Head of People Business Partner

Cathay Pacific Airways is an international airline registered and based in Hong Kong, flying to over 190 destinations around the world. We are proud of our home Hong Kong, where the company was founded in 1946. Our corporate headquarters are located at Hong Kong International Airport. We employ over 21,000 people worldwide. We are also a founding member of the oneworld global alliance whose combined network serves over 750 destinations worldwide.

Reports To:  General Manager Employee Experience

Department: People (PPL)

As the Head of People Business Partner, you are accountable for providing professional HR expertise on business improvement and organisational effectiveness support and advice to senior leadership teams and management across the Company from a broad people & capability perspective, and to act as a bridge between Centres of Excellence (CoEs), departments and Global Business Services (GBS) to advocate CoE strategy design and driving transformation and implementation activity.

You will lead the Talent Management CoE for ground employees and drive strategic alignment between business needs and talent management initiatives. The focus is to foster a culture of high performance and support the career development and growth of our employees.

You are responsible for data and insights inform input, influencing thinking and drawing on the full array of HR disciplines to determine the best approaches, models and tools to meet the business needs.

You are required to provide an advisory service to subsidiary companies as required and lead industrial relations activity for Hong Kong ground employees. Leading and coaching a team of Business Partners and People Advisors is also a key focus for this role.

In addition, this role is also accountable for Employment, Headcount and Workplace related HR policies.

Key Responsibilities

• Work with Senior Leadership and lead a team of People Business Partners to work with stakeholders to support the Talent Strategy and provide necessary solutions and support to meet business objectives. Lead People Department (PPL) and business units in workforce planning, which includes budgeting, forecasting, planning and executing their talent pipeline requirements.
• Equip business leaders with the appropriate tools and knowledge to effectively manage and develop their people and provide proactive guidance and counsel on people related issues such as employee relations, performance management, developmental feedback, etc.
• Provide thought leadership, expertise and best practice insights to drive and support organisational design and change management activities.
• Lead the People Advisory team to drive process improvement initiatives across the hire to retire taxonomy and manage the relationship with GBS.
• Ensure effective execution of HR frameworks, policies and initiatives developed by the CoEs.
• Ensure effective engagement and communications activities and forums are in place to advocate PPL related agenda and obtain feedback / sentiment from business units.
• Formulate Employee Relations & Industrial Relations strategy, and manage the relationship between PPL and Local Staff Union (LSU).
• Work with our global Regional Heads of People to share knowledge of HR policies and practices and to ensure policies are implemented and applied consistently globally, while meeting local regulatory and compliance requirements.
• Lead the Talent Management team to oversee the talent management strategy (including performance management), processes, framework and tools.
• Lead and oversee talent assessment and development programs, including early careers and identifying high-potential employees and providing them with targeted development opportunities.
• Drive PPL related programmes / projects as required.

Requirements

• Strong HR generalist / business partnering experience and technical depth in multiple areas of HR which includes change management, employee engagement, learning & development, reward, organisational design, talent management or internal communications. 
• Strong business acumen with proven ability to understand complex business issues and recommend HR initiatives/solutions to support business strategies in a changing environment.
• Strong functional HR knowledge; well versed in disciplines of the HR function and stay current in emerging talent practices and developments. 
• Experience in leading HR activity and teams in an MNC with 12-15+ years’ experience in HR, and at least 5 years in HR leadership roles. 
• Proven track record of working with and influencing executive leadership.
• Proven experience driving major and long-term change activity across multiple geographies.
• Possess a strong understanding of the various statutory requirements related to HR processes and procedures across different geographies. 
• Able to develop and maintain a trusting and positive employee relations ideally with experience in participating and leading discussions with union(s). 
• Exceptional interpersonal and relationship management skills. 
• Strong leadership and coaching skills. 

Application Deadline: 16 May 2024

Personal & Application Information

Cathay Pacific is an Equal Opportunities Employer. Personal data provided by job applicants will be used strictly in accordance with our personal data policy and for recruitment purposes only. Candidates not notified within eight weeks may consider their application unsuccessful. All related information will be kept in our file for up to 24 months. A copy of our Personal Information Collection Statement will be provided upon request by contacting our Data Protection Officer.