Senior HR Generalist - APAC (f/m/d)
applike group · Singapore
Job Profile
As the Senior HR Generalist APAC, you are the local HR presence and operational backbone for our regional headquarters in Singapore and growing APAC entities (such as, Japan, South Korea, China). Positioned at the intersection of hands-on HR operations and leadership advisory, you serve as the central HR expert for local employees, leaders, and external authorities.
You combine regional labor law expertise with operational excellence, owning the full employee lifecycle, managing payroll preparation with outsourced providers, and coordinating regional HR data, tools, and external partners. As a trusted partner to local management and the German HR Headquarter, you provide excellent and compliant HR operations, pragmatic HR sparring, execute annual HR cycles, and ensure smooth service delivery across assigned markets as our regional workforce continues growing.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Employee Lifecycle & Contracts: Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle, including contract creation, onboarding to offboarding, and local payroll & benefits administration.
APAC Business Partnering: Provide pragmatic HR sparring on leadership inquiries, employee relations, and team dynamics for regional Leads in Singapore, Japan, South Korea and China.
Performance Management: Steer the local performance management and ensure smooth and compliant procedures in alignment with local requirements and German HQ.
Payroll Preparation Management: Prepare, validate, and submit monthly pre-payroll data to external payroll providers and ensure 100% payout accuracy.
Labor Law & Compliance: Serve as regional SME on Singapore labor law (plus additional support for Japan, South Korea and China), ensuring legal compliance across local policies and audit-readiness.
Coordination of external partners: Manage relationships and coordinate with regional vendors/tool providers and authorities.
Annual HR Cycles: Co-steer our performance feedback and compensation cycles, as well as engagement surveys across APAC in alignment with German HQ.
HQ Alignment: Act as the primary liaison between local APAC leadership and Hamburg HQ to align global guidelines with local market practices.
Process Optimization & AI: Optimize local workflows, leverage HRIS capabilities, and integrate AI tools to increase operational efficiency.
Requirements
Experience: 5+ years of generalist HR activities as an HR Operations expert and/or HRBP, ideally in a fast-paced tech or growth environment in Singapore or the APAC region
APAC Law & Pre-Payroll: Tested expertise in Singapore labor laws (South Korea, Japan & China knowledge is a strong plus) and payroll preparation experience.
Balanced Skillset: Balancing practical startup realities with compliance & integrity standards, as well as hands-on HR administration with manager coaching.
Vendor Management: Track record of coordinating external HR partners and vendors (payroll, immigration, legal, advisory) and managing multi-cultural stakeholders.
Tech & Tool Savviness: Proficiency in modern HRIS platforms and standard digital collaboration tools.
Future-Proof Mindset: Proactive interest in leveraging AI tools and tech integrations to optimize daily workflows.
Working Style: Structured, solution-oriented, and empathetic workstyle.
Languages: Business fluent in English. Mandarin, Japanese and/or Korean language skills are a strong plus.
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