Canada Life Assurance Europe plc (‘CLE’) is a dynamic insurance company with over 700 people across our offices in Germany and Ireland. We have been operating in Germany since 2000 and have established a fast-growing presence in one of the world’s largest and most established markets. We specialise in providing innovative unit-linked pension, savings, and protection solutions and have become a trusted partner for life insurance products distributed through independent brokers. It is our priority to support our customers at every stage of life with the best products and service, tailored to their needs - and we’re doing it all in a culture that promotes equality and inclusion for all of our current and future employees.

Role Overview

We are looking to hire an experienced and strategic Senior HR Business Partner who is responsible for shaping and implementing people strategies s across Ireland and Germany for CLE. This role is a key partner to leaders and senior leaders, ensuring that strategic business objectives are achieved through commercially relevant people solutions and providing expert advice to effectively support the delivery of local business goals. More specifically, the individual is required to provide strategic and tactical advice and guidance to the Executive members of the relevant business areas on all people matters relating to organisational development, capability, skills required and performance output.

Based in Dublin and reporting to the HR Director, this role will be a hands-on, results-driven professional who will work closely with the wider HR function and business leaders to deliver people strategies that support the transformation of our company and our people, positioning us for growth in the market.

This role is about making things happen and will appeal to a pro-active self-starter who enjoys partnering with Business Leaders and the wider HR team to collaborate and deliver effective change management and commercially relevant people solutions that accelerate business performance and improve the employee experience across both countries. As key member of the HR leadership team, the ideal candidate will have deep HR knowledge and expertise, be change oriented and commercially driven, and someone who can turn strategy into execution while aligning people, processes and platforms across the organisation.

The successful candidate will have an existing strong track record of creating and executing people strategies, including having led organisation design projects and the related elements. They will have deep experience partnering with leaders to articulate a vision, developing an executable strategy and driving hands-on delivery plans to achieve great outcomes, while ensuring that activities comply with required standards, regulations and guidelines.

What you will help us to achieve

• Cross Country Strategic Business Partnering:
Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership teams cross-country (Ireland and Germany), driving people strategies that enable performance, growth, and resilience. Provide expert counsel across the full HR lifecycle.
• Organisation Design & Implementation:
Execute and support organisational design initiatives, from structure analysis and capability mapping to implementation planning and execution, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and operational effectiveness.
• Strategic People Planning and Compliance
Develop people plans and solutions to support the achievement of the overall business objectives whilst ensuring compliance with relevant local legislation and HR best practice
• Change & Transformation Leadership:
Partner with leadership to manage and embed change effectively, including new Target Operating Models to drive efficiency, experience and velocity, cultural shifts, and new ways of working - providing frameworks and experience to support smooth transitions.
• Talent & Performance Enablement:
Develop and implement strategies for talent development, leadership capability, performance management, and succession planning.
• Strategic HR Business Partnering and HR Collaboration:
Lead the shift from transactional HR support to strategic HR business partnering by role-modelling, coaching and influencing the HR team to adopt a proactive, insight-led and business focused approach.

More specific responsibilities will include

• Culture & Engagement:
Drive and optimise the employee experience and engagement by partnering with local and business leaders to own people management practices and local engagement activities, alongside organisation-wide initiatives, to foster a high-trust, inclusive, high-performing culture and build a great place to work
• Leadership Capability Development:
Elevate people leadership capabilities by providing advice, support and coaching to senior level people leaders on all people and talent matters.
• HR Governance & Compliance:
Ensure alignment with Irish and German labour laws, internal policies, and works council agreements. Mitigate people-related risk through sound HR governance and strong process discipline.
• Works Council Relations:
Support a constructive relationship with the Betriebsrat (works council). Engage in co-determination processes related to change and structural adjustments with clarity, transparency, and compliance.
• Data‑Driven People Insights:
Leverage intelligent analytics and insights to better understand emerging people issues to inform business leader decision making.
• Collaboration with HR Centres of Excellence:
Proactively stay connected to the Germany-based People & Culture Team, the wider ILG Group HR community, ensuring CLE delivers best-in-class talent acquisition, compensation, learning, and diversity initiatives tailored to the local business context.

What you will need to be successful in the role

The successful candidate will be a dynamic, results-driven HR leader with a strong HR track record, ideally bringing experience or knowledge of the German market. They will have:

• Significant experience operating at a senior level in a HR function preferably in an international, matrixed organisation, including partnering at a senior leadership level.
• Demonstrated experience in leading organisation design and implementation projects—from analysis and planning through to execution and change embedding.
• Strong change leadership capabilities, with a track record of supporting business transformation and organisational agility.
• Results driven strategic thinker with hands-on delivery mindset—comfortable balancing big-picture vision with detail execution.
• Show strong commercial acumen, be a trusted confidante and advises on fit for purpose solutions to enable the organisation to shape and deliver business strategy.
• Exceptional interpersonal, influencing, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage at all levels of the organisation.
• Strong decision-making capability, works well with ambiguity and exercises sound judgment. Acts with utmost integrity.
• Be a change catalyst with the ability to successfully manage change, in differing environments including those with works council, to improve organisational performance.
• A positive, ‘can do’ attitude and is creative around finding people solutions and is comfortable with ambiguity.
• Track record of creating an environment that encourages new approaches, challenges the status quo, and inspires creativity and risk-taking while protecting the core.
• Foster collaborative relationships across functions, business and locations to facilitate co-operation and information exchanges that improve customer and business outcomes.
• Data-driven decision-making skills.
• Strong interpersonal, influencing, problem solving and collaboration skills.
• Be a diplomatic individual with the ability to, coach and be effective with diverse leadership styles.
• Degree-qualified in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organisational Psychology, or related field.
• Ideally Project Management skills to manage and drive broader projects within the HR area.

The company reserves the right to draw up a shortlist as part of the selection process. Where Agency assistance is required the Canada Life Recruitment Team will engage directly with suppliers. Unsolicited CVs / profiles supplied to Canada Life by Recruitment Agencies will not be accepted for this role.

Even if you don’t see yourself reflected in every job requirement listed on the posting above, we encourage you to reach out and apply if you feel you are a good fit for the role. We are committed to creating a more equitable, inclusive and diverse company, and we strongly encourage applicants of all genders, ages, ethnicities, cultures, abilities, sexual orientation and life experiences to apply.

Canada Life Group Services is proud to be an Equal Opportunities employer. We have created an environment of inclusion and growth to help people achieve their potential, to ensure they can bring their whole selves to work and to feel valued. We celebrate diversity of thought and perspective and want all of our employees to feel valued, respected and supported. We have built a culture that promotes equality and inclusion for all of our current and future employees and strive to ensure that our behaviours, processes and practices are aligned to this culture.

If you require any accommodations during the recruitment process please contact lifecareers@irishlife.ie and we will be delighted to ensure you are fully supported to be your best.

CLGS supports Equal Opportunity and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Senior People & Culture Business Partner

Job Description