Chief of Staff (m/f/d)

TL;DR

Zasta is the leading tax app in the German app stores (check it yourself on your phone in the Finance category).

We don't build a company based on headcount. Our teams consist of experienced experts with high personal responsibility, short decision-making paths, and a clear demand for quality and speed.

We are looking for a Chief of Staff with exceptionally high drive and analytical strength who will work directly with our CEO on Zasta's most important strategic topics.

• End-to-End Ownership: From analysis and business case to partner negotiation and scoping, through to go-live and measurable results.

• Top Profile: Very strong academic track record and typically 3-8 years of relevant experience – e.g., Strategy Consulting + Operator Role, Founder's Office, or General Management.

• Business-Relevant Projects: New business models, partnerships, marketing channels, regulatory issues, market expansions, and other strategic initiatives.

• Native-level German is mandatory due to our regulated tax environment.

• Strong salary + VSOP, a clear development path into an operational leadership role at Zasta (if your path leads you to founding your own company instead, we are happy to support you with an angel ticket).

You will be responsible for relevant strategic topics from the initial idea to measurable business impact.

Note: This is not a classic staff, PMO, or coordination role.

You will quickly familiarize yourself with new topics, create structure, develop business cases, identify and negotiate with partners, and drive implementation together with Product, Tech, Marketing, and Operations until go-live.

We are looking for someone who builds things and brings them to completion, rather than just preparing decision papers.

You will work directly with our CEO and closely with the management team on strategically relevant initiatives. Your topics are not side projects. They impact relevant line items in our business plan.

Depending on the project, this means:

• identifying new business opportunities, assessing their feasibility, and implementing them

• translating complex, unstructured problems into clear hypotheses, decisions, and workstreams

• developing and critically challenging business cases and economics

• identifying, evaluating, and negotiating commercial terms with external partners

• conceiving and implementing MVPs together with Product, Tech, Marketing, and Operations

We don't measure you by how good your slides are, but by whether you solve real problems and create measurable business impact.

New market opportunities are emerging in Germany around the "retirement savings depot".

You will assess what role Zasta should play in this – from an affiliate partnership to a deeply integrated product solution.

Market & Strategy → Business Case → Partner Sourcing → Negotiation → MVP → Tech Integration → Go-live

You will develop the economics, identify suitable partners, conduct negotiations, assess regulatory and operational requirements, and bring the chosen solution into our product together with Product and Tech. A clear "No" is just as valuable to us as a go-live – if the economics or framework conditions are not right.

For example, we want to test whether out-of-home advertising can become a scalable performance marketing channel for Zasta (and yes: we mean performance, not just brand).

You will develop the business case and test setup, evaluate providers and inventory, negotiate terms, and launch the campaign together with Marketing and Brand. If Lukas Podolski is to be part of the test setup, we can arrange that too. Afterwards, we will decide based on clear KPIs: Scale, iterate, or stop.

Further projects may include new partnerships, pricing, regulatory issues, operational scaling, M&A, new products, sales channels, entirely new business models, or internal structures.

What you ideally bring:

We are looking for an exceptionally strong combination of analytical excellence, speed, and ownership.

You bring:

• a very good academic track record and a very good degree from a leading university

• typically 3-8 years of relevant professional experience

• exceptionally strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills

• the ability to quickly and deeply familiarize yourself with new and complex topics

• very good quantitative and commercial judgment

• confidence in dealing with founders, senior stakeholders, executives, and external partners

• a very high standard for quality and speed, as well as a strong bias for action

If you see a problem, you don't wait for responsibilities. You take ownership, create clarity, and bring the solution to completion.

You speak near-native German and can precisely grasp, formulate, and negotiate complex issues linguistically.

This is not a formal requirement for us: Zasta operates in a highly regulated environment concerning tax advice, financial processes, and consumer protection. In many issues, the nuances of the German language in legal, tax, or regulatory matters are crucial.

You must be able to understand these independently, critically question them, and communicate precisely with tax advisors, partners, lawyers, authorities, and internal teams.

What we offer you:

• strong salary + VSOP

• direct collaboration with CEO and management team

• exceptionally high level of responsibility and scope for decision-making

• short paths from a good idea to actual implementation

• a conscious development path into an operational leadership role at Zasta

We are not looking for a career Chief of Staff. We are looking for a future Business Owner.

In the best case, after this role, you will take over a relevant part of the company yourself – as a Business Owner, VP, or in another leadership function.

And your path doesn't have to end at Zasta:

We would be delighted if we could support you in founding your own company with an angel ticket in a few years.

Find Jobs in Germany on Arbeitnow