Deputy HR Director, Europe

The Deputy HR Director (Europe) is a critical leadership role partnering closely with the EMEA&Americas HR Director in a co-pilot (11) model.

This role acts as the primary local HR authority and business partner ensuring that HR strategies are effectively translated into scalable compliant and commercially aligned practices across all European markets.

Unlike traditional HR leadership roles this position sits at the intersection of business expansion sales organization build-out and cross-cultural integration. The successful candidate will play a key role in enabling rapid market entry supporting sales team effectiveness and building a high-performance culture aligned with both European expectations and Chinese corporate principles.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic HR Leadership & Business Partnership

Partner with the HR Director as a co-leader of the European HR function jointly driving HR strategy and execution

Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders especially sales leadership on organization effectiveness workforce productivity and people-related risks

Translate global and China HQ HR frameworks into practical business-oriented solutions for European markets

Drive HR initiatives that directly support sales growth dealer network expansion and market penetration

2. Multi-Country HR Governance & Compliance

Ensure full compliance with employment laws across 20 European jurisdictions

Provide pragmatic risk-balanced guidance (not overly theoretical) to support fast business decisions

Monitor regulatory developments (EU directives local labor law changes) and assess business impact

Build and manage relationships with external legal counsel and HR vendors

3. Sales Organization Build & Talent Strategy

Lead talent acquisition strategy with a strong focus on commercial roles (sales aftersales country managers dealer support)

Support rapid market entry hiring and scaling of local teams

Partner with leadership on org design headcount planning and workforce productivity (e.g. sales efficiency HC-to-revenue ratio)

4. Employee Relations & Social Dialogue

Manage complex employee relations cases with sound judgment and commercial awareness

Lead engagement with works councils and employee representative bodies in key markets

Balance legal compliance employee experience and business needs in sensitive situations

5. Compensation Benefits & Performance Enablement

Oversee and implement competitive and compliant compensation structures across multiple countries

Support performance-driven culture through incentive schemes aligned with sales KPIs

Oversee payroll governance through external providers

6. HR Operations & Infrastructure

Build and optimize scalable HR processes across the employee lifecycle

Drive HRIS implementation and data-driven decision-making

Ensure GDPR-compliant and efficient HR data management

7. Cross-Cultural Leadership & Integration

Act as a bridge between Chinese headquarters and European teams

Enable effective collaboration through cultural translation not just communication

Support Chinese expatriates and local teams in building mutual understanding and trust

Help shape a high-performance execution-focused culture adapted to the European environment

8. Leadership & Management Expectations

Proven ability to lead develop and inspire HR teams across different countries and cultural contexts

Experience managing both direct reports and indirect / matrix teams in a regional setup

Strong capability to drive alignment and execution without full authority influencing senior stakeholders across Europe

Demonstrated ability to build structures processes and governance from scratch in a fast-scaling organization

Confidence to represent HR at leadership level including interactions with senior business leaders and headquarters

Ability to make decisions in complex and ambiguous situations while managing risk appropriately

Candidate Requirements

Essential

Minimum 10 years of progressive HR experience including multi-country European scope

Proven experience in leading HR teams and building HR capabilities across multiple countries

Demonstrated track record of acting as a strategic HR leader / senior HR business partner to commercial or sales-driven organizations

Strong experience in organizational design workforce planning and scaling teams in a growth environment

Solid expertise in European labor law and employee relations across multiple jurisdictions Experience working in cross-cultural environments ideally with Asian or Chinese companies

Strong business acumen with the ability to balance commercial priorities people strategy and compliance

Preferred

Experience in automotive mobility or fast-scaling tech companies

Familiarity with dealer network / distribution models

Knowledge of Netherlands and/or CEE labor frameworks (e.g. Hungary Poland)

Mandarin Chinese skills (advantage not required)

Personal Attributes

High cultural intelligence with the ability to navigate different management styles

Pragmatic and solution-oriented not purely policy-driven

Comfortable operating in a fast-paced execution-focused environment

Strong stakeholder management skills including senior leadership

Resilient adaptable and able to handle ambiguity

High level of ownership and accountability

What We Offer

Competitive senior-level compensation aligned with the European market

Performance-based bonus linked to business outcomes

Opportunity to build and shape the HR function in a high-growth European business

Direct exposure to global leadership and strategic decision-making

Flexible base location: Netherlands (preferred) or Hungary

International dynamic and entrepreneurial working environment

A Note on Working Culture

We operate with a results-driven and execution-focused Chinese corporate culture characterized by speed accountability and strong alignment from headquarters to local teams.

At the same time we are committed to building a locally respectful and compliant European organization. Success in this role requires the ability to bridgenot choose betweenthese two environments.