Finance & Operations Manager (m/w/d) in Teilzeit (30-40 %)

Company: [Climate Resource](https://www.climate-resource.com/)

Location: Berlin

Job Type:  Indefinite, 30% to 40% part-time position, possibly spread over three days a week. We’re flexible on the exact fraction within this range — tell us what works for you.

Start: Commencing between 1 November 2026 and 1 January 2027, later start possible for the right candidate. 

Salary: The gross annual salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. The expected employee gross annual salary range is EUR 48,000-60,000 full-time equivalent (40 hours per week) per year, pro rata for the time fraction agreed.

# Company Overview:

Climate Resource is a small but growing climate science research company dedicated to understanding and addressing the impacts of climate change, and providing world-class climate science to a range of audiences. We’re scientists, economists, and software engineers working together to answer interdisciplinary questions in climate science. We strive to put the best climate science in the hands of as many users as possible. We are active contributors in the international forums in which stakeholders make use of the data and tools we produce.

We have offices in Melbourne, Australia and Berlin, Germany. In Germany, we have been present since 2023 and after founding a GmbH, securing contracts with European clients and winning EU research grants, are now growing our team to match. We aim to work with, develop and support excellent people. We offer a flexible working environment. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees, supporting different life stages and situations, and building diversity within our workplace as we grow and are looking for people who want to shape our culture as we grow.

# Position Overview:

We are seeking a dedicated Finance & Operations Manager to join us in Germany, who will bring insights and skills to a collaborative and international environment. You will work with our whole team in Berlin and Melbourne, but most closely with Kelly, our Australian Business Administrator and Company Secretary; Mika, our Managing Director (Geschäftsführer) in Germany and Rebecca, our CEO. We are searching for an experienced professional who can work on everything Finance & Ops in a research start-up environment, ensuring efficient operations while fully complying with German and EU laws and regulations.

You won’t be building this from scratch or figuring it out alone. Mika, Kelly and Rebecca have been running finance and administration so far, with established advisers, processes, and tools already in place. We’ll continue running this as a team, with you as the specialist for the German side of things.

What you will do:

• Bookkeeping, payment of bills, invoicing, and working with the managing director and our tax advisors to support preparation of the accounts.
• People & payroll administration, including coordinating monthly payroll with our payroll provider: you report gross salaries and absences, they handle the calculation, filings and compliance. No German payroll-accounting qualification needed.
• Finances, including preparing up-to-date cashflow projections and balance forecasts with input from the managing director, providing monthly finance reports, and supporting budgeting for new project proposals.
• Project support, including help with project acquittals, and preparation of timesheets and record keeping required.

# Core competencies (required):

• A structured and diligent approach to work, with a strong focus on working in a team.
• Discretion in handling confidential information (payroll, salaries, personal data).
• A self-directed way of working: you’ll run this area day to day and set your priorities within it.
• Fluent English (our working language) and business-fluent German (verhandlungssicher) - you will deal with our tax advisors, payroll provider and the Finanzamt in German.

# Qualifications:

• Formal qualification in business administration, either through completed vocational training (kaufmännische Ausbildung) or equivalent, a bachelor or master's degree (e.g. Betriebswirtschaftslehre) or equivalent, or equivalent accumulated experience in relevant roles.
• Experience with accounting and managing financials, ideally either in a research project setting or in a small business or NGO environment.
• Experience with project support, ideally for EU Horizon Europe or similar projects.
• Other relevant business administration and operations experience, for example in human resources, travel cost reimbursement, budgeting, or taxes, would be a strong bonus but is not a requirement.

If you are strong in some qualifications but not yet in others, please apply anyway; we’re eager to talk to you.

# Benefits:

• Collaboration as part of a small, expert, international team.
• Contribution to meaningful work addressing the challenge of climate change.
• Opportunity to develop and shape your position within an agile small business environment.
• A permanent position, with room for growth.
• Flexible, part-time working hours.
• A wide variety of tasks.
• 30 days of annual leave (pro rata).
• Working with a modern, efficient stack: we use BuchhaltungsButler for accounting; Productive for resourcing, budgeting and time-keeping; Spesenfuchs for travel cost reimbursement; and Lohn24’s payroll management system for payroll.

Location:

Our German team is in Berlin, and for collaboration it will be helpful to come into our Berlin office to work with colleagues. The frequency and hours of work in the Berlin office will be discussed and agreed during the interview process.

Application Process:

Submit your CV and a cover letter outlining your suitability for the role at[