Human Resource Director, Europe & Canada

The Human Resources Director, Europe & Canada is responsible for leading the HR strategy, operations, and employee experience across Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Romania. This position serves as the senior HR leader for the region and partners closely with business leaders to align people strategies with organizational priorities, business growth, and operational objectives.

Reporting directly to the Chief Human Resources Officer in the United States, the HR Director will provide leadership across employee relations, talent acquisition, organizational design, workforce planning, talent and leadership development, succession planning, payroll oversight, employment compliance, and general HR operations.

The successful candidate will bring strong experience operating in a complex, multi-country environment and will balance strategic leadership with effective day-to-day HR execution. The role will lead regional HR resources while collaborating closely with global HR, Talent Acquisition, Payroll, Finance, Legal, and business leadership.

This Human Resources Director, Europe & Canada will have 3 direct reports and serves approximately 250 employees in the region.

PRIMARY DUTIES:

Strategic HR Leadership & Business Partnership

Serve as the senior HR leader for Canada, the UK, Belgium, and Romania, providing strategic HR direction across the region. Other countries with small numbers of staff include France, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Partner with EOR vendors for employment needs in countries outside of the company’s operations.

Partner with senior leaders and managers to translate business priorities into people strategies that drive growth, engagement, and performance.

Use workforce data and insights to identify trends, risks, and opportunities, and adapt global HR initiatives to country-specific needs.

HR Operations & Regional Leadership

Lead regional HR operations, ensuring consistent, scalable, and employee-focused HR practices across the employee lifecycle.

Lead and develop the regional HR team, including HR Managers in the UK and Romania and an HR Coordinator in Romania.

Partner with global HR to standardize and continuously improve processes while addressing local requirements.

Employee Relations

Lead employee relations matters across the region, including disciplinary actions, grievances, investigations, redundancies, and dismissals.

Coach managers to address employee relations and performance issues consistently, with appropriate documentation and escalation.

Partner with General Counsel and external counsel on employment-related claims and proactively reduce employment risk.

Talent Acquisition & Onboarding

Own regional recruitment and onboarding of top talent in partnership with offshore recruiters and hiring managers.

Build talent pipelines for critical roles and ensure hiring practices and documentation meet local requirements.

Talent Development, Succession & Career Planning

Lead employee development, succession planning, career pathing, and leadership development across the region.

Facilitate talent reviews with leaders to identify critical roles, high-potential employees, and capability gaps.

Payroll & HR Administration

Oversee regional payroll administration in partnership with the offshore payroll specialist team.

Maintain strong controls and coordination between HR, Payroll, and Finance for accurate employee transactions.

Employment Compliance & Risk Management

Ensure HR practices comply with employment requirements in Canada, the UK, Belgium, and Romania.

Monitor legislative developments and recommend updates to policies, documentation, and manager practices.

Support compliance for working time, leave, employee consultation, restructurings, redundancies, and terminations.

Organizational Effectiveness & Workforce Planning

Provide guidance on organizational structure, spans of control, and workforce planning to support growth and scalability.

Support integrations, restructurings, acquisitions, and related change and communication strategies within the region.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Significant progressive HR leadership experience, including experience at the HR Director, Head of HR, Senior HR Business Partner, or comparable level.

Demonstrated experience supporting employees and leaders across multiple countries or jurisdictions.

Strong working knowledge of employment practices and employee relations within the UK and broader European environment.

Demonstrated experience managing complex employee relations matters, including investigations, disciplinary matters, grievances, redundancies, and dismissals.

Experience partnering with senior business leaders on workforce planning, organizational design, restructuring, and talent strategy.

Experience leading and developing HR professionals.

Strong understanding of recruitment, onboarding, performance management, succession planning and employee development.

Experience providing oversight or governance for payroll and HR operational processes.

Strong judgment and demonstrated ability to handle confidential and sensitive employee matters.

Excellent communication, influencing, consultation, and stakeholder-management skills.

Ability to operate effectively within a global organization and collaborate across countries, cultures, and time zones.

Preferred

Direct HR experience supporting employees in Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and/or Romania.

Experience within a global professional services, technology services, managed services, or similarly complex organization.

Experience supporting acquisitions, integrations, restructurings, or other large-scale organizational transformation.

Experience working within a global HR operating model that uses shared-services or offshore recruiting, payroll, or HR operations teams.

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES:

Strategic Business Partnership: Connects workforce and organizational decisions directly to business priorities and outcomes.

Commercial Acumen: Understands how talent, organizational structure, workforce costs, and leadership capability affect business performance.

Employment Risk Judgment: Balances employee experience, business objectives, consistency, and employment risk when advising leaders.

Influence & Credibility: Builds trusted relationships with senior executives, managers, employees, and global functional partners.

Change Leadership: Effectively leads organizations and employees through transformation, restructuring, integration, and growth.

Talent Mindset: Proactively develops internal talent and strengthens leadership pipelines and succession plans.

Operational Excellence: Creates consistent, scalable HR processes while recognizing when local requirements require different approaches.

Global & Cultural Awareness: Works effectively across countries and cultures and avoids applying a single-country approach to regional workforce matters.

Sound Judgment & Discretion: Demonstrates maturity and confidentiality when handling sensitive employee and legal matters.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Ability to read, understand, and interpret job-related documents, instructions, policies, and communications in English. Ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing, with employees, customers, vendors, and other business partners, as applicable to the position. Fluent English is required. Fluent or professional-level French language capability is preferred.

REQUIRED EDUCATION / CERTIFICATIONS: Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Organizational Development, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience. Preferred: CIPD or an equivalent internationally recognized HR credential.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Regular use of hands and fingers to operate a computer, keyboard, mouse, and other office equipment, including repetitive motions such as typing, scrolling, and mouse use. Ability to communicate effectively and understand verbal communication in person, by telephone, and through video conferencing or other remote communication tools. Ability to view and read information on computer screens and printed materials, including the ability to adjust focus. The position requires prolonged periods of computer use and viewing a computer screen.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: Remote

EXPECTED HOURS OF WORK: This position generally operates during normal business hours; however, specific start and end times may vary based on business needs, workload, and job responsibilities. Occasional work outside of normal business hours may be required.

TRAVEL: Occasional trips to Belgium and Romania may be required.

SALARY:  This role will have 3 direct reports and serve approximately 250 people in the region.  Salary is $75,000 £ - $85,000 £