Head of People & Culture (HR), NA

About this role

About Us: ZEISS is a global technology and innovation leader in optics and optoelectronics. Founded in Germany in 1846, ZEISS operates in 50+ countries and offers career opportunities across engineering, manufacturing, research, sales, and technology. As a foundation-owned company, ZEISS is committed to responsibility, quality, and continuous innovation. Employees help shape the future through cutting-edge technology and impactful work. With a strong North American presence since 1925 and 20+ locations, ZEISS partners with industries including semiconductor, automotive, biomedical research, and medical technology, and is a leading manufacturer of eyeglass lenses, camera and cinema lenses, and precision optical systems.

What’s the role? The Head of HR, North America is a senior executive HR leadership role with a dual mandate: serving as a strategic business partner to ZEISS Business Services North America, and representing the region within the Global HR function. This is not a steady-state role. The primary driver is transformation — building a more integrated, high-performing HR operating model across the region that connects people strategy to business outcomes. This role oversees the North American HR Functional Groups – Talent Attraction, People Development, Learning & Belonging, Workday Operations, HR Digital Solutions, Benefits, HRBPs and Strategic Projects & Change.  This role has a solid reporting line into the Head of ZEISS Business Services (“ZBS”) in the US, and a dotted line to the Global Head of Corporate HR (Germany-based) and is part of the global corporate HR Leadership team, as well as the ZBS Leadership team.

ZEISS Business Services (“ZBS”) North America supports operations with solutions spanning people and culture, finance, communications, data analytics, IT, legal and compliance, tax, operational and process excellence, procurement, EHS, and real estate and facilities. The Head of HR partners across functions to drive organizational effectiveness at scale.

Sound Interesting? What you’ll do :

Strategic HR Leadership • Serve as the senior HR voice for North America, shaping and executing the regional people strategy in alignment with global priorities

• Act as a trusted advisor and thought partner to the President of ZEISS Business Services NA and senior regional leadership

• Represent North America on the Global HR Leadership team, ensuring regional perspectives are integrated into global HR strategy and that global initiatives are localized effectively

• Participate in the Global HR Leadership team to translate best practices from the Americas to the other regions globally

• Collaboration with Segment HR Teams in North America

• Continue to build and drive a sense of community across the NA HR team across segments for the purpose of greater knowledge transfer, talent visibility and mobility and sharing of best practices intended to support business success, and eliminate duplication

Transformation & Operational Execution • Lead and execute HR transformation initiatives across the NA region, including operating model redesign, service delivery evolution, and capability building

• Partner with global HR Centers of Excellence (Talent Attraction, Compensation, Transformation, Operations & Insights, People Development & Organization) to deploy globally-led programs with regional fit

• Align with global functional and process teams to ensure excellent employee experience and stakeholder satisfaction analyzed through quantitative measures of SLAs and KPIs.

• Drive continuous improvement across HR processes, identifying opportunities to streamline, digitize, whilst leveraging an AI-first approach.

• Collaborate with segment HR Business Partners to enable ZBS regionally by driving the harmonization of HR policies, standards and processes, aligning them with the global framework, whilst being mindful of regional/ business nuances.

Business Partnership & People Operations • Provide strategic HR partnership to business leaders across ZEISS's NA segments and functions (ZBS, SMT, PNO, Canada)

• Lead workforce planning, organizational design, and talent pipeline efforts in support of growth and restructuring priorities

• Oversee employee relations, ensuring a consistent, compliant, and human-centered approach across US and Canadian operations

Team Leadership • Lead, develop, and inspire a team of HR Business Partners, HR Functional Managers, and specialist practitioners across the region

• Build team capability in strategic partnership, data-driven HR, project and change management

• Foster a culture of accountability, curiosity, and continuous learning within the People & Culture function

Culture, Belonging & Employee Experience • Champion ZEISS's culture and values across the NA workforce, with particular focus on belonging, inclusion, and psychological safety

• Support the continued development and activity of ZEISS NA's employee resource groups and senior leaders

Operational Excellence • Drive the establishment of governance frameworks (where applicable) to create a workforce that is empowered to move at speed through clear roles, responsibilities and guiding principles

• Drive a culture of knowledge management and knowledge sharing through the discipline of process documentation and continuous improvement

• Drive the development of meaningful qualitative and quantitative metrics (KPIs) and SLAs to enhance value for internal stakeholders

• Drive a culture obsessed with service excellence through role modelling, reward and recognition

Stakeholder Management & Communication • Build and maintain strategic relationships with executive leadership, business unit heads, and key stakeholders across the organization to understand business priorities, anticipate HR needs, and position HR as a strategic business partner

• Lead stakeholder engagement and alignment on critical HR initiatives through regular touchpoints, governance forums and executive briefings,

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