People Business Partner

HR Business Partner – Northern Europe (based in Rotterdam)

Reports to

HR Senior Director Northern Europe

Role Mission

The HR Business Partner – Northern Europe is a key member of the regional People team, responsible for partnering with senior leaders to shape, implement, and deliver people strategies across multiple countries in Northern Europe, with main focus on BNL.

The role combines strong HR business partnering capabilities with solid internal communication skills, ensuring that HR strategies, organizational changes, and leadership messages are clearly communicated, well understood, and effectively embedded across the region, in alignment with global guidelines and local business needs.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic HR Business Partnering & Leadership

• Act as a trusted strategic partner to regional and country leadership teams for BNL and across Northern Europe.
• Translate business priorities into people strategies covering organization, talent, performance, and culture.
• Provide guidance and challenge to leaders on organizational effectiveness, leadership behaviors, and people decisions.
• Support and enable leaders in navigating complex, matrixed, and multicultural environments.

2. Organization, Change & Culture

• Lead and support organizational change initiatives.
• Act as a change agent, ensuring change is managed with a strong focus on people, engagement, and communication.
• Coach leaders on change leadership, stakeholder management, and effective messaging.
• Contribute to building and reinforcing a high‑performance, inclusive, and values‑driven culture across the region.

3. Talent Management & Development

• Drive regional talent processes, including talent reviews, succession planning, and leadership development.
• Partner with Talent and Learning COEs to identify capability gaps and development priorities.
• Support leaders in attracting, developing, and retaining critical talent across Northern Europe.
• Champion Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives in line with global strategy and local context.

4. Internal Communication & Engagement

• Support and co‑create internal communication initiatives related to people strategy, change, and leadership priorities.
• Translate global HR and business messages into clear, coherent, and locally relevant narratives for Northern Europe.
• Partner with leaders to prepare and deliver effective communications (e.g. town halls, leadership cascades, key messages).
• Act as a sounding board on tone, clarity, and impact of people‑related communications.
• Contribute to employee engagement initiatives and action planning, using data and insights to guide communication.

5. Employee Relations, Governance & Compliance

• Provide strategic guidance to leaders on employee relations matters in collaboration with local HR and ER experts.
• Build a solid and productive relationship with the Work Council and with the Employee representatives.
• Ensure consistent application of HR policies and practices across the region, respecting local labor legislation.
• Escalate and support resolution of complex employee relations cases where required.

6. HR Analytics & People Insights

• Analyze key HR metrics (e.g. engagement, turnover, workforce costs) to provide insights and recommendations.
• Use data to support leadership decision‑making and to shape targeted people and communication actions.
• Contribute to regional reporting and people reviews.

7. Collaboration & Operating Model

• Work closely with HR COEs (People Service Center, Talent, Reward, L&D, ER) to deliver integrated HR solutions.
• Partner with country HR teams to ensure alignment between regional strategy and local execution.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of HR processes and ways of working.

Role Requirements

Education

• Degree in Business Administration, Economics, Law, or related fields.
• Master’s degree in HR Management or equivalent is preferred.

Experience

• 8–10+ years of experience in HR roles, with significant experience as an HR Business Partner.
• Proven background in multinational, matrixed, and complex organizational environments.
• Experience in regional or multi‑country roles is a strong advantage.

Technical & Professional Skills

• Solid HR generalist background (employee relations, organization design, talent, performance).
• Strong change management capability.
• Ability to structure and communicate complex topics clearly and effectively.
• Experience working with HR data and people analytics.

Mindset & Cultural Approach

• Collaborative and relationship‑driven way of working.
• Able to move seamlessly between strategic thinking and operational execution.
• Strong “can‑do” attitude and resilience in ambiguous contexts.
• Acts as a credible challenger and trusted advisor to leaders.
• Natural change agent with a people‑centric mindset.

Languages

• Fluent Dutch and English are required.
• Additional Northern European languages are a plus.

Core Competencies

• Strategic HR Business Partnering
• Change & Transformation Management
• Leadership Coaching & Influencing
• Internal Communication & Storytelling
• Stakeholder Management
• Results Orientation & Problem Solving
• Strong Interpersonal & Communication Skills