Global HR Director, HR Technology & Operations, Munich (DE) or Innsbruck (AT)

We are representing a global industrial technology company that provides highly engineered products, solutions and services to customers across a range of complex and critical applications. The business has undergone significant transformation in recent years and is now entering an important new phase of growth and organisational development. It operates in markets undergoing considerable change, driven by evolving customer requirements, technological advances and increased investment in infrastructure. With a substantial international footprint, the company continues to grow across a number of key markets. As the organisation scales, HR is evolving from a function primarily focused on supporting growth to one that is building the infrastructure, governance, systems and operating capabilities required for a larger, more complex global organisation. This creates an opportunity to play a significant role in shaping the next stage of the company's organisational and people agenda, working closely with senior business leaders in an international, technically sophisticated environment.

This newly created role reports directly to the CHRO and will serve as a key member of the Global HR Leadership Team. The position will establish and lead a dedicated global function spanning HR technology, HR operations and services, people analytics, payroll governance and HR operating model transformation. The Global HR Director will lead an international team and oversee a broader network of external partners and providers. The role will have ownership of the organisation's global HR technology landscape, while driving improvements across service delivery, workforce analytics, payroll governance, process optimisation, automation and the adoption of AI-enabled solutions. This is a highly strategic yet operational leadership position, with a clear mandate to build scalable HR infrastructure, strengthen governance and processes, and develop the operating capabilities required to support the organisation's continued international growth and increasing complexity.

The ideal candidate brings experience across HR technology, HR operations, payroll governance, shared services, people analytics, process excellence and HR transformation within an international environment. Strong experience leading large-scale HR operating model change, automation initiatives and service delivery transformation is required. Expertise with Workday and modern HR technology ecosystems is highly desirable. Candidates should have experience leading international teams and managing multiple stakeholders across HR, IT, Finance and Digital functions. The successful individual will be a builder who thrives in high-growth, evolving environments, combines strategic thinking with operational execution and enjoys creating structure, simplification and scalable solutions where complexity exists.

This is a rare opportunity to build a global HR Technology & Services function from the ground up whilst also having a key leadership role during a significant growth and public-market transition. There is direct exposure to executive leadership and company-wide transformation initiatives with the opportunity to shape the future HR operating model of a global industrial technology leader.

This is a highly complex and evolving environment with significant ambiguity where no mature shared-services model currently exists, requiring substantial design and transformation work. There are high expectations regarding scalability, governance and operational excellence which demands strong change management, stakeholder management and execution capabilities. Not suitable for candidates seeking a pure HRIS or specialist role.