HR Director – International Business, China (CN)

Our client is one of China's preeminent diversified conglomerates, operating an expansive portfolio of businesses across multiple industry verticals. Recognised as a global leader in several of its core sectors, the group has built a highly integrated ecosystem that combines scale, innovation, and operational excellence. With a workforce of over 150,000 employees worldwide, including a sizable and strategically important presence in China, the organisation continues to accelerate its expansion into new growth areas while delivering significant commercial impact and contributing meaningfully to its global success.

This is a highly strategic and commercially focused HR leadership role supporting the group's rapidly expanding international businesses. As the HR Director for International Business, the incumbent will act as a trusted advisor to global business leaders, shaping and executing the people agenda to enable sustainable growth across multiple overseas markets. The role is responsible for driving organisational effectiveness, leadership and talent development, succession planning, and workforce strategies across diverse geographies. Partnering closely with both corporate headquarters and regional management teams, the position will build scalable HR frameworks and governance mechanisms while ensuring sufficient agility to address local market dynamics. Given the organisation's ambitious globalisation agenda, this position plays a critical role in building a world-class international talent ecosystem, strengthening leadership capabilities, and fostering an integrated, high-performing culture across regions. The role requires balancing global consistency with local relevance, enabling the business to scale rapidly while maintaining operational excellence and competitiveness.

We are seeking a mature and globally minded HR leader who can successfully bridge the practices of multinational corporations and Chinese enterprises. The ideal candidate should have built a strong foundation within leading multinational organisations, bringing exposure to best-in-class global HR practices, strategic thinking, and international perspectives, while also having gained meaningful experience within Chinese privately owned companies and demonstrating a high degree of cultural adaptability and entrepreneurial agility. From a functional standpoint, the individual should possess a well-rounded HR generalist and business partnering background, with proven experience supporting manufacturing and production environments. We are looking for someone who understands the realities of large-scale operations and frontline workforce dynamics, rather than a purely corporate or office-based HR professional. Given the strategic importance of maintaining strong alignment with headquarters while supporting global expansion, the successful candidate must be comfortable operating in a highly international and mobile environment, spending approximately 50% of their time at the company's China headquarters and the remainder traveling across overseas markets. The organisation has learned that close connectivity with the China leadership team is critical to the success of this role. Equally important are the leadership attributes. The ideal individual should possess humility, curiosity, and an open-minded approach, with a genuine willingness to understand the operating philosophy and decision-making dynamics of a Chinese company. At the same time, they must have the credibility and influence to help overseas teams understand and navigate the Chinese way of working, acting as a trusted cultural bridge between headquarters and international operations.

This is an excellent opportunity to influence senior leaders and actively shape business strategy. The company has strong entrepreneurial roots and a culture that values ownership, so you must be ready to roll your sleeves up and drive results hands-on. It's a highly visible regional role in a thriving, world-class environment.

This role operates in a highly matrixed organisation that will demand strong stakeholder management skills to navigate effectively. The HR function is complex and fast-paced, which may not be suited to everyone—but for the right candidate, it offers significant growth and impact.