Associate Director - Global HR Solutions

527 Eli Lilly Cork Limited; Cork; On-site; EUR 79,000 - 116,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension plan

Vacation benefits

Healthcare benefits

Flexible benefits (life insurance)

Leave benefits

Well-being benefits

Job summary

Lilly UK and Ireland is seeking a seasoned HR leader to drive global HR delivery and transformation across EMEA and the Americas as part of the HRS Leadership Team. The role focuses on evolving HRS into a benchmark-informed, AI-enabled service organization across regions.

The successful candidate will lead through an aggressive AI and automation agenda, managing compliance, workforce planning, and operating models, while partnering with senior HR leaders to deliver measurable improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Master’s degree (e.g., MBA or HR Management) or relevant certifications (e.g., SHRM-SCP, CIPD, PHR/SPHR).
• Strong understanding of HR systems (e.g., Workday, SAP SuccessFactors).
• Expertise in service delivery models, case management, and employee lifecycle processes.
• Excellent leadership, stakeholder management, and change management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead global HR delivery and transformation across EMEA and the Americas.
• Drive AI-enabled delivery with governance and benefits.
• Manage HR operating model, service tiers, and reskilling.
• Oversee compliance, data privacy, and audits.
• Collaborate with senior HR leaders and cross-functional teams.

Skills

HR knowledge

HR structure

Strategic thinking

AI & automation

Regulatory horizon

Workforce planning

Stakeholder mgmt

Change management

Team leadership

HRS leadership

Process optimization

HRIS systems

Data privacy/GDPR

KPI management

Cross-cultural

Communication

Decision making

Problem solving

Irish/EU law

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR/Business

Master’s degree or HR certifications

Tools

Workday

SAP SuccessFactors

Job description

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve. This is hard, urgent, selfless work—but it’s work worth doing. If you’re driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us.

Team Overview

Global HR Solutions provides centralized support for HR operations across regions, (APAC, EMEA, Americas) streamlining processes like payroll, benefits, onboarding, employee data management and data insights. By standardizing services and leveraging technology such as Workday, Beeline, Zendesk, the team ensures consistency, efficiency, and compliance while enabling employees and leaders to access HR support through self-service tools and helpdesks.

Role Purpose

Leads HRS delivery and transformation across, EMEA and the Americas as a member of the HRS Leadership Team, evolving HRS into a benchmark-informed, AI-enabled service organisation.

Job Responsibilities

Global & Strategic HR Expertise

• Global HR Knowledge: Understanding of employment laws, labour relations, and compliance across different countries. The ability to represent these in strategic discussions.
• Global HR Structure: Understanding of the HR structure - COE’s, SBP’s, Local HR remit and what role HRS plays and where to add value.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to align HR operations with global business goals and drive transformation initiatives.
• Lead through an aggressive AI and automation agenda while right sizing and up skilling a HRS org for the future.
• Regulatory Horizon Scanning: Translate EU and national developments (e.g., Pay Transparency Directive, EU AI Act, GDPR) into HRS process, system and control changes with Legal, Privacy and Local HR.
• Operating Model & Workforce Planning: Evolve service scope, tiering and sourcing, and right-size and reskill HRS using peer benchmarks.

Leadership & Influence

• Stakeholder Management: Skilled in influencing senior HR leaders, managing cross-functional relationships, and navigating matrixed organizations.
• Change Leadership: Proven ability to lead change across geographies, including process redesign/simplification, system implementations, and project implementations.
• Team Leadership: Experience leading diverse team of HR Professionals, building HR skills with a focus on performance elevation, collaboration, and strong service delivery.
• HRS Lead Team: An active member of the HRS LT driving and shaping the future beyond the Europe and Americas regions. A thought partner in new ideas, better solutions and improved experience bringing in external benchmarking and best practices.

Operational Excellence

• Process Optimization: Expertise in streamlining HR processes (e.g., onboarding, payroll, benefits, compliance) for efficiency and scalability.
• Technology & Systems Savvy: Familiarity with global HRIS platforms (e.g., Workday, Beeline, Zendesk), data analytics, and automation tools.
• Risk & Compliance Management: Strong grasp of data privacy (e.g., GDPR), audit readiness, and internal controls.
• Service Performance & KPIs: Run a tiered service model and quarterly business reviews ( • AI-Enabled Delivery:
• AI-Enabled Delivery: Prioritise and govern automation and AI use cases, with human oversight and tracked benefits.

Cultural Intelligence & Communication

• Cross-Cultural Agility: Ability to work effectively across cultures, understanding local nuances while maintaining global consistency.
• Communication Skills: Clear, diplomatic, and persuasive communicator across all levels and regions.

Analytical & Decision-Making Skills

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Ability to interpret HR metrics, identify trends, and make informed decisions.
• Problem Solving: Strong analytical thinking to resolve complex operational challenges across borders.

Basic Qualifications

Education Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.

Preferred Master’s degree (e.g., MBA or HR Management) or relevant certifications (e.g., SHRM-SCP, CIPD, PHR/SPHR).

Skills & Competencies

• Strong understanding of HR systems (e.g., Workday, SAP SuccessFactors).
• Expertise in service delivery models, case management, and employee lifecycle processes.
• Excellent leadership, stakeholder management, and change management skills.
• Ability to drive continuous improvement, data-driven decision-making, and compliance across global operations.
• Working knowledge of Irish/EU employment law, GDPR and responsible-AI governance.

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions.

Lilly does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is €78,750 - €115,500 Full-time equivalent employees may also be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance).

In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees,

• eligibility to participate in a pension plan
• vacation benefits
• eligibility for healthcare benefits
• flexible benefits (if applicable) life insurance and death benefits
• certain time off and leave of absence benefits
• well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities)

#WeAreLillyUKandIreland

At Lilly we strive to ensure our employees are part of a team that cares about them and our shared purpose of making life better for those around the world.

How do we do this? We continue to look for ways to include, innovate, accelerate and deliver while maintaining integrity, excellence and respect for people.

We hope that you seek to join us on our journey as we create medicine and deliver improved outcomes for patients across the globe!

#WeAreLilly