Head of People Experience (HR) Volvo Car Germany in Köln bei Volvo Cars AB

Everything we do starts with people. Our human-centric focus is what makes us different from all other car companies, and it’s at the heart of everything we create.
The automotive industry is going through its biggest transformation journey ever. The future is electric, autonomous and online with groundbreaking technologies and new innovative business models.
With Volvo Car Germany you will be able to make a difference! You’ll be joining us at a time when you can really have a great impact and help us set the tone for the next chapter in our company's history. You, together with the managers and employees, will set the culture and values to make Volvo a fantastic place for our talents in both of our locations in Cologne and Dietzenbach.

Let us describe the opportunity we offer
We are currently looking for a motivated, creative, and ambitious individual to oversee our People Experience (HR) operations within our legal entity in Germany.
This is a business-critical role as the expectations of us are high to be successful in our commercial transformation, and you will handle the most precious resource for our success - our employees. We think you have deep experience from HR-related work including developing people, building culture and driving change in international organizations. In the role you will have a seat in the Volvo Car Germany management team, and you will also be a member of the Europe PX community and management team reporting centrally to Head of People Experience (PX), Europe and with a dotted line to the Managing Director in Germany. To succeed you are a master in guiding and driving stakeholders through transformation, managing projects, setting and driving the strategic PX agenda and adding speed to our commercial transformation.

What you´ll do:
As Head of People Experience (PX) Germany, you will be responsible for leading the People Experience within the German National Sales Company in the legal entity, while closely collaborating with the central HR community across our other countries within Europe. You will coach and lead a skilled PX team, currently consisting of six colleagues, ensuring they are empowered, trusted, and equipped with the business understanding required to make a significant impact. Your role will focus on developing and evolving the team’s skills and competences, particularly during periods of commercial transformation and simplification.
In this position, you will also partner with the business to drive the development of leadership, people, culture, and organizational strategies that build trust and confidence with both management and employees. As part of your remit, you will be responsible for executing global organization-wide initiatives, including workforce planning, employee engagement, retention, organizational change, performance management, talent acquisition, and leadership development.
Additionally, you will ensure compliance with key PX functions such as payroll, pensions, labor law, and works council relations. You will secure legal requirements related to working time, timekeeping, health and safety, and external audits. You will also oversee PX ISO standards, budget forecasting, and the PX Business Plan, ensuring effective financial planning and adherence to compliance standards.
Joining an organization that prioritizes talent development, you will work across the entire talent journey, from recruitment to leadership growth. Our culture and values are central to who we are, and you will be instrumental in nurturing an inclusive leadership culture as part of this transformation.

Do you fit the profile?
We are looking for you who have a university degree in Human Resources, or similar, and at least 7-10 years of relevant experience. You have a good business understanding and a proactive mindset. You are recognized as a trusted advisor with high integrity, and you enjoy building relationships across the entire organization. You also have good knowledge of German labor law, knowledge and experience from working within the broad field of HR topics. Our company language is English so we expect you to be fluent in English, but day to day you will speak German.
To succeed in this role, you need to have very strong collaborative and leadership skills and the ability to handle ambiguity and manage change. You can work in a fast-paced environment on both strategical and tactical levels, and you have strong business acumen.
Furthermore, we believe you have strong analytical and decision-making skills as well as excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Who are you?
We are not only valuing your previous experience and skills but also your personality and your potential to develop and embrace unknown future challenges. Most important is that you share our values and are truly motivated by our purpose. You have an honest ambition to join a fast-paced an