Human Resources Director

Gentex At A Glance:

At Gentex Corporation, we’ve created an environment where great ideas and great people can thrive. Leveraging a history that spans over 125 years, Gentex is a global leader in personal protection and situational awareness solutions for defense forces, emergency responders, and industrial personnel operating in high performance environments. Join our multinational team of exceptional and dedicated employees around the world and work on challenging and rewarding projects, grow your skills, and advance your career all while making a positive difference in the lives of our customers. Together, you and Gentex can build a career that’s uniquely yours.

To Apply:

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About the Job:

The Human Resources Director will lead and manage all aspects of HR strategy, policies, and practices within the Gentex Europe organization within the umbrella of the Gentex enterprise organizational and HR strategies. This role is pivotal in aligning HR initiatives with business goals, fostering a positive and high performing workplace culture, and ensuring compliance with UK employment law. The HR Director will oversee all aspects of HR and Organizational Development including, but not limited to recruiting, talent and performance management, employee relations and engagement, coaching and organizational development.

This role oversees multiple locations in the UK, works in an integrated manner with the enterprise HR team, and supports a multi-functional and dispersed leadership team both within the UK organization and with those managers based abroad with direct reports in the UK.

The HR Director will contribute to the wider Gentex Global HR Strategy and deploy and design the Gentex Europe HR strategy in collaboration with Global HR VP. The role is required to lead the expanding Gentex Europe organization and drive integration and best practices in support of our enterprise-wide mission, vision, and values.

Essential Functions:

• Develop and implement HR strategies that support the overall business goals and objectives of the manufacturing division.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to drive organizational change and transformation initiatives.
• Own and execute the recruiting at all levels of the organization, including strategic recruiting and talent upgrades within the enterprise best practices.
• Recruiting includes a high engagement in candidate filtering, job postings and resume review, debrief of assessments and facilitating the hiring team and manager through successful negotiation and onboarding.
• Design and implement succession planning and talent development programs to build a strong pipeline of future leaders.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and accountability within the manufacturing teams.
• Implement employee engagement initiatives and measure their effectiveness to enhance workforce satisfaction and productivity. Includes engagement survey processes and feedback loop.
• Manager performance feedback processes to drive accountability and continuous improvement.
• Facilitate regular performance reviews and feedback processes aligned with company processes.
• Assess training needs and design programs that enhance employee skills and competencies in line with manufacturing trends and technologies.
• Promote continuous professional development and lifelong learning within the engineering workforce.
• Ensure compliance with UK employment laws and regulations, and promote best practices in health, safety, and well-being.
• Manage employee relations and conflict resolution, fostering a positive working environment.
• Manage the HR budget for Gentex Europe within the best practices of the integrated global HR budget.
• Partnering with VP HR and stakeholders, develop a Gentex Europe HR/OD plan, then deploy, lead and coach behaviors, processes, and tools to execute successfully.
• Part of the Senior Leadership Team for Gentex Europe, the role works closely with the GM for Gentex Europe
• Maintain relationships and manage projects with government agencies to generate funding for development projects.
• Create strong relationships across all areas of the business.
• Work closely with Gentex US HR team to deploy integrated best practices, work HR related projects and execute organizational strategies.
• Needs to strategically recruit, including proactive search, and lead workforce and succession planning.
• Drive Learning and Development, supporting the logging of training and maintaining DAOS and ISO accreditations.
• Travel to other Gentex sites frequently, a minimum of once per month to engage employees, build relationships, and develop HR function and leadership.
• Manage and develop UK HR team and function – the team is made up of an HR Generalist and HR & Office Administrator

Requirements:

Qualifications/Experience:

• Minimum 7 years’ experience in an HR Management leadership role, with preferably 3-5 years in an HR Director role.
• Executive level advisory experience working with C level in an advisory capacity.
• HNC/degree in HR or equivalent experience, with overall a minimum of 10-15 years accelerating HR experience.
• Experience at building and leading a small HR team.
• Experience overseeing multiple locations and remote workers across many functional disciplines.
• Ideally experienced at working with mid-sized, nimble, US Company with a global business and entrepreneurial operating style.
• Strategic European recruiting & compensation experience ideal
• Experience working within a manufacturing environment preferred with experience in product design for manufacturing or defense related work a plus.
• CIPD or MCIPD qualification preferred

Skills:

• Strategic Vision
• Leadership & People Management
• Change Management
• Data-Driven Decision Making
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Project management
• Employee advocate
• Benefits administration in conjunction with Finance
• Employee relations
• Performance coach
• Talent acquisition & recruitment
• Training & development
• Critical thinking
• Curiosity & probing
• Public speaking
• Proven experience in a senior HR leadership role, preferably within the manufacturing or engineering sector.
• Strong knowledge of HR best practices, employment law, and industrial relations in the UK.
• Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.

At Gentex, we don’t just accept difference—we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products and our community.