HR Director, EMEA

MiQ Digital Ltd - UK; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

MiQ is seeking an HR Director, EMEA, to lead the regional people function and partner with the Chief People Officer to translate global talent strategies into practical regional plans across the UK and Europe. You will co-ordinate employee relations, compliance, performance, and engagement, driving organizational change and ensuring robust HR operations with high data quality across the region.

This senior role requires strong judgment, confidentiality, and a collaborative, outcomes-driven

Qualifications

• 6+ years of progressive HR experience at senior manager or director level.
• Strong experience leading complex employee-relations matters, investigations, performance issues, and organizational change.
• Solid knowledge of UK employment law and ability to collaborate with Legal and local advisers.
• Ability to influence senior leaders and translate business priorities into practical people strategies.
• Experience building and developing HR teams through coaching and setting clear standards.
• Experience using HRIS and reporting tools; Workday is preferred.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to handle sensitive topics with discretion.

Responsibilities

• Lead the EMEA HR team and partner with the Chief People Officer to align regional plans with global talent strategy.
• Provide pragmatic advice on people decisions and support leaders with timely actions.
• Oversee employee-relations leadership including grievances, investigations, and restructures.
• Ensure UK/EMEA HR practices meet legal requirements and maintain compliant employment documentation.
• Drive performance, development, and engagement initiatives and use data to inform decisions.
• Oversee HR operations across onboarding, changes, leaves, exits, and policy compliance.
• Lead organizational change efforts and support workforce planning and succession planning.

Skills

HR leadership

Employee relations

UK employment law

Senior stakeholder mgmt

Coaching & development

HRIS/Workday

Communication

Discretion & confidentiality

Education

CIPD qualification or equivalent

Job description

Job Description Location: London, UK (hybrid) Department: Talent / HR Scope: EMEA The Opportunity We’re MiQ, a global programmatic media partner for marketers and agencies. Our people are at the heart of everything we do, and this role will help ensure our employee experience, people practices, and leadership capability keep pace with the business. As HR Director, EMEA, you will lead the regional HR team to deliver excellence across the employee lifecycle. You’ll act as a trusted adviser to EMEA leaders, managers, and employees, combining a clear perspective with practical delivery across employee relations, compliance, performance, and engagement. This is a highly visible role for an experienced HR leader who can balance empathy, sound judgment, commercial awareness, and the need for consistent practices across a multi-country region.

Lead the EMEA people team Partner with the Chief People Officer and senior EMEA leaders to align priorities with business objectives, providing support and insight on planning, organization design, performance, engagement, and team effectiveness. Translate global Talent strategies into practical regional plans, adapting frameworks for local application while maintaining consistency where it matters most. Provide clear, pragmatic advice on people decisions and help leaders make thoughtful, timely choices. Provide trusted employee-relations leadership Lead and oversee complex employee-relations matters, including grievances, disciplinary processes, performance concerns, investigations, absence, conflict resolution, and restructures. Coach managers to address issues early, fairly, and consistently, escalating to senior Talent leaders, Legal, or specialist advisers when appropriate. Help maintain a respectful, safe, inclusive workplace through sound process, thoughtful communication, and effective follow-through. Ensure HR practices, employment documentation, and policies meet applicable UK and EMEA requirements Strengthen performance, development, and engagement Drive the regional performance-management agenda, with a special focus on feedback quality, performance improvement, and development planning. Partner with Learning & Development and business leaders to identify capability gaps and support targeted development actions. Use employee insight, voice data, and business context to shape initiatives that strengthen connection, retention, and the employee experience. Deliver strong regional HR operations Oversee high quality delivery across the employee lifecycle, including onboarding, probation, employment changes, leave, benefits, immigration support where relevant, and exits. Work closely with HR Operations, Talent Acquisition, Finance, Payroll, Legal, and other partners to ensure excellent service and reliable execution. Maintain impeccable data quality and reporting across HR systems, using people metrics to inform decisions and improve how HR operates. Identify opportunities to simplify processes, improve manager enablement, and strengthen the regional HR service. Partner to deliver change and organisational effectiveness Partner with leaders on organizational change, restructures, integration activity, and periods of growth or transition. Create clear communication plans so people understand what is changing, why it matters, and how they will be supported. Support workforce planning, talent management, succession planning, and broader organizational development priorities. Build capability and lead through influence Lead, coach, and develop HR team members within the region, setting clear expectations and building a high standard of service and professional capability. Build credible relationships across diverse markets and cultures, influencing effectively without relying on hierarchy. Share regional insight with global Talent colleagues and help continuously improve MiQ’s people practices, tools, and ways of working.

What you’ll bring

• At least 6 years of progressive experience in HR, HR business partnering, or regional Talent leadership, including substantial experience operating at senior manager or director level.
• Strong experience leading complex employee-relations matters, investigations, performance issues, organizational change, and sensitive people decisions.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and the ability to partner effectively with Legal and local advisers on requirements across EMEA.
• Demonstrated ability to advise and influence senior leaders, translate business priorities into practical people strategies, and operate confidently in ambiguity.
• Experience leading or developing HR teams and building capability through coaching, clear standards, and effective prioritization.
• Comfort using HRIS platforms, reporting tools, and people data to support decisions and improve processes; Workday experience is preferred.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to make complex or sensitive topics clear and actionable.
• Strong judgment, discretion, organization, and problem-solving skills, with a high level of integrity and confidentiality.
• A practical, low-ego, solutions-focused approach and a genuine interest in helping people and the business grow.
• CIPD qualification or equivalent professional experience is preferred.

Why MiQ

• In this role, you will: Have meaningful impact on the employee experience across a key global region.
• Work across strategic HR partnership, manager coaching, compliance, employee relations, and organizational change.
• Partner with local and global colleagues to shape people practices that are scalable.
• Help leaders make better, faster, and more thoughtful people decisions.

We’ve highlighted key skills and experience for this role, but we know great candidates won’t always tick every box.

Our values

• Passion – We do what we love.
• Determination – We figure it out.
• Agility – We anticipate the unexpected.
• Unity – We always unite.
• Courage – We dare to be unconventional.

Our values unite MiQ’ers across regions, shape how we work and decide, and inspire us to aim for better.

We’re MiQ, a global programmatic media partner for marketers and agencies. Our people are at the heart of everything we do, so you will be too. No matter the role or the location, we’re all united in the vision to lead the programmatic industry and make it better.