Director – HR Operations and Payroll Germany

At Fresenius Medical Care, we are the global leader in kidney care, committed to improving the lives of patients with chronic kidney disease. Our mission is to deliver high-quality, innovative products, services, and care across the entire healthcare journey. Guided by our vision—“Creating a future worth living. For patients. Worldwide. Every day.”—we work with purpose and compassion, supported by a global team of over 125,000 employees.
 

Our values guide how we work:

• We Care for our patients, each other, and our communities
• We Connect across teams and borders to deliver excellence together
• We Commit to doing things the right way— growing with purpose and leading kidney care with integrity and innovation

Position Purpose

Lead all GBS Germany HR RUN operations for all FME entities in Germany by integrating HR Operations, Payroll Operations and Workforce Management into a single governance model. Accountable for service delivery, compliance, team leadership, employee experience, stakeholder management, Works Council engagement, vendor oversight, and transformation execution while managing a hybrid Germany-Poland operating model. The role serves as the primary face of for GBS HR RUN Germany and owns end-to-end operational performance & HR-GBS Stakeholder management.

Key Accountabilities

Service Delivery Leadership

• Own end-to-end HR Operations & Payroll Operations service delivery
• Provide strategic direction for the Germany GBS HR RUN operating model
• Maintain service quality and efficiency across payroll & HR Operations lifecycle activities

• Ensure service delivery alignment with HR Country Partners and Business requirements
• Act as the escalation point for critical issues

Team Leadership

• Lead the Germany HR Operations, Payroll and WFM teams
• Provide direction and guidance to the teams
• Build organizational capabilities to support current and future business needs
• Build team engagement and trust
• Promote collaboration and continuous learning across the organization

Transformation & Operating Model Evolution

• Drive transformation initiatives, ensure contribution to strategic transformation programs
• Lead the implementation, adoption and evolution of the Target Operating Model
• Lead the organization through change, with strategic focus on people
• Ensure knowledge retention, change adoption and effective capability building
• Ensure continuous service improvement and optimization
• Build trust and drive alignment across transformation initiative

Stakeholder & Works Council Management

• Act as Trusted Partner to GBS and HR organizations and Business Leaders
• Primary HR Operations and Payroll representative to Works Council
• Build stakeholder engagement and alignment
• Represent Germany HR Operations and Payroll within regional and global governance forums

Risk, Compliance & Governance

• Ensure service adherence to all applicable labor, tax, data privacy, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain and execute robust internal controls and governance frameworks.
• Own operational risk and issue management.
• Proactively identify and mitigate operational and compliance risks, drive resolution
• Lead internal and external audit activities
• Oversee statutory reporting and audit readiness

Key requirements

Education

• Master's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or related field.

Experience

• Minimum 12 – 15 years professional experience, covering both HR Operations and Payroll for Germany, preferably within a GBS, Shared Services, or multinational environment
• Extensive leadership experience overseeing complex HR Operations and Payroll organizations
• Deep knowledge of German labor law, payroll, tax, and social security regulations
• Strong transformation, process improvement, and change management capabilities
• Experience managing large, geographically dispersed teams
• Works Council engagement experience
• Experience managing outsourced service providers and complex stakeholder environments.
• Shared Services and hybrid operating model expertise

Key competencies

• Strategic Leadership & Transformation
• Strong Executive Presence
• HR Operations & Payroll Expertise
• Operational Excellence
• Stakeholder Management & Influence
• People Leadership & Talent Development

Our Offer for you:

There is a lot you can discover at Fresenius Medical Care, regardless in which field you are an expert and how much experience you have - all dedicated to your professional journey.

• Whether in front of or behind the scenes - you are helping to make ever better medicine available to more and more people around the world
• Individual opportunities for self-determined career planning and professional development
• A corporate culture in which there is enough room for innovative thinking - to find the best solution together, not the quickest one
• A large number of committed people with a wide range of skills, talents and experience
• The benefits of a successful global corporation with the collegial culture of a medium-sized company