HR Business Partner

Kraton Corporation; Oulu; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Epassi fitness and culture benefit

Bike benefit

Sports events participation with ESH/æ

Occupational health care

Lunch benefit

Long-service commemorative gifts

Bonus system

Hybrid work model (remote ~2 days/week

Job summary

Kraton Corporation seeks an HR Business Partner for the Oulu manufacturing site to drive business performance, employee engagement, and organizational effectiveness. You will blend strategic partnering with hands-on HR execution and advance HR digitalization and process improvements.

As a trusted advisor, you will support workforce planning, talent development, labor relations, and change negotiations while collaborating with site leaders and employee representatives to achieve operational

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years HR experience in manufacturing or unionized settings.
• Experience partnering with site leadership teams.
• Strong knowledge of Finnish employment law and collective agreements.
• Experience leading Finnish Change Negotiations.
• Experience handling complex employee and labor relations matters.
• Experience driving HR process improvements and digitalization.
• Experience with HRIS and digital HR tools.
• Fluent in Finnish and English.

Responsibilities

• Act as primary HR Business Partner for the Oulu site.
• Partner with site leadership to align people initiatives with business priorities.
• Coach managers on leadership development and performance management.
• Lead employee and labor relations activities including investigations.
• Provide guidance on Finnish employment law and labor relations practices.
• Build relationships with employee representatives and unions.
• Lead Finnish Change Negotiations and workforce restructuring.
• Lead recruitment, selection and onboarding for salaried, technical and professional roles.
• Support workforce planning, succession planning and talent development.
• Drive HR digitalization, automation and process improvement; promote self-service solutions.
• Utilize HR metrics and reporting for data-driven decisions.
• Coordinate HR administration, payroll, benefits and vendor activities with compliance.

Skills

HR experience

Partner with site leadership

Finnish employment legislation

Change Negotiations

Employee relations investigations

HR process improvements

HRIS systems

Finnish & English fluency

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR / Business Administration / Law

Tools

HRIS

Self-service portals

Job description

The HR Business Partner serves as the primary HR leader and trusted advisor for the Oulu manufacturing site, participating in the plant leadership team, partnering closely with leaders, supervisors, employees and employee representatives to drive business performance, employee engagement, operational excellence and organizational effectiveness.

The role combines strategic business partnering with hands-on HR execution and plays a key role in advancing HR digitalization, automation and process improvement initiatives across the site.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic HR Business Partnership

• Act as the primary HR Business Partner for the Oulu manufacturing site, providing strategic guidance on workforce planning, talent management, organizational effectiveness and employee engagement.
• Partner with site leadership to align people initiatives with business priorities and operational objectives.
• Coach and support managers on leadership development, performance management and organizational change.

Employee & Labor Relations

• Lead employee and labor relations activities, including investigations, disciplinary matters, grievances and workplace conflict resolution.
• Provide expert guidance on Finnish employment law, collective agreements and labor relations practices.
• Build effective relationships with employee representatives, unions and key stakeholders.
• Lead and coordinate Finnish Change Negotiations and other workforce restructuring initiatives.

Talent Acquisition & Workforce Development

Lead recruitment, selection and onboarding activities for salaried, technical and professional roles.

• Partner with leaders on workforce planning, succession planning and talent development.
• Support employee development, performance management and retention initiatives.

Digitalization, Automation & Process Improvement

• Drive HR digitalization, automation and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency and employee experience.
• Develop and promote self-service solutions, knowledge management tools and standardized HR processes.
• Utilize HR metrics, analytics & reporting to support data-driven decision making.
• Coordinate HR administration, payroll, benefits and vendor-related activities while ensuring compliance and data accuracy.

Required Skills

• Minimum 3 years of HR experience, preferably within a manufacturing, industrial, or unionized environment.
• Proven experience partnering with site leadership teams
• Strong knowledge of Finnish employment legislation, collective labor agreements, and employment practices.
• Demonstrated experience leading and supporting Finnish Change Negotiations
• Experience managing complex employee and labor relations matters, investigations, disciplinary cases, and conflict resolution.
• Experience driving HR process improvements, standardization, digitalization, and automation initiatives is highly preferred.
• Experience with HRIS systems, employee self-service solutions, and digital HR tools.
• Fluent Finnish and English language skills, both written and verbal.

Education, Certifications & Licenses

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Law, or a related field.

At Kraton we offer you

• A dynamic, pleasant, and growth-oriented work environment where you’ll have the opportunity to take on responsibility, grow professionally, and help develop operations from an HR perspective
• A local and international work environment where collaborating with the Global HR team, among others, provides the opportunity to learn about HR practices across different countries.
• Excellent employee benefits, such as the annual Epassi fitness and culture benefit with no out-of-pocket cost, an employee bicycle benefit, the opportunity to participate in sports events throughout the year with employer support, comprehensive occupational health care, a lunch benefit, and active recreational activities. In addition, we recognize our employees for long-term service after 10, 20, 30, and even 40 years of service. Regardless of years of service, we honor employees turning 50 and 60 with commemorative gifts.
• Competitive compensation and a bonus system
• A hybrid work model where you have the option to work remotely for about 2 days a week

The candidate selected from outside the company will be subject to an occupational health check with drug screening within the first month of employment.

The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this classification. Statements are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and skills required for this position.

Kraton's internal talent acquisition team manages our recruiting efforts and from time to time works with pre-selected/pre-approved external staffing agencies.We do NOT accept unsolicited resumes or candidate referrals from recruiters and/or agencies who are not pre-selected/pre-approved.

Kraton is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.