Role: Lead HR Business Partner – Europe
Salary: c.£120,000 – £140,000 plus bonus
Remit: Europe
Manager: Group HR Director
Location: London-based (2 days per week in office)
We are supporting a high growth international organisation through a period of significant growth and transformation, seeking to appoint a Lead HR Business Partner, Europe - based in London.
This is a newly defined, senior position that will act as the primary strategic partner to the European leadership team, responsible for shaping and driving the People & Culture agenda across multiple markets. The role combines strategic influence with operational delivery and will suit a seasoned HR leader comfortable operating across complexity, pace, and change.
The Opportunity
As the senior HR business partner for Europe, you will:
* Serve as a trusted advisor to the European leadership team, aligning people strategy with business goals and performance outcomes.
* Translate group priorities into actionable local plans, ensuring alignment across diverse jurisdictions.
* Lead all HR generalist activity across Europe, ensuring excellence in governance, compliance, and employee lifecycle management.
* Partner with HR Centres of Excellence (Talent, Reward, Employee Relations, and Operations) to drive consistency, quality, and integration.
* Build leadership capability, talent pipelines, and succession frameworks across key European markets.
* Champion a culture of engagement, inclusion, and high performance.
* Support people aspects of transformation, M&A, and market expansion.
About You
We’re looking for a strategic, commercially minded HR leader who brings:
* Extensive HR business partnering experience across Europe, ideally in multi-entity or matrixed organisations.
* Deep understanding of European employment law and employee relations, particularly within Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
* Proven success advising and influencing senior leaders within complex, evolving businesses.
* Broad generalist expertise across the full HR spectrum — from talent and reward to organisational design and culture.
* Experience operating in regulated, PE-backed, or fast-growth environments.
* Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, coupled with sound commercial judgement.
* Excellent interpersonal, coaching, and influencing skills, with a pragmatic and collaborative style.
* Fluency in English is essential, along with proficiency in at least one additional European language — ideally French, German, or Dutch.
The Person
You will be:
* Pragmatic, credible, and culturally astute, with the confidence to operate at senior levels.
* Collaborative, focused on building capability and enabling performance.
* Resilient, hands-on, and adaptable, able to move fluidly between strategic thinking and operational delivery.
* Motivated by growth, transformation, and shaping a high-performing people function in an international context.
Confidential Enquiries
This is a retained search appointment representing a dynamic, international organisation with ambitious growth plans and a progressive approach to People & Culture across Europe.
For an initial confidential conversation, please contact Jenna stocks via jenna.stocks@middlemore.co.uk, or apply directly via LinkedIn.