Ref. 7273

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) – Member of the Executive Management

The Swiss banking landscape is consolidating at a pace not seen in decades. From over 160 private banks in 2010, the market has contracted to fewer than 80 by end of 2025 — with nine major transactions announced in just ten months between late 2024 and early 2025. The collapse of Credit Suisse left a structural gap in Switzerland's corporate banking ecosystem, particularly for the SME sector that accounts for more than 99% of the country's businesses. International banks — JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America — are rushing to fill the void, but they lack the local knowledge, pension expertise and long-standing relationships that Swiss entrepreneurs need. At the same time, regulatory pressure is intensifying, Basel III/IV implementation is raising capital demands, and a return to zero or even negative interest rates is compressing margins across the industry. The KPMG/HSG annual study is unambiguous: only two business models remain sustainably profitable — large international banks with global reach, or focused Swiss institutions with a clearly differentiated offering.

Your benefit in talking to us:

  • Salary comparison, current salary to market salary
  • Understanding your career options
  • Identification of development and promotion potential
  • 65% of candidates will be making a career move within the next 12 to 24 months

Would you like more information? Book a 30-minute video call. Select your preferred date from one of the two calendars.

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This is the context in which our client operates — and it is precisely this context that makes the CFO mandate so compelling. Our client is a PE-backed Swiss banking and pension platform with significant assets under management, serving SMEs, pension foundations, institutional investors and private clients across Switzerland. The institution has identified a clear whitespace: there is no Swiss bank today that provides founders, business owners and SMEs with an integrated financial platform combining corporate banking, occupational pension solutions, private banking, asset management, custody and capital formation services under a single FINMA banking licence. Our client is building exactly that — and the CFO will be central to making this vision financially viable, regulatorily sound and strategically executable. In a confidential conversation, we will explain why this is one of the most compelling CFO mandates currently available in Swiss financial services.

 

Why this opportunity is attractive for you

Industry Knowledge & Access

  • You bring 10+ years in progressively senior finance roles within Swiss banking or financial services — as CFO, Deputy CFO, or Head of Finance/Controlling in a FINMA-regulated institution. Equally compelling: a trajectory from FP&A or finance lead to Deputy CFO or CFO in a fast-growing, regulated fintech, banking, payments or SaaS scale-up — where you built the financial operating model under real growth pressure and learned to think in unit economics, operating leverage and velocity. Candidates with a strategic foundation in MBB consulting (particularly a Financial Institutions Group practice), investment banking or private equity bring additional depth: the ability to craft a credible equity story, build institutional-grade financial models and speak the language of capital markets and investors fluently. Whatever the path, you understand banking finance, regulatory capital frameworks (Basel III/IV), liquidity management and IFRS/Swiss GAAP FER not as theoretical constructs but as the daily operating system of your work. Your network extends to regulators, auditors, banking partners and institutional investors — and you know how to instil confidence through transparent reporting and solid compliance.

Challenge

  • This is not a caretaker CFO role. You step into a PE-backed ownership structure where the CFO is the investor's primary financial interface — translating ambitious growth and performance targets into actionable plans, KPI-driven decisions and tangible results. Your mandate is twofold: safeguard financial stability and regulatory compliance while decisively driving profitability, scalability and exit readiness within a FINMA-regulated framework. You will co-shape corporate strategy alongside the CEO and Board, lead capital structure optimisation, and ensure the institution is fully prepared for strategic transactions — whether bolt-on acquisitions, platform integrations or an eventual exit. This includes owning the equity story, delivering the modelling depth investors expect and ensuring every financial narrative is grounded in substance. The strategic bet is clear: in a consolidating market where SMEs and founders are underserved and looking for a credible Swiss banking partner, our client is positioning itself to capture this demand with an integrated offering that no competitor currently provides. The CFO must ensure this ambition is underpinned by a financial architecture that can scale — profitably, compliantly and at pace. Success will be measured in accelerated financial performance — lower cost-income ratio, improved return on equity, capital efficiency — and in the confidence you build with investors, regulators and the Board.

Broad Scope & Strong Ecosystem

  • The platform you join is unique in Switzerland. It combines corporate banking, occupational pension solutions (BVG/1e), private banking, institutional asset management, global custody and capital formation services under a single FINMA banking licence — with access to approximately 10,000 active employer relationships and around 100,000 insured employees. This integrated model is the institution's answer to the consolidation wave: rather than competing on scale with universal banks or retreating into a narrow niche, it is building the financial operating system for entrepreneurial Switzerland — from company formation to exit and reinvestment. The technology stack has recently been modernised with a new core banking platform (Finnova), and a multi-phase digital build-out is underway — from digital onboarding and treasury management to integrated app ecosystems and platform-as-a-service capabilities. Distribution partners span payroll platforms, accounting software providers, trustees, fiduciaries and the Swiss startup ecosystem. The culture is entrepreneurial, fast-moving and investor-driven — closer to a platform company than to a traditional Swiss bank. You will operate with significant autonomy, direct Board access, and the mandate to shape the financial architecture of a business in full transformation.

 

Topics & Capabilities

  • Strategic Financial Planning & Performance Management: Develop and execute the financial strategy in alignment with the PE-backed value creation plan. This encompasses comprehensive 3-to-5-year business planning, annual budgeting and rolling forecasts to pursue ambitious growth targets across integrated banking and pension services. By establishing clear margin, cost-efficiency and return-on-equity targets, you ensure that operational performance translates directly into shareholder value.

  • Financial Control, Reporting & Regulatory Compliance: Full ownership of accounting, controlling, treasury and tax. Guarantee a robust control environment (IFRS/Swiss GAAP FER compliance, internal controls), timely and accurate financial and regulatory reporting to FINMA, and a sound capital and liquidity position (capital planning, ICAAP). Serve as the principal liaison to auditors and supervisory bodies — underlining the institution's reliability and trustworthiness in a market where trust is the scarcest currency.

  • Treasury, ALM & Hard Banking Discipline: Manage liquidity, interest rate risk (including IRRBB), market and credit exposures via prudent Asset-Liability Management and capital adequacy oversight under Basel III/IV. Optimise funding and capital structure to support balance sheet growth while maintaining regulatory capital buffers and risk limits at all times. The collapse of SVB demonstrated what happens when a bank neglects rate hedging and ALM discipline in pursuit of growth — this role demands a CFO who treats treasury governance as a non-negotiable foundation, not as a back-office function. Experience with banking licence or charter processes is a distinct advantage.
  • Value Creation & Digital Transformation: Lead the automation and digitalisation of financial processes — from statutory reporting to customer analytics and product profitability analysis. Introduce advanced analytics and real-time KPI dashboards (cost/income ratio, capital efficiency, AUM growth, return on capital) to steer performance dynamically. Co-own key value creation initiatives including OPEX optimisation, digital self-service capabilities to reduce cost-to-serve, and post-merger integration of any acquisitions.
  • Strategic & Commercial Finance: Act as business partner to the CEO and business unit heads — evaluating new product initiatives (wealth management offerings, Banking-as-a-Service partnerships, capital formation services), pricing and profitability models for SME and pension products, and ensuring capital investments (IT platform upgrades, M&A) are grounded in robust analysis (NPV, ROI) and aligned with strategic outcomes. You balance investment discipline with the agility required for growth.

Role & Responsibilities

  • Financial Architect: Full ownership of finance & controlling, ALM/treasury, statutory reporting and capital planning — integrating these functions into an agile, future-ready financial engine that serves a multi-business-line platform.
  • Value Creation Partner: As the PE investor's primary financial interface, you translate growth targets into actionable plans and measurable results. You own the equity story, deliver institutional-grade modelling and ensure the institution's exit readiness in line with the shareholder's investment horizon.
  • Executive Leadership: Direct reporting to the CEO. Active sparring partner to the Board, including PE representatives. You are the financial conscience of the organisation — advising on performance, risk and capital allocation decisions across all business units.
  • Change Leadership & Team Development: Build, motivate and upskill the finance team to meet the demands of a rapidly scaling, digitally transforming institution. Drive a performance culture that combines analytical strength and results focus with hands-on pragmatism and accountability.

 

Why is our client compelling for you?

  • Structural opportunity: The consolidation of the Swiss banking sector — from 160 institutions to fewer than 80 in fifteen years — has left founders, business owners and SMEs underserved. Our client is the only Swiss institution building an integrated financial platform purpose-built for this segment, combining banking, pensions, asset management and capital formation under one roof. The market window is open now.
  • Rare mandate: One of the few CFO roles in Swiss banking that combines FINMA-regulated governance with a genuine PE-backed value creation agenda — strategic weight and real influence without the bureaucracy of a large institution.
  • Unique platform positioning: The only Swiss group integrating a banking licence, BVG trustee infrastructure with thousands of active employer relationships, institutional asset management and custody capabilities, and capital formation services under a single entity. No comparable platform exists in the market.
  • Transformation at scale: A decisive build phase — new core banking platform live, digital roadmap in execution, new business lines launching, brand repositioning underway. The CFO shapes the financial architecture of what comes next.
  • Direct impact: Short decision paths, direct Board and investor access, and the mandate to build a finance function that matches the ambition of the platform. Your decisions have immediate, visible consequences.
  • Location: Zug and Zurich — at the heart of Switzerland's financial and innovation ecosystem, with access to one of the deepest institutional capital pools in Europe.

 

What do clients and partners say about our client?

  • A trusted pension and banking partner with deep roots in the Swiss SME economy — built on long-standing relationships with employers, pension foundations and institutional investors across the country.
  • Recognised for combining institutional-grade financial infrastructure with the agility and responsiveness of a specialist platform — a rare combination in a consolidating market where most institutions are either too large to be nimble or too small to be credible.
  • Valued by institutional partners for reliable custody and asset management services, transparent reporting and a collaborative approach to complex mandates.
  • Increasingly seen as a credible bridge between Switzerland's deep institutional capital base and its growing entrepreneurial and technology ecosystem — a positioning that attracts forward-thinking investors, founders and institutional partners alike.

Bewerbung & Kontakt

Erik Wirz
Erik Wirz
Managing Partner
wirz phone +41 44 515 02 60 wirz email erik.wirz@w-gruppe.com
Book a meeting
Marc Geiger
Marc Geiger
Partner
wirz phone +41 44 515 02 60 wirz email marc.geiger@w-gruppe.com
Book a meeting
*Recruitment process

In an initial interview, we will give you a detailed insight into the role, the company, the corporate culture and your development opportunities.

After an initial exchange with the partner (headhunter), you will receive further information about the role and our client's expectations. If you are interested, please send us your documents. Wirz & Partners will draw up a longlist, which will be discussed with the client. From this longlist, 4-6 candidates are selected for the shortlist.

Time to feedback: 2-3 weeks

If you make it onto the shortlist, it's on to the next round. In the interview with Wirz & Partners, we get to know you professionally and personally. You will receive further information about the client, the offering, the services, the team and the KPIs. Based on all the interviews and documents, we prepare a complete dossier about you for the client, including an executive summary. These documents form the basis for the structured interview process with the client. We prepare you for the interview.

Duration until the interview with the client: Up to two weeks.

The first meeting with the customer is about getting to know each other as equals and experiencing the gut feeling, the people and the corporate culture. This interview takes place in person at the customer's premises and lasts an average of one hour.

The second interview is about deepening professional expertise and management topics. In this exchange, you get to know the team, the strategy and the operational goals. 

You will then receive a salary proposal and an overview of the entire offer.

Duration until feedback: 1-2 weeks

Following the final meeting, a de-briefing takes place with you and the customer.

We support you in the contract negotiations and clarify further details. The contract is drawn up and we accompany the on-boarding at the customer's premises.

Duration until feedback: Up to one week

*We describe the standard process, which may vary depending on the customer.

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