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

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