HR Business Partner

Summary

Join KOSTAL Group as a European HR Business Partner to lead HR efforts across European Automotive operations. This senior role requires strong business-partnering experience, deep industrial knowledge, and cross-cultural capabilities. You will align HR activities across nine countries, support senior leadership with data-driven insights, and build efficient processes. The position offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of HR within KOSTAL Automotive and is a potential path to becoming an HR Director. Remote work within the EU is possible. The role involves strategic HR coordination, executive support, process development, talent development, and cultural engagement.

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years of senior HR experience in international manufacturing or automotive environments
• Proven background in coordinating multi-country HR functions, preferably in a matrixed organization
• Experience working at or with production plant sites is required; SSC-only profiles will not be considered
• Familiarity with dotted-line leadership, stakeholder influence, and transformation/change programs
• Demonstrated success in Greenfield-HR process design or restructuring initiatives
• Strategic and structured thinking with a hands-on, solutions-oriented approach
• High resilience, agility, and confidence operating at board level
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing, and cross-cultural communication skills
• Capable of building trust and navigating complexity across multiple stakeholders and geographies
• Fluent English is mandatory
• Willingness and availability to travel across Europe up to 60–70% of the time
• Candidates must be based in Europe with unrestricted EU work and travel rights
• Proximity to a major international airport is essential for travel feasibility

Responsibilities

• Strategic HR Coordination as the central HR coordination point across nine countries (Spain, Ireland, Poland, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Morocco)
• Serve as a strategic business partner to local Managing Directors and Group leadership
• Provide dotted-line guidance to local HR Directors, promoting cross-country alignment and collaboration
• Deliver Europe+ HR insights, reporting, and workforce analytics to support executive and board-level decision-making
• Create transparency in regional HR operations by developing dashboards, summaries, and reports for senior stakeholders
• Support strategic workforce planning, restructuring efforts, and organizational development initiatives
• Review, build and implement Europe-wide HR processes, ensuring consistency and scalability across the region
• Drive efficiency in decentralized HR operations by identifying best practices and process optimization opportunities
• Establish documentation, frameworks, and structures in areas lacking formalization
• Lead recurring and systematic processes like skills planning, succession management, and leadership development
• Support HR capability building through knowledge sharing and peer alignment across HR teams in Europe
• Facilitate regional workshops and internal HR events, ensuring content and logistics align with strategic objectives
• Foster collaboration across culturally diverse HR teams, with emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe
• Provide support and guidance to senior stakeholders on region-specific HR considerations, labor practices, and union topics
• Promote shared understanding between headquarters and regional leadership through structured coordination and personal engagement

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in German is preferred
• Additional languages (especially Slavic or CEE languages) are a plus

Benefits

Flexibility to operate remotely while being deeply embedded in international operations