Head of, Financial Systems Engineering at Mistral (Paris, France)
Mistral· Paris, France·
Role details
Mistral at a glance
A French AI lab building open and frontier-grade large language models, with the full developer and enterprise stack around them.
Mistral is a French AI lab that builds open and frontier-grade large language models and sells the full stack around them: developer tooling, an agent studio, consumer and enterprise apps like Le Chat and Vibe, custom model training, and its own GPU compute. Its edge is deployment control, with open weights, EU hosting, and self-hosting for regulated and sovereign buyers.
$3B+ raised · latest: Series C · 1.7B euros · Sept 2025 · backed by ASML, Nvidia, Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global
Job description
About Mistral
Mistral provides full-stack AI solutions: from frontier models to developer tools, applications, and compute. We partner with enterprises tackling the hardest problems across high-stakes industries like finance, manufacturing, defense, healthcare, and the public sector, co-creating customized AI systems that they can run on their terms. We are a dynamic, collaborative team passionate about AI and its potential to transform society. Our diverse workforce thrives in competitive environments and is committed to driving innovation. Our teams are distributed between Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. We are creative, low-ego and team-spirited.
The Role
As a Head of Financial Systems, you will shape the future of Mistral’s Finance technology ecosystem. The role exists to build a modern data, systems and AI-driven finance department that bridges finance, data, and business operations to drive financial performance and strategic decision-making. You’ll collaborate closely with our CFO, our internal Applied AI resources, and teams like, HR, IT, Legal, and Security to assess current systems, identify gaps, and design a target architecture that supports Mistral’s growth. Your impact will be felt across the organization, from improving profitability to automating accounting and ensuring reliable financial outputs.
What You Will Do
- Lead the assessment of Mistral’s current Finance technology landscape, including tools, processes, data flows and pain points.
- Define and prioritize business, functional, and technical requirements for Finance systems in collaboration with stakeholders.
- Design a target Finance tech architecture, outlining system roles, integrations, and data flows and architectures
- Develop a data governance framework, including ownership, quality controls, and maintenance processes.
- Create and execute a prioritized plan to clean up and rationalize Finance datasets and execute it
- Deliver a clear recommendation on the future Finance tech setup, including costs, risks, and a transition roadmap.
- Ensure Finance data is migration-ready by addressing quality issues and defining ownership.
What We're Looking For
- Strong project management skills, from defining vision, strategy, and roadmaps, to stelar execution
- Engineering academic background, ideally from a tier-1 engineering school
- Deep data architecture knowledge, including mastery of data sources, pipelines, storage, transformation, and metadata management, with hands-on experience designing and implementing architectures (e.g., APIs, workflows, BigQuery, DBT).
- GenAI power user with Vibe coding skills, automation expertise, and experience building scalable, impactful products in a professional context. Basic coding skills and software development experience are a strong plus.
- Experience in Finance technology assessment, system selection, and knowledge of tools such as SAP S4H, Kyriba, Lago, Payflows, etc
- Solid financial knowledge, including experience working alongside finance teams, understanding FP&A, accounting, cash management, and procurement, and a strong interest in driving value through process automation and efficiency.
- Builder and scaler with experience structuring IT systems (preferably in finance), building and scaling IT teams or departments from the ground up, and operating in multicountry environments.
- Proven ability to build tools and processes from scratch to support company growth.
- Strong analytical skills to evaluate data quality, consistency, and relevance.
- Proficiency in prioritization and the use of performance metrics to drive impact.
What We Offer
We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your well-being, growth, and work-life balance. Benefits vary by country and may include healthcare coverage, parental leave, retirement plans, relocation support, wellness programs, meal and transportation allowances, and other location-specific perks. For the most up-to-date details on benefits available in your location, please refer to our Benefits page.
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Why work at Mistral
- Culture: Flat structure, high ownership, low ego, and a "builders, not order takers" mentality. The company values audacity, speed, rigor, and customer centricity.
- Remote/Hybrid/Office: Based in Paris (15 rue des Halles); relocation support and visa sponsorship offered. Specific remote/hybrid policy not detailed, but global team suggests flexibility.
- Notable perks and benefits (from careers page):
- 20 weeks paid parental leave for all birthing parents.
- 100% employer-sponsored medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents.
- 6% 401k match (US) / 5% pension contribution (UK).
- Childcare support (reserved daycare seats or financial assistance).
- Meal allowances and transportation support.
- Fitness and wellness subsidies.
- Relocation and settling-in services.
- Financial and career planning support.
- Team composition: 900+ employees from 30+ nationalities; 50% female leaders.
- Interview process: For science, product, and engineering roles: intro conversation → 2-5 technical exercises → 1-3 interviews (hiring manager + teammates) → values conversation → reference checks.