People Development Partner

See yourself in the role

You are a natural bridge-builder, a strategic thinker with a passion for learning and development, problem solver, and sound counselor. You enjoy driving the organisation and EMBL's growth through effective and innovative professional and career development interventions. As an internal consultant on all people growth matters, you will partner with various teams to drive professional development initiatives that align with the organisation's strategic goals.

With the aim to help build organisational and people capability, you will help to create a positive and productive work environment and drive a culture of continuous learning that enhances employee skills, capabilities, and performance.

What you will do

This role is pivotal in designing, implementing, and managing programs that enhance the skills, knowledge, and capabilities of our teams at EMBL. With an excellent understanding of the organisation and its strategy, you will help to create a culture and people approach and to identify people priorities to address future workforce needs.

Through building strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders and communicating the value and impact of professional development initiatives, you will impact all stages of our people's growth in our diverse and international organisation. No one day is the same and there is always something different happening but in particular, you will be responsible for the following:

• Collaborate with the wider HR team and the organisation to develop and operationalise a professional development strategy aligned with organisational goals Identify training and development needs through consultations, feedback, and workforce planning insights

• Support Professional Development program development, implementation and service delivery for EMBL 's learning programs, Career Pathways, EMBL induction, focused onboarding conversations, office exchange and rotation program, Next Generation engagement activities (trainees, work experience students) in collaboration with other functions and stakeholders - both internal and external.

• Contribute to career readiness, career coaching activities, lunch & learn sessions and other forms of staff engagement to create accessible, applicable career pathways that will reach program outcomes.

• Assist individuals and Group Leaders as Career Development Consultant before, during and after career transitions to develop long and short-term career strategies for EMBL by helping them assess strengths, values and aspirations to prepare for and connect them meaningfully to opportunities inside and outside of EMBL.

• Partner with Group Leaders and HR Partners to assess and identify competency gaps for better alignment of career development opportunities.

• Play a role in the design and facilitation of end-to-end blended learning experiences for different staff, management and leadership levels at EMBL.

• Continuously evaluate and refine programs to maximise the effectiveness and value of development initiatives through assessments, feedback, and performance metrics and to ensure they meet the evolving needs of the organisation and our employees.

• Help to identify, source and evaluate external learning providers matching our non-compromising quality objectives and learning style.

• Nurture Professional Development Provider relationships, advance networks of training ambassadors, internal and external coaches and mentors as well as organise events to bring together professionals to discuss trends, challenges, and innovations in Professional Development

• Bring professional development expertise to develop solutions to help the organisation to deliver its strategy and being one step ahead in terms of understanding, data and insight (externally and internally) to role model HR professional development skills and professionalism.

• Collaborate across the People function to develop integrated solutions and ensure execution for major people-centred projects and processes with a 'one team' approach that boost employee morale and satisfaction to integrate professional development with performance management and talent development processes.

• Whilst staying current on learning trends, digital tools, and best practices, develop self-directed learning resources and toolkits, support the learning management platform, maintaining up-to-date content and reporting.

What you will need

• We are looking for a proactive team player who is comfortable to engage with a wide range of audiences with a flexible, customer-focused, and outcome-orientated approach able to excel in high-pressure situations. You are an authentic, collaborative and consultative coach with a genuine interest in the growth and development of our teams.

• As our ideal candidate, you are degree educated, have a professional qualification in Human Resource Management or completed an apprenticeship in Human Resources Management, Public/Business Administration or a related field.

• Ideally, you have prior business partnering and/ or a learning & development background, problem-solving skills with the ability to use data and metrics to drive decision-making and measure program effectiveness.

• Being passionate about innovation and people's development, you are experienced in driving employee development and contributing to a positive learning culture with facilitation & communication skills and the ability to engage and inspire diverse audiences for change and transformation.

• You bring energy, compassion and enthusiasm to the team and will be comfortable influencing change and dealing with people at all organisational levels to assume responsibilities with results-focus and with achievement of best practice top of mind.

• With a commitment to providing exceptional customer service, you are able to collaborate cross-functionally, building strong partnerships with colleagues of different cultural backgrounds.

• Internal stakeholder management capability as well as coaching skills have supported you when partnering with and advising colleagues to solve problems, seize opportunities and advance the mission across an organisation whilst being skilled at engaging through difference and valuing bringing together multiple perspectives.

• You are a curious quick learner who constantly looks for ways to improve, a critical thinker and a thoughtful and consistent communicator with the ability to actively listen, network and benchmark good practice.

• Motivated to make a difference with a pro-active approach, you bring a sound understanding of the Professional Development landscape, tools and advancements, current thinking in HR and Professional Development best practice.

• You have demonstrated experience in navigating conflict and facilitating conversations with previous exposure to the development and implementation of HR initiatives to diverse, dispersed and dynamic teams.

• You thrive when you can contribute creative resolutions to a diverse range of complex problems whilst keeping the best interest of the organisation in mind when seeking solutions.

• Advanced proficiency of another European (such as French, German, Italian or Spanish) language

Bonus points

• Prior experience in using HRIS (Human Resources Information System) or LMS (Learning Management System)

• Knowledge of HR processes and procedures in international organisations

• Exposure to and work experience in a multicultural environment, ideally in a science organisation

​Salary: Grade 5 or 6, monthly salary from EUR 4,031 or EUR 4,580 plus allowances based on family circumstances (excl. pension and insurance contributions)

Contract length: 3 years renewable to a maximum of 9 years.

Why join us

EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture - one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation. 

We encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing team – we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and personal experiences reflect the diversity of the populations that our science serves. We actively encourage applications from all genders and cultures, ethnic groups and all demographics to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights at this transformational point in our people strategy.

Enjoy lots of benefits:

• Financial incentives: Salary free of income tax, Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances

• Flexible working arrangements

• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)

• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to public holidays

• Relocation package including installation grant (if applicable)

• Campus life: Free shuttle bus (select sites), on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)

• Family benefits: Kindergarten (Heidelberg), 10 days of child sick leave, generous paid maternity/parental leave and monthly family & child allowances

• Benefits for international newcomers: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

• For detailed information please visit our employee benefits page here

What else you need to know

• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Visit our International Applicants page, to find out more.

• EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here.

• Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ & individuals from all nationalities. 

• How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. Applications will close at 23:59 CET on the date shown below. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.

Closing Date