HR Business Partner

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Abbott in Ireland

Abbott has maintained a strong presence in Ireland since 1946 and celebrates its 80th anniversary in the country in 2026. The company supports the Irish healthcare sector with a broad portfolio spanning diagnostics, diabetes care, medical devices and nutritional products. Today, Abbott employs more than 6,500 people across ten sites located in Dublin, Donegal, Clonmel, Cootehill, Galway, Kilkenny, Longford and Sligo.

About Abbott

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 122,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Abbott Diabetes Care Kilkenny

Abbott Diabetes Care has opened a new site, in Kilkenny, that is  at the forefront of Diabetes care with the latest technology, to manufacture Freestyle blood glucose test strips and Freestyle Sensors for use in diabetes management. Among Abbott Diabetes Care leading brands are the Freestyle Precision, Freestyle Lite and Freestyle Libre systems.

Role Purpose

The HR Business Partner serves as a trusted advisor to site and functional leaders, translating business strategy into effective people strategies and solutions. The role requires broad and deep HR expertise, strong business acumen, and the ability to influence leaders at all levels to build organizational capability, leadership effectiveness, and high-performing teams.

What We Need

We are seeking an accomplished HR professional with significant experience across the full spectrum of Human Resources who brings both strong technical expertise and practical judgement developed through experience.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

Strategic Business Partnership

• Ability to understand business priorities and translate them into actionable people strategies.
• Strong business acumen with the confidence to challenge and influence senior leaders.
• Skilled at balancing employee, business, and organizational needs to drive sustainable outcomes.

Employee Relations Expertise

• Deep knowledge of employee relations, employment legislation, investigations, conflict resolution, and complex case management.
• Ability to navigate sensitive situations with sound judgement, credibility, and fairness.
• Experience building positive employee relations climates while effectively managing organizational risk.

Organization Design & Change Leadership

• Proven experience supporting organizational design, team effectiveness, restructures, workforce planning, and change initiatives.
• Ability to assess organizational capability and recommend solutions that improve performance and accountability.
• Strong change management capability with the ability to coach leaders through ambiguity and transformation.

Leadership Development & Coaching

• A highly skilled coach who develops leadership capability through challenge, support, and insight.
• Experience supporting leaders through performance management, talent development, succession planning, and organizational effectiveness initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to build leadership confidence and capability at all levels of the organization.

Talent Strategy & Succession

• Strong expertise in talent reviews, succession planning, workforce planning, organizational capability assessment, and development planning.
• Ability to identify, develop, and accelerate key talent.
• Experience facilitating talent discussions and influencing talent decisions with senior leadership teams.

Influencing & Trusted Advisor Capability

• Exceptional relationship-building skills with a reputation for credibility and trust.
• Strong personal presence with the ability to influence without authority.
• Able to challenge constructively and guide decision-making through data, insight, and strong HR expertise.

Critical Success Factors

The ideal candidate will be:

• A strategic thinker and pragmatic problem solver.
• Comfortable operating independently in a complex environment.
• Resilient and able to manage competing priorities.
• Highly collaborative while willing to provide courageous leadership challenge.
• Recognized as a trusted coach and advisor to leaders.
• Able to leverage tacit HR knowledge and experience to navigate complex situations where there is no obvious roadmap.

Key Competencies

• Business Acumen
• Strategic Thinking
• Coaching
• Organizational Design
• Employee Relations
• Change Leadership
• Talent Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Influencing & Negotiation
• Leadership Development
• Executive Presence
• Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Qualifications & Experience

The ideal candidate will have:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology, Industrial Relations or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, including experience in a HR Business Partner or equivalent role.
• Experience within a manufacturing, medical device, pharmaceutical, healthcare or other highly regulated environment.
• Experience supporting client groups through periods of growth, transformation, organizational change or business expansion.
• Experience supporting site start-up, scale-up, ramp-up or major business transformation initiatives is highly desirable.
• Knowledge of Irish employment legislation and HR best practice.
• Experience operating within a complex, matrixed, multinational organization.
• Professional HR qualification (CIPD or equivalent) is desirable.

What Success Looks Like

This individual will become a trusted partner to site & affiliate leadership, proactively identifying organisational risks and opportunities, strengthening leadership capability, enhancing employee relations outcomes, and ensuring talent and organisational strategies enable the site to achieve its business objectives.

What we Offer

Attractive compensation package that includes competitive pay, as well as benefits such as

• Family health insurance,
• Excellent pension scheme
• Life assurance
• Career Development
• Fantastic new facility
• Growing business plus access to many more benefits.

Important Information

Please note that any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment medical examination, including drug and alcohol screening, conducted by a Company-designated medical practitioner.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Abbott is an equal opportunities employer.

The base pay for this position is

N/A

In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.

JOB FAMILY:

HR Consultant

DIVISION:

CHR Corporate Human Resources

LOCATION:

Ireland > Kilkenny : Kilkenny Business and Technology Park

ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS:

WORK SHIFT:

Ie - Kkyflx (Ireland)

TRAVEL:

Not specified

MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE:

Not Applicable

SIGNIFICANT WORK ACTIVITIES:

Not Applicable