility and demand risk — to help plan, implement and monitor infrastructure investments, from energy access and healthcare facilities to roads and climate-resilience projects, in more than 40 countries.

We work for a world where every dollar spent on critical infrastructure is backed by the right data and properly accounted for.

We are a very diverse team spread across Europe and Africa, counting more than 15 different nationalities. www.vida.place