Global Labor Relations Leader - UK / Germany / Switzerland
This newly created role sits within one of our favourite mission driven organisations, that is literally improving and saving lives around the world. The company is currently going through significant change with workforce reductions and reallocations in some parts, aggressive hiring in others, integration of workforces from legacy acquisitions, and accelerated transformation of organisational structures and technology adoption.
This is creating the need for a commercially minded, global Labour Relations specialist to take ownership of an enterprise-wide agenda to enable the business to move confidently through change and meet its continued commitment to being an employer of choice. Given the complexity of jurisdictions and workforce types around the world, immediate priorities are to identify and mitigate issues and risk whilst creating strategies that ensure local legislation compliance, and achieve global consistency, fairness and transparency.
Leading, mentoring and inspiring a team of LR professionals, this person will bring deep expertise in employment legislation across continental Europe with direct knowledge of US and ideally APAC employment legislations. This person will enjoy a high degree of autonomy whilst acting as a trusted subject matter expert to HR and business leaders worldwide and providing them with market intelligence and factual information to enable their data led decision making.
This is a role for someone comfortable navigating complex global matrix structures and driving measurable results despite ambiguity and the chaos of ongoing organisational transformation. In return, it offers genuine scope to directly shape the future of this critical business function, influence global policy, and contribute meaningfully to helping the organisation’s ongoing ability to improve the lives of people globally.
To succeed in this role, you will need:
Track record of engaging constructively with works council, trade unions and employee representative bodies; and proven ability to build positive relationships with these as a trustworthy, credible, and pragmatic partner rather than an adversarial negotiator.
Extensive experience as a labour law specialist across various jurisdictions; formal legal qualifications will be highly regarded and direct knowledge of collective bargaining processes will be essential.
Proven success operating within large, multinational matrix environments.
Ability to influence credibly across executive and board-facing levels through to “shop level” blue collar staff.
Strong commercial acumen, balancing business objectives with labour law compliance across jurisdictions
Confidence and courage to constructively challenge the status quo, underpinned by high emotional intelligence
Fluent written and spoken English; additional European languages will be advantageous.
This role is open to UK, EU and Swiss citizens and offers flexibility of location, with the position able to be based from key sites within the UK, Germany, or Switzerland. Regular, planned international travel is to be expected. A hybrid working model is in place, and relocation support is available.
A base salary up to equivalent £180,000 (depending on expertise level) is on offer along with a hefty package of STIP, LTIP, and considerable additional benefits.
There’s a realistic “wish list” of criteria for this hire above and beyond what is noted here, and all applications will be treated with utmost confidence.
Interviews are being scheduled currently, with a view to an employment offer extended in the coming weeks.
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