HR Country & Zone Manager BeNeLux
Eaton · Hengelo
Unlock Your Potential at Eaton: Where Diversity Drives Innovation. No matter where you come from, your aspirations matter to us. We believe in the power of different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds to ignite innovation and drive success. We're in the business of empowering people, and that includes you. Your journey here is not just about a job; it's about a shared vision for a brighter, more sustainable future.
The HR Zone Leader BeNeLux provides end-to-end HR leadership across all Eaton entities within the zone, ensuring a consistent, compliant, and high-quality employee experience aligned with the "One HR" operating model. The role supports approximately 700 employees across five locations in three countries, with around 70% of the workforce based at the manufacturing facility in Hengelo.
As the most senior HR leader in the region, this role translates talent priorities across multiple Eaton businesses into measurable people and business outcomes. The incumbent strengthens governance and labor relations while driving simplification, standardization, and continuous improvement across HR service delivery.
The role reports at regional level and partners closely with HR Services (Budapest), Senior HR Business Partners, and HR Centers of Excellence to deploy enterprise-wide HR programs and deliver a seamless One Eaton employee experience. The role is responsible for simplifying and standardizing HR policies, practices, and processes while ensuring compliance with Dutch, Belgian, and Luxembourgish employment legislation.
Location: Hengelo, The Netherlands
Key Focus Areas
HR Leadership Across the Employee Lifecycle
- Ensure strong execution and consistent delivery across the HR lifecycle, with clear delineation between local accountability and Center of Excellence (CoE) ownership.
Talent Acquisition
- Lead local hiring execution and delivery against business workforce requirements.
- Partner with CoEs on talent acquisition strategy, employer branding, and workforce planning.
Total Rewards
- Own the local execution, communication, and compliance of compensation and benefits programs.
- Ensure the consistent application of global compensation and benefits frameworks.
- Provide market intelligence and benchmarking insights to CoEs.
- Oversee local benefits administration and vendor relationships.
Learning & Development
- Ensure the effective deployment, communication, and adoption of enterprise learning and development programs.
- Support the identification of capability gaps and development priorities across the zone.
- Facilitate local learning initiatives where required, while leveraging globally designed programs.
Employee Experience & Engagement
- Drive culture, engagement, and wellbeing initiatives across all countries within the BeNeLux zone.
- Ensure effective communication channels and employee listening mechanisms.
- Translate employee feedback and insights into measurable actions and continuous improvements.
HR Operations (Payroll, Time & Attendance, Employee Data Management)
- Ensure accurate, compliant, and efficient HR operations across the zone.
- Partner with HR Services to deliver a high-quality employee and manager experience.
- Monitor service delivery KPIs and drive continuous operational improvement.
Simplification, Standardization & Digitalization
- Drive harmonization of HR processes in alignment with global standards and best practices.
- Promote the adoption of shared-service models and digital HR solutions.
- Lead continuous improvement initiatives across the zone.
- Simplify legacy processes and enhance operational efficiency.
Change Leadership & Culture
- Lead and support the successful implementation of business transformation and organizational change initiatives across the zone.
- Act as an integral member of change management teams to ensure the compliant and effective delivery of business-led change programs.
- Lead by example in embedding the Eaton Culture Model by thinking big, acting boldly, and winning together.
- Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, inclusion, and collaboration while aligning people strategies with business objectives.
- Support leaders in navigating change and enhancing leadership effectiveness.
- Champion inclusion, collaboration, and employee wellbeing.
Country Representation & Employer Branding
- Represent Eaton externally on HR-related matters with key stakeholders, industry associations, and employment partners.
- Support employer branding and talent positioning across the BeNeLux market.
- Act as a visible ambassador for the One Eaton mindset across the organization.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field. A Master's degree in Human Resources or a related discipline is preferred.
- 10+ years of progressive HR experience within multinational organizations, including significant leadership experience in a matrix environment.
- Experience in a manufacturing or industrial environment is preferred.
- Strong Employee Relations (ER) and Labor Relations (LR) experience, with in-depth knowledge of Dutch employment law, including Works Council (WOR) consultations, collective dismissal processes, social plans, reintegration, and CAO frameworks.
- Working knowledge of Belgian and Luxembourgish labor legislation is preferred.
- Proven experience in HR operations and service delivery within a shared-services environment.
- Demonstrated success in leading HR initiatives across multiple sites, countries, and legal entities within a matrix organization.
- Experience developing and executing HR strategies across the full employee and business lifecycle.
- Strong track record in employee engagement, organizational culture, and change management.
- Proven ability to drive outcomes and influence stakeholders within a matrix organization without direct authority.
- Credible and resilient partner to unions, works councils, and senior business leaders.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with shop-floor employees, commercial teams, and executive leaders.
- Collaborative and culturally aware, with experience working across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
- Hands-on, pragmatic, and proactive, with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.
- Continuous improvement mindset with strong project and time management capabilities.
- Demonstrates sound judgment, discretion, and the highest standards of integrity.
- Fluent in Dutch and English.
What we offer:
- Competitive compensation and benefits package
- Challenging projects in dynamic collaborative team
- Flexible working solutions
- We make your aspirations matter – Eaton encourages internal promotion, whenever possible
- We make your growth matter - We invest in our employees for the long term – not just with salary and benefits, but with ongoing learning and development opportunities made available through Eaton University
- We make your contributions matter - reliability, safety, efficiency, and sustainability are at the core of our dedication to improving people’s lives and the environment through power management technologies.
- We make your wellbeing matter – We put your health and safety first. Wellness at Eaton is more than a program, it’s about changing the environment by offering the right tools to help empower employees to make that happen.
All positions may require participation in video and in-person interviews as part of the hiring process. All candidates will be evaluated based on job-related competencies, and all candidates’ privacy rights and data security will be protected in accordance with applicable laws.
We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for job applicants and employees. Our recruitment processes use balanced selection criteria and avoid unlawful discrimination against applicants on the basis of their age, colour, disability, marital status, national origin, gender, gender identity, genetic information, race or racial origin, religion, sexual orientation or any other status protected or required by law.
#LI-DG1