HR / People Site Lead (EMBL)

Help shape the future of people at EMBL

EMBL is entering an exciting new chapter. With new scientific leadership, an ambitious strategic vision and a continued commitment to enabling world-class science, we are strengthening our HR leadership to meet the future needs of our international community.

As part of this journey, we are recruiting two site based HR team leaders to oversee our Human Resources teams: based at our two largest sites in Heidelberg, Germany, and at our European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) near Cambridge, UK. Together, these roles will play a pivotal part in strengthening local HR leadership alongside our scientific communities. The local lead roles will be responsible for connecting and collaborating across all sites and specifically with HR colleagues within the headquarters also based in Heidelberg. This is an exciting time to join the team to support the work that EMBL does in a dynamic scientific international organisation.

At EMBL, our scientists and professional services teams are tackling some of the most important challenges in the life sciences, using latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, exploring biodiversity and the impacts of climate change to enable discoveries that improve human health. Behind every scientific breakthrough is an organisation that attracts, develops and supports exceptional people. 

We are looking for experienced HR leaders who can operate within a matrix organisation as part of the administrative and operational teams.

Your role

Working closely with the Headquarter HR team and reporting to the local Head of Administration & Operations, you will act as the critical link between institutional strategy and site-level reality, ensuring that EMBL’s people practices are practical, effective and aligned with our unique organisational framework.

You will lead and develop a team of HR professionals in areas such as HR Partnering, People Advisory and Talent Acquisition, while building trusted relationships with senior scientific and operational managers and leaders.

You will also play a key role in driving organisational change, supporting and contributing to HR transformational initiatives. This is particularly important as we engage with emerging technologies such as business AI tools and their applications with our new enterprise resource platform (ERP) for HR and other financial systems and tools. 

Operating within EMBL's unique matrix environment, you'll balance local priorities with institutional objectives, ensuring that HR solutions are both practical and aligned with the organisation's broader ambitions.

Success in this role comes through delivery, influence, collaboration and sound judgement, helping leaders navigate complexity while enabling exceptional science. Focus areas will also be supporting new and emerging technologies within our HR landscapes.

What you will do
 

• Lead and develop a team of HR professionals, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement.

• Partner with Directors, Heads of Unit and senior leaders within scientific and operation areas to deliver practical people solutions aligned with organisational priorities.

• Oversee the day to day delivery of HR operations and recruitment in a unique setting.

• Support continuous improvement of HR services across the employee lifecycle.

• Provide expert guidance on complex employee relations and sensitive people matters.

• Contribute to organisational design, restructures and change programmes specifically at the local level.

• Support HR projects and drive local initiatives to support the evolution of policies and processes.

• Build productive and positive relationships with EMBL’s Staff Association and external stakeholders.

• Act as a trusted advisor to the Heads of Administration, Directors and scientific leaders  and confidently represent the function across the organisation.

• Work collaboratively as part of the wider site based Administration and Operations team ensuring that cross team functions align to support user interfaces and processes. 

About you

You'll be an experienced HR leader who enjoys working in complex, international, collaborative environments and building strong partnerships across a wide range of stakeholders.

You have
 

• A university degree and/or training in Human Resources Management or similar

• Substantial experience as a senior HR generalist or senior HR business partner, with leadership responsibility

• Strong track record of managing complex employee relations with sound judgement and minimal escalation

• Ability to build credibility with senior leaders and highly accomplished technical or scientific experts in an intellectually rigorous, evidence-driven environment

• Exposure to change management or policy development at a function-wide level

• A passion for continuous improvement and simplifying complex processes to deliver better outcomes for managers and staff

• A positive, growth mindset with resilience and the confidence to navigate ambiguity and competing priorities

• Track record of delivery in multicultural and matrix organisations

• Fluent English language skills

You may also have 
 

• Familiarity with Workday or comparable HR ERP systems.

• Experience working in higher education, research, academic or international or multi-country environments

• Experience working in fast paced research and development and technical sectors

• German language skills and/or any other language from EMBL´s sites

Contract length: 5 years (renewable to maximum of 9 years)

Salary: Grade 9 (monthly salary from 6.852,15 EUR after tax, excl. EMBL pension and health insurance contributions of 12.99%, plus other generous benefits)

Why join us
EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture - one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation. 

We encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing team – we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and personal experiences reflect the diversity of the populations that our science serves. We actively encourage applications from all genders and cultures, ethnic groups and all demographics to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights at this transformational point in our people strategy.

Enjoy lots of benefits:

• Financial incentives: Salary free of income tax, Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances

• Flexible working arrangements

• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)

• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to public holidays

• Relocation package including installation grant (if applicable)

• Campus life: Free shuttle bus (Heidelberg), library, subsidised on-site cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)

• Family benefits: Kindergarten (Heidelberg), 10 days of child sick leave, generous paid maternity/parental leave and monthly family & child allowances

• Benefits for international newcomers: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

• For detailed information please visit our employee benefits page here

What else you need to know

• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Visit our International Applicants page, to find out more.

• EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here.

• Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we believe that diverse teams drive innovation and scientific excellence. We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and/or any other diverse backgrounds.

• How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. Applications will close at 23:59 CET on the date shown below. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.

Closing Date