HR Business Partner

Job Description

Role Purpose

Reporting to the Business HR Manager, who provides strategic direction, guidance and coaching, the HR Business Partner is responsible for partnering with site leaders to shape, drive and influence the people strategy across the site. The role translates site and enterprise business priorities into an integrated people agenda that enables growth, strengthens leadership and talent, accelerates change, and builds a high-performing, inclusive and future-ready organisation.

Operating with significant ownership and autonomy within the direction set by the Business HR Manager, the role anticipates business needs, uses data and insight to influence decisions, and drives measurable people and business outcomes. 

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic business partnership 

• Own the day-to-day strategic partnership with assigned site leaders and functions, building trusted relationships and providing an independent people perspective to business decisions, with direction and guidance from the Business HR Manager. 

• Partner with leaders to shape, drive and influence the site people strategy, translating site, Operations BHR and enterprise priorities into clear workforce, organisation, talent, leadership, culture and change plans with defined outcomes, ownership and measures of success. 

• Understand the site operating model, growth agenda, pipeline, capability requirements and external talent market; anticipate people risks and opportunities before they affect delivery. 

• Use constructive challenge, coaching and influence to strengthen leadership decisions, execution discipline and accountability, escalating significant risks or strategic issues to the Business HR Manager as appropriate. 

Workforce strategy and organisation effectiveness 

• Lead strategic workforce planning for assigned functions, connecting headcount, skills, organisation design, succession, mobility and talent acquisition to the site long-range plan. 

• Partner with leaders to design future-fit, scalable organisations with clear roles, decision rights, spans, accountabilities and capabilities. 

• Identify critical roles and emerging capability needs; build integrated talent strategies with Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, and other COE partners. 

• Use people data, business metrics and external insight to frame options, test assumptions, track delivery and improve the quality and speed of decisions. 

Talent, succession and leadership 

• Support the business build a strong, diverse talent and succession pipeline for critical roles 

• Lead robust Talent Management Reviews, succession discussions and development planning; ensure actions translate into stretch assignments, moves, rotations, coaching and measurable progress. 

• Coach leaders to identify talent beneath the surface , strengthen the feeder pipeline and make high-quality internal and external talent decisions. 

• Enable leaders to attract, develop, retain and deploy talent while improving onboarding and transition support for new and promoted leaders. 

Accelerating change and shaping culture 

• Partner with leaders to define the case for change, build readiness, clarify expectations and sustain adoption through visible leadership behaviours. 

• Help the organisation change before it has to by identifying opportunities to simplify work, remove roadblocks and improve speed, quality and impact. 

• Activate the AbbVie Ways We Work and site culture priorities through leader routines, communication, transparent feedback, inclusion, accountability and recognition. 

• Connect transformation, digitalisation, AI and process improvement to measurable business outcomes, capability building and employee experience. 

Performance and employee relations 

• Strengthen goal setting, performance differentiation, feedback, calibration and development conversations by ensuring leaders focus on evidence, outcomes and behaviours. 

• Coach leaders to address performance early and fairly, through clear expectations, timely feedback and robust improvement plans. 

• Lead and advise on complex employee relations matters, investigations, discipline, grievances, absence and organisational change in line with Irish employment law, AbbVie policy and site procedures. 

• Partner with Employee Relations, Legal, Occupational Health and other specialists where risk or complexity requires escalation. 

One HR delivery and operational excellence 

• Work as one connected HR team, clarifying ownership and integrating specialist expertise to deliver a consistent, high-quality leader and employee experience. 

• Own the people agenda for assigned client groups while ensuring core HR processes, documentation, controls and governance are executed accurately and on time. 

• Represent the site on cross-site, regional and enterprise Business HR initiatives; share learning and adapt enterprise solutions to local business needs. 

• Simplify and continuously improve HR practices, using technology and data to reduce transactional effort and increase time spent on strategic partnership.

Qualifications

Essential education and experience 

• Level 8 degree in Human Resources, Business, Organisational Psychology or a relevant discipline. 

• CIPD membership or equivalent professional HR qualification. 

• Typically 6+ years of progressive HR experience, including substantial HR Business Partner or senior HR generalist experience. 

• Strong working knowledge of Irish employment law and demonstrated experience managing complex employee relations matters. 

• Experience partnering with senior leaders in a manufacturing, biopharmaceutical, medical device or similarly regulated environment is strongly preferred. 

Strategic capabilities 

• Business acumen and the ability to connect people priorities to operational, financial, quality, compliance and growth outcomes. 

• Organisation design, strategic workforce planning, talent management, succession and change leadership capability. 

• Strong coaching, influencing and facilitation skills, including confidence constructively challenging leaders. 

• Ability to interpret workforce and talent data, identify insights and convert them into practical decisions and actions. 

• Sound judgement, risk awareness, project leadership and the ability to manage competing priorities with pace. 

Leadership behaviours 

• Enterprise mindset: prioritises the wider AbbVie outcome and collaborates across boundaries. 

• Learning agility: remains curious, scans ahead and builds capability before gaps emerge. 

• Clarity and courage: creates direction, addresses issues early and communicates transparently through uncertainty. 

• Accountability: sets clear standards, follows through and focuses on measurable impact. 

• Inclusive leadership: builds trust, invites different perspectives and strengthens belonging and high performance. 

Additional Information

Career opportunity: The breadth of site partnership, cross-functional exposure and enterprise HR work in this role provides strong development experience for future progression into Business HR Manager or broader Business HR leadership roles, subject to performance, readiness and business opportunities. 

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community.  Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled. 

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