Strategic Finance Manager (m/f/d)

📊 Want to build the finance function of a fast-growing consumer brand from scratch, and sit right next to the founders when the big decisions get made? Then read on. 🐱

At The Better Cat, we are reinventing the pet food market. 🐾 We are a VC-backed startup (backed by FoodLabs, among others) that has become the fastest growing cat food company in Germany and won the Fressnapf Innovation Award in 2024. We sell D2C, on Amazon and increasingly in retail.

This is our first dedicated finance hire, reporting directly to our co-founder Niklas. The role is a real mix: part finance business partner, giving the founding team accurate and timely numbers to decide on, and part hands-on operational finance, building the close and working with our external accountant and tax advisor. We are AI-first and automate wherever we can, so you will have the freedom (and the expectation) to build finance processes the modern way.

Tasks

Financial Planning & Analysis

• Own forecasting, budgeting and performance analysis.

• Analyse revenue, gross margin, contribution margin, costs and working capital.

• Support pricing, promotion, product mix, channel and product portfolio decisions.

Business Partnering & Decision Support

• Be the primary finance contact for our Growth & Marketing and Supply Chain teams.

• Translate financial and operational KPIs into clear insights and actions.

• Challenge assumptions, connect operational decisions to P&L and cash-flow outcomes, and find opportunities to improve profitability and efficiency.

Supply Chain & Working Capital

• Partner on inventory, procurement, fulfilment, logistics and working capital decisions.

• Identify opportunities to improve costs, cash flow and operational efficiency.

Strategic Initiatives & Business Cases

• Build business cases and quantify the financial impact of major initiatives, such as new brand, channel or country launches, and connect them to financial operations.

• Support the rollout of controlling processes across the organisation.

Accounting

• Build the monthly and annual close processes from scratch.

• Work with our external tax advisor and accountants to ensure robust VAT treatment across countries and channels.

Requirements

Experience & Background

• 2-4 years of experience in Consulting, Investment Banking, FP&A, Finance Business Partnering, Commercial Finance or Strategic Finance.

• Experience in e-commerce, consumer products, retail, distribution or another physical-product business.

• At least a bachelor's degree in a relevant subject such as Finance, Accounting, Economics or Business. A professional qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or CFA) in progress or newly completed is a plus.

• Proven ability to run workstreams independently and deliver high-quality output with minimal supervision.

• Fluent in German and English.

Technical Skills

• Advanced Excel skills, including complex financial modelling and data analysis.

• Experience with accounting software (e.g. DATEV, Lexware) and AI and automation tools (Claude, ChatGPT, n8n, Make, Zapier) is a plus. Above all, you are curious about AI and want to use it to work smarter.

• Comfortable working with large datasets and turning analysis into clear, concise business insights.

• Solid understanding of financial statements, management accounting principles and business performance metrics.

Leadership & Communication

• Strong analytical mindset with excellent attention to detail and problem-solving skills.

• Strong commercial mindset and the ability to influence senior stakeholders.

• Clear and confident written and verbal communication, including presenting findings to non-finance stakeholders.

• Proactive and self-motivated, with an entrepreneurial mindset and comfort in a fast-paced, scaling company.

Benefits

• 🦁 An inspiring team: Ambitious, fun, down-to-earth and authentic. Come and meet us!

• 🏗️ Build it your way: As our first finance hire, you shape the finance function, its processes and its tools from day one.

• 📈 Direct access to the founders: You work daily with Niklas and the founding team and help make decisions instead of just reporting on them.

• 🤖 AI-first environment: We automate wherever it makes sense and give you room to experiment with the latest tools.

• 🐱 Great products: It is more fun to stand behind something that truly works. Read our reviews or ask us for a sample!

• 💝 Cool benefits: Deutschland-Ticket, MacBook, Wellpass, merch, office snacks and drinks.

• ⭐ Great workplace: Modern office in Hamburg's HafenCity, hybrid setup, flexible working hours and fast personal growth.

🐾 Ready to build the finance engine of a scaling consumer brand and make the world a better place for cats?

Then get in touch! 📩 Send us your CV and a short cover letter and tell us why you are the right person for this role. We look forward to hearing from you!

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