Associate Director (m/w/d) HCD Functions EMEA

Founded in Japan in 1887, Kao is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives with our high-quality products and services to create a Kirei Life for all – a beautiful life that respects the needs of our consumers and customers as well as the planet. We never compromise on quality and craft our products with care for the consumer and the environment.

As a company driven by purpose and strong corporate values, we pride ourselves on being listed among the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 16 consecutive years. Our corporate philosophy, the Kao Way, guides us in everything we do – acting with integrity, courageously driving innovation, and treating each other with trust and respect.

Who we are:

Our mission is „to create a world where all life can co-exist and flourish.“ To this end, for us here at Kao, we consider sustainability as the only path forward. As a company dedicated to protecting future lives, we aim to make a positive contribution to everyday life, to society, and to the planet.

Kao creates high-value-add products that enrich the lives of consumers around the world. Through our portfolio of over 20 leading brands such as Bioré, Goldwell, Curel, KMS, John Frieda, Oribe, and Molton Brown, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people across the globe. Combined with our chemical division, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,500 billion yen in annual sales. Founded in Japan in 1887, Kao’s commitment to delivering high-quality products that make life beautiful has continued for over 130 years.

This is an exciting role acting as the key business partner to our Function leaders, reporting into the VP HR EMEA based in London.

Business Partnering:

You will be a pro-active, collaborative, and pragmatic business partner to our Functions business leaders and responsible for 840 employees in Finance, Supply Chain and Manufacturing, Research & Development, EIS, and Legal. The majority of our employees are based in the Netherlands, Germany, and the UK. You will have the support of 3 competent team members.

Labour Relations/ Netherlands:

You will represent HR for all Kao businesses in our local Management Committee in the Netherlands and foster a collaborative relationship with the local Works Council.

Kao operates in a matrix model across EMEA and AMER. You will be a key member of our HR leadership team and work closely with our Centers of Excellence on the Learning and Development, Rewards, Talent Acquisition, Workforce Planning/ People Analytics, and DE&I side.

If you are an energetic and dynamic HR expert and compassionate business partner who enjoys working in a friendly, fast-paced environment and have a passion for working for a consumer goods company with a genuine focus on sustainability, we look forward to hearing from you.

The role/ what you will do:

In partnership with business leaders and Centres of Excellence you will drive our EMEA HR roadmap, objectives, and key results for our EMEA Functions in a pragmatic and commercial way. You will:

• Build strong relationships with business leaders and their leadership teams and act as a sounding board, coach, and advisor on leadership and people issues.
• Act as a role model, mentor, and coach for your team members.
• Drive operational excellence and execution.
• Be an advocate for digitalizing, smart working, and life/work balance and well-being.
• Engage with Works Council leaders in a collaborative way to ensure timely results.
• Manage headcount cost planning for the Functions in partnership with the FP&A team.
• Be a DE&I champion supporting the roll-out of our DE&I EMEA roadmap for your functions and in the Netherlands.

To be successful in this role you will be a real change agent and keen to play a key role in driving and leading HR as a commercial business partner within Kao.

What you will need:

• A genuine passion to act as a business partner and to support your team’s learning and development ambitions.
• A good sense of humour.
• Fluent spoken and written Dutch and German with a good command of English which is our main language.
• Sound knowledge of employment legislation in the Netherlands.
• Resilience and a hands-on approach to also manage operational tasks where required.
• Curiosity and drive to challenge the status quo and help us simplify and digitalize processes.
• Energy and patience to impact positive cultural change.
• Ability to positively engage with stakeholders, peers, and team members across multiple cultures and age groups.
• A clear focus on meeting deadlines and driving objectives and key results.
• Ability to influence, coach, and mentor.
• Strong organizational skills and high accuracy with numbers.
• Sound digital skills (i.e. MS Teams, Microsoft Office 365).
• An interest in working in a friendly and supportive multi-national HR team partnering closely with local and international HR Business Partners and Centres of Excellence.
• Self-motivation, a business and growth mind-set, and influencing skills with an analytical and organized approach.
• Ideally experience working in an international environment.
• Based within a reasonable commuting distance to our offices in Amersfoort (or Darmstadt). We are operating a hybrid working model with the opportunity to balance remote and in-office work.
• Prepared to travel to Germany and the UK a few times each year.

This is a permanent, full-time position based in either the Netherlands or Germany (Hybrid, within commuting distance to our offices in Amersfoort or Darmstadt).

How we work: Having been selected among the World´s Most Ethical Companies for 15 consecutive years, we are a company with a purpose and strong corporate values. We never compromise on quality and craft our products with care for the consumer and the environment. At Kao, each employee can actively shape their job and their career. We work collaboratively to achieve our common goals, always aiming to deliver the best for our customers.

What we offer: A friendly and highly flexible work environment with a competitive salary, benefits package, ongoing development, and the opportunity to enhance your skills and deliver tangible results.

At Kao, your voice will be heard and your opinion counts. We believe that change comes from taking opportunities into your own hands, so we value and reward entrepreneurial thinking and innovation.

Hiring Process: Kao embraces the diversity and the individual personalities of its people because we believe it is diversity that makes us strong. This is why we welcome applications from all areas of the global community.

Want to learn more: You are as unique as our products. If you want to find out why 34,000 people across the globe opted for a career with us, please visit Kao Careers .

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