People Director South Europe

HAVI is a global, privately owned company focused on innovating, optimizing and managing the supply chains of leading brands. Offering services in marketing analytics, packaging, supply chain management and logistics, HAVI partners with companies to address challenges big and small across the supply chain, from commodity to customer. Founded in 1974, HAVI employs more than 10,000 people and serves customers in more than 100 countries. HAVI’s supply chain services are complemented by the customer engagement services offered by our affiliated company The Marketing Store. For more information, please visit HAVI.com.

The South Europe Cluster People Director plays a pivotal role in enabling the performance, engagement, and development of employees across a cluster of countries. Operating as a strategic People Partner to Cluster Vice President and Country Managing Directors, this role ensures the translation of HAVI’s global talent strategy into actionable, relevant outcomes at the cluster level with alignment on commercial objectives. This includes driving organizational effectiveness, building talent pipelines, leading workforce planning efforts, and cultivating a strong, values-led culture.

This role partners closely with the other cluster people directors and people organization’s centre of practices (CoPs) to ensure alignment and delivery on People and Communication priorities.

1. Strategic Business Partnership

• Partner with Cluster VP and country business leaders to deliver people strategies aligned to global direction with local business goals.
• Work closely with the South Europe Cluster VP and Country MDs to coach, develop, and enable the employees responsible for the leadership of HAVI services and growing the business.
• Act as a trusted advisor on organizational design, talent, workforce planning, succession, and culture.
• Collaborate with the wider P&C network (Talent, People Ops, CoPs) to ensure seamless delivery of People products and services and support the effective delivery of People Operations across the employee lifecycle.
• Contribution in the budget process with focus on a all people related budgets and supporting local people leaders in the budget process; finally, the P&L responsibility is with the Managing Directors of the respective country. HR is responsible to contribute, challenge, recommend etc. and accountable is the P&L holder.

2. Talent Strategy & Leadership Development

• Drive leadership and talent development across the cluster; ensure key roles have succession plans and development pathways.
• Partner with the Talent team to identify and close critical skill gaps in collaboration with external partners where necessary.
• Align our talent value proposition with opportunity and set targets in coordination with Senior People Director, Market Partnerships to ensure ongoing measurement and achievement. Manage and monitor associated KPIs in support of business delivery in South Europe Cluster.
• Provide strong leadership and guidance to People managers / Business Partners in South Europe Cluster’s countries, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture within the people team.
• Set clear expectations, goals, and performance metrics for People managers, and provide ongoing feedback and coaching to support their professional development.
• Promote a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the people function and across the organization, ensuring that People Function practices reflect these values.

3. Strategic Workforce Planning & People Analytics

• Lead mid- to long-term workforce planning across countries, leveraging internal HR systems and commercial forecasts.
• Translate market trends and attrition data into actionable insights, feeding into resourcing and budget planning.
• Proactively support solutions at a country and DC level, ensuring succession is identified in association with HAVI talent methodology and commitment to proportionate internal promotions. Identify and support the closure of strategic skill gaps.
• Utilize data and analytics to assess the effectiveness of HR programs and initiatives, and make data-driven decisions to drive continuous improvement.

4. Organizational Development & Change Management

• Collaborate with Industrial Relations and Legal teams to ensure fair and compliant approaches to structural change.
• Support the evolution of the operating model, championing inclusive and consultative change processes.
• Program manage and take an active role in delivering the change processes required to evolve the business in cluster. Ensure a consultative approach and two-way communication with all employees is prioritized.

5. Culture & Engagement

• Partner with Cluster, market and other HAVI teams on the continued development of our Employee Value Proposition – particularly the enhancement of the qualities that make HAVI a great place to work.
• Embed HAVI’s Values and culture through leadership behaviors, programs, and employee communications.
• Lead the response to engagement survey outcomes, ensuring action planning is data-informed and co-owned by leaders.
• Partner with People Operations to identify employee experience trends across the lifecycle (onboarding to exit).

Skills/Attributes:

• Proven generalist HR/People leadership experience in multi-country or regional roles.
• Strong understanding of HR best practices, employment law, and regulatory requirements in Italy or Spain.
• Strong commercial acumen and ability to link people strategies to business performance.
• Ability to coach and influence senior stakeholders and lead through matrix environments.
• Strong analytical and decision-making capabilities, with experience using data to inform strategy.
• Change management and organizational development expertise.
• Demonstrated experience in building high-performing, inclusive teams.
• Product Management mindset – ability to tailor and deliver People & Communications products, taking into account customer needs and organizational evolution.
• Experience in fast-paced, matrixed, and international environments.
• Familiarity with HRIS platforms and workforce analytics.

At HAVI, we believe in an inclusive and sustainable workplace where our diverse backgrounds, experiences, characteristics and traits make us better. As an Equal Opportunity Employer we are committed to promoting diversity within the organization, as well as an inclusive environment where everyone can feel valued and respected, regardless of their background.

We look forward to your application and to have you onboard with us!