Founders Associate (Finance & Ops) (m/f/x)

We’re Cortea, a Berlin-based startup transforming audits with AI. Backed by top-tier VCs with €10m+ funding, a live product, and paying customers, we’re scaling with focus and care. We value first-principles thinking, speed, trust, and kindness, and we build together in our Berlin office.

High-impact and collaborative. You’ll lead finance, guide legal topics, and drive company-building projects that enable our next stage of growth.

• Design and lead our Ops and Finance from €1m to €100m+ ARR: unit economics, pricing, margins, and payback discipline

• Own investor relations and financial planning: operating model, scenarios, board cadence, fundraising story, and data room quality

• Plan international expansion to 20+ countries in 12 months: company setup, tax, payroll, payments, compliance, and data residency

• Establish a metrics backbone: weekly business review, leading indicators, cohort and margin insights

• Run the financial engine with reliability: monthly close, budgeting, cash planning, reporting, and collections

• Coordinate legal work with counsel: commercial contracts, NDAs, SOC/ISMS inputs, and IP hygiene

• Bonus: help shape our AI for financial audits using high-quality data and workflows

You’ll grow faster here than anywhere else if you crave ownership, speed, and real impact.

• 1–4 years in finance/ops or adjacent roles (FP&A, accounting, BizOps, consulting) with hands-on P&L exposure

• Experience in fast-paced settings: startup, scale-up, or consulting

• Comfortable partnering with external counsel; you know when to escalate and how to align stakeholders

• Structured and dependable; you bring clarity and process to new problems

• Analytical, curious, and ready to learn unfamiliar domains quickly

• Strong communicator in English; German is a plus

• Impact & ownership: Shape the future of our AI product with the founding team

• Growth: Mentorship from experienced founders and exposure to all parts of the business

• Career path: Take over all things Finance, no limits

• Compensation: Competitive salary + meaningful equity

• Culture: Collaborative, inclusive, kind team working in-office in central Berlin

• Perks: Learning budget, team lunches, offsites, flexible vacation

• Intro call — with Leon (Founders Associate Growth)

• Deep-dive interview — with Valentin on your previous experience

• Cultural interview — culture and ambition fit with Philipp

• On-site half-day (Berlin) — meet the team and jam on a live problem