We are looking for an experienced Human Resources Leader to direct and oversee KION North America’s HR plans in ways that directly contribute to, and enable our mission and overall strategy.

Our business has grown at an extraordinary rate which comes with benefits and challenges. We need a leader who can provide strong direction and vision related to end-to-end people-related topics/processes and engagement in order to solidify our place as the industry leader in North America.

This position has high accountability and serves as the direct HR partner to the KION North America CEO and the executive leadership team. We seek candidates with proven experience in strategic thinking and global collaboration, transformation, effective HR operations, talent management, problem solving and people leadership.

What we offer:

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the executive management team to reinforce the company’s vision and mission
• Develop and execute strategic HR plans and policies (recruitment, training, compensation etc.)
• Assume responsibility of labor and employee relations
• Create and execute forward-thinking Diversity, Inclusion and Equity strategies
• Re-engineer processes to ensure maximum efficiency and employee support
• Ensure all procedures comply with legal regulations and best practices.  Establish operating mechanisms to protect the integrity of those processes.
• Analyze the effectiveness of HR operations and policies and drive necessary changes/improvements; Drive excellence in execution within the HR staff to deliver results and true partnership to business functions.
• Drive internal communication and marketing efforts to engage employees; support creating a culture of Integrity, Collaboration, Excellence and Courage
• Manage Employee Engagement Surveys, maintain the pulse of our people and drive continuous improvement across the organization
• Ensure effective organization capability building strategies and opportunities are in place; deliver ongoing opportunities for both skills-based and leadership development in all areas of the business.  
• Establish clarity across the organization in: structure, job roles/responsibilities, grading and compensation
• Drive performance management excellence within the company in accordance with global procedures and local improvement needs (own the annual goal setting, midyear/annual reviews, calibration process, etc.)
• Deliver progressive Talent Management practices to drive proactive talent development and succession planning/readiness.
• Work with corporate strategy team in setting annual OKR's (Objective/Key Results), rolling out to the organization and ensuring continuous communication (newsletters, town halls, monthly meetings, 1:1's, etc)
• Ensure the organization is meeting talent attraction and retention objectives in target labor markets
• Institute a data-centric approach, providing insights to CEO and Executive Team regarding people-related metrics, trends, and KPIs
• Work with partners in the Charleston area and State of South Carolina to drive talent pool and talent development
• Manage benefits programs, providers and overall competitiveness (health, 401k, wellness, etc)

Tasks and Qualifications:

Qualifications:

• Proven experience serving as a senior HR leader in a growing business.  Experience directly partnering with C-suite and owning an end-to-end people agenda required.
• Experience leading HR initiatives and teams within a manufacturing environment.   Experience overseeing both white collar and blue collar people practices and processes required.  
• Experience in strategic planning and implementation
• Deep knowledge of HR functions that span Talent and employee lifecycles (talent management, recruitment, HR operations, payroll, compliance, etc.)
• Background collaborating with various cultures in a business setting (German ideally) highly preferred
• Experience providing insightful metrics and analytics to enable data-centric business and talent decisions
• Knowledge of local and international labor law, mobility (expat assignments/agreements) and other related talent movement practices
• Strong proficiency with the MS-Office Suite, Workday or relevant system, and ERPs (e.g. SAP)
• Aptitude in communicating, facilitation and public speaking
• Well-organized with excellent leadership qualities

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required
• BSc/BA in business, HR, social sciences or related field; MSc/MA/MBA is preferable
• Certification (e.g. PHR/SPHR) is nice-to-have