Partner - Head of Data & AI (m/f/d)

Academic Key; München; Hybrid; EUR 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

Alaika in Munich is seeking a Partner - Head of Data & AI to lead the Data & AI practice, shape the firm, and drive strategic client engagements. You will build the leadership team, set the advisory standard, and co-build a high-impact, equity-inclusive platform.

You will originate and close mandates at high value, work with Fortune-500-scale clients, and represent the practice as a market leader in financial services technology and analytics.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of building a Data & AI practice or leading data functions in financial services.
• Established relationships across data, AI, and Financial Services at C-suite level.
• Sales track record origination and closing mandates at €3m+ scale.
• Market thought leadership with published thinking and conference presence.
• Experience hiring and developing teams across seniority levels.

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale the Data & AI practice as a whole, including strategy, structure, IP and P&L.
• Build the leadership team and recruit the next generation of partners.
• Set the bar for Data & AI advisory in Financial Services and drive client mandates.
• Originate at the highest level and close major Data & AI mandates.
• Represent the firm publicly and build industry relationships with C-suite clients.

Skills

Track Record

Senior Network

Sales Track Record

Market Authority

People Leader

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 (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 . 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, develope

Partner - Head of Data & AI (m/f/d)

Alaika · München, Bavaria

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