Antonio Avanzini
Recruitment Consultant DACH
Treasury hiring across the DACH region is moving in different directions depending on team size and business circumstances. In current Treasurer Search mandates, smaller functions are adding capacity as their responsibilities expand, while larger teams are automating work and letting people go while also choosing to not replace leavers.
Employers also expect stronger technology skills from candidates at every level!
These observations come from our assignments, conversations with treasury professionals and employers, and our findings from looking at all treasury vacancies in DACH (mostly GER). They describe patterns in the labour market we see, rather than the volume or composition of vacancies across the whole DACH market. Together, they show how treasury roles are changing and what candidates might learn from it to become a more attractive candidate in a competitive environment.
Team size and business pressure
The clearest divide in our searches is between smaller and larger companies. Teams of one to five people are adding headcount. In functions with ten or more people, automation is taking on more routine work, and some departures are not being replaced, while team sizes are reduced.
Several current searches are linked to companies that are restructuring, refinancing or have a change in ownership. Under these conditions, we notice that the emphasis on treasury becomes greater. In these circumstances these companies have a lot of layoffs but the treasury department is growing. Cash positions and funding options need to be clear to the CFO and other decision-makers. Treasury gains visibility, but the expectations placed on the team also rise.
This helps explain why a company may hire into a small function even as a larger employer reduces the number of roles in its treasury department. The two decisions reflect different starting points: one team needs enough capacity to meet a growing remit; the other has the scale to automate and redistribute established processes.
Skills and routes into the profession
Treasury management system (TMS) experience is now expected across all the levels represented in our searches. Familiarity with treasury technology is an entry requirement rather than a point of distinction. Employers still need professionals who can interpret the information systems provide and use it in decisions about cash, funding and risk.
At the same time, routes into and through the profession appear narrower in our recent assignments. Interim demand has fallen, graduates are finding fewer opportunities to enter treasury, and Head of Treasury searches remain relatively rare.
The graduate pattern deserves attention. A business that requires TMS experience for even junior roles may find it harder to bring in people who could develop that experience on the job. If fewer new entrants are trained now, employers may face an even smaller pool of experienced treasury candidates later. The implication is particularly relevant for teams seeking to build capacity rather than hire only ready-made specialists.
AI and the next skills gap
AI presents a different picture from TMS. It is barely specifically mentioned in the vacancies we are working on, including searches for Heads of Treasury. Yet banks, TMS vendors and consultancies are incorporating AI into their products and services. Treasury teams will have to assess the tools they are offered, decide where they are useful and put suitable controls around their use.
There is no established hiring requirement for AI expertise in our current mandates. That leaves room for professionals who start building practical knowledge before it appears in job descriptions. The useful evidence is specific: what a tool was used for, how its output was checked and which decisions remained with the treasury team.
Access to that experience is uneven. Larger departments are better placed to fund tools, training and controls. Smaller teams may have an immediate need for more capacity but limited time or budget to test new technology. The gap between those teams could affect both the pace of adoption and the experience candidates bring to future roles.
For employers, the central hiring question is what their treasury team must be able to handle under pressure, and whether its structure allows people to develop. For professionals, TMS fluency is increasingly assumed; treasury depth and business judgement are more likely to distinguish one candidate from another. AI knowledge can add to that profile when it rests on work the candidate can explain and define, also in the CV where it is rarely seen.
