Ref. 7274

Head of Banking & Pensions – Member of the Executive Management

Switzerland is home to hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs, founders and SME owners — a client segment whose financial needs evolve across an entire business and wealth lifecycle. Today, these needs are typically served by different providers at different times: one relationship for corporate banking, another for occupational pensions, a third for private wealth, and a separate network entirely for growth capital. The result is a CHF-trillion client segment whose corporate banking, pension, private banking, asset management and capital-formation needs are rarely brought together as one coherent relationship.

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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Our client's ambition is to become exactly that: an integrated bank for entrepreneurs and SMEs that accompanies them across their entire business and wealth lifecycle. The Group today runs an established institutional asset management business with a strong focus on pension funds and collective foundations complemented by an existing private banking / wealth management offering and its own occupational pension (BVG) solutions. Building on this foundation, the Group is now developing a significantly stronger active banking business for SMEs, together with new capital-markets-adjacent services for entrepreneurs, founders, start-ups and scale-ups — spanning access to capital, investor and VC networks, and growth financing. Together, these pieces form one integrated offering, combining banking, pension, wealth management, investment and capital-market solutions under a single group — not several separate businesses.

 

The strategic and regulatory positioning is in place; the technology platform has been rebuilt. What the Group needs now is a person who owns this client relationship end to end: de facto head of front and commercial owner across the entire group, responsible for client acquisition, for the full client portfolio, and for the client lifecycle from first contact through growth, cross-selling and long-term retention. In a confidential conversation, we will explain why this role deserves your attention.

 

Why This Opportunity Is Interesting for You

What’s in for you

Full front and commercial ownership of the client relationship

  • You own the Group's entire client relationship. From first acquisition through growth, cross-selling and long-term retention, you are accountable for the full client portfolio across banking, pensions, private banking and asset management & custody.

 

Build new growth engines on an established foundation

  • Institutional asset management, pensions and private banking are established businesses. Your mandate is to build what is genuinely new: a strong active banking business for SMEs— for entrepreneurs, founders and scale-ups.

 

Direct access to a scalable client ecosystem

  • You operate with immediate access to a large, established base of employer relationships, corporate clients and private banking clients — a natural foundation for expanding SME banking and capital-market services.

 

Shape the Group's go-to-market and commercial architecture

  • You define the go-to-market strategy across all business lines and client segments, working in close coordination with marketing and product, and leverage a recently modernized digital platform to scale reach. This is a design-and-build mandate at Executive Management level, with direct influence on how the Group competes.

Role, Focus, Profile

 

Function / Setup

  • Head of Banking & Pensions
  • Member of the Executive Management, Direct reporting line to the CEO
  • Location: Greater Zurich area

 

Main focus

Full front and commercial ownership of the Group's client relationships — accompanying entrepreneurs and SMEs across their entire business and wealth lifecycle, across banking, pensions, private banking and asset management & custody.


The role combines:

  • Client acquisition into new segments, notably SME banking and capital-markets-adjacent services for entrepreneurs, founders and start-ups

  • End-to-end ownership of the client relationship and portfolio across all business lines
  • End-to-end ownership of the client relationship and portfolio across all business lines
  • Definition and steering of the Group's overall go-to-market and sales strategy

 

Role & Responsibility

  • Own the full client lifecycle — from first contact through growth, cross-selling and retention — across all business lines
  • Define and steer the Group's overall go-to-market and sales strategy, in close coordination with marketing and product
  • Continue to steer and professionalize the Group's established asset management, pension and private banking business
  • Continue to steer and professionalize the Group's established asset management, pension and private banking business
  • Build and lead a high-performing commercial organization, including incentive and compensation design
  • Ensure growth is achieved in line with conduct, customer suitability and regulatory requirements
  • Act as the central commercial counterpart to the CEO and Board

 

Profile

  • Senior commercial leader with a proven track record in Switzerland of owning client relationships end to end and building a business from scratch, across banking, pensions or asset management
  • Has credible evidence of scaling businesses and is focused on building and driving growth, not merely maintaining the status quo
  • Experience across client sizes, from SMEs to multinational corporates, ideally including entrepreneurs, founders or start-ups
  • Exposure to private banking, institutional asset management (special focus on large corporates) and/or capital markets
  • Ability to build and steer multi-line commercial models without channel conflict
  • Hands-on, data-driven leadership style, with a continuous test-and-learn approach to improving sales performance
  • Strong understanding of the regulated Swiss banking and occupational pension (BVG) environment, with a commitment to conduct and customer suitability standards under FINMA supervision
  • Credibility to operate at Executive Management and Board level, working in close alignment with marketing and product leadership

Apply & Contact

Erik Wirz
Erik Wirz
Managing Partner
wirz phone +41 44 515 02 60 wirz email erik.wirz@w-gruppe.com
Book a meeting
Yvonne Thoma
Yvonne Thoma
Partner
wirz phone +41 44 515 02 60 wirz email yvonne.thoma@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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