People and Culture Country Lead - Japan

The Team:

As our People and Culture Country Lead, you will operate at our Tokyo office in a flexible hybrid model, reporting directly to our VP for Global Regions. This is a high-impact, strategic individual contributor role where you will act as a key architect of our culture. You will join a vibrant and ambitious P&C team that acts as the engine room for Celonis's continued hyper-growth. Beyond your immediate region, you will be part of a connected global ecosystem, collaborating with Country Leaders, People Business Partners, and international colleagues to drive a world-class employee experience.

The Role:

You will serve as the architect of our country-driven People strategy across two markets at differing stages of organizational maturity. While your primary focus will be supporting our significant workforce in Japan, you will also play a critical role in scaling our emerging footprints in Korea. This role requires a versatile mindset - you will drive operational excellence in Tokyo while acting as a "builder" for our growing teams abroad. You will shape the employee experience, ensuring our teams feel connected, supported, and empowered. You will be the go-to expert for leadership on all people related matters, applying robust Japan legislative knowledge and navigating the specific compliance nuances of the Korea market to ensure sustainable growth.

The work you'll do:

• Strategic Regional Partnering: Partner with Country Leaders in Japan and Korea to drive regional growth. You will translate global goals into local actions, sharing insights and market trends to ensure our people strategy remains competitive across all three jurisdictions.
• Culture & Environment: Collaborate with Country Leaders and Workplace teams to build a cohesive 'One Celonis' culture.
• Employee Experience: Oversee the full employee journey, ensuring every touchpoint is seamless, supportive, and legally compliant.
• PBP Collaboration: Act as the local execution arm for our global People Business Partners. You will operationalize business-specific people strategies within your regions, solving complex local challenges and ensuring global initiatives land effectively at the country level.
• Employee Relations & Performance: Manage complex employee relations cases, performance improvement processes, and grievance issues. You will apply your deep knowledge of Japan law while navigating the specific regulatory landscapes of Korea to mitigate risk and ensure fair treatment.
• Compliance & Policy Localization: Work closely with Legal and People Compliance teams to align local policies with Global standards. You will serve as the guardian of compliance, ensuring our practices meet the strict requirements of Japan and Korean employment law and standards.
• Global Mobility & Immigration: Take ownership of visa and immigration compliance, a critical factor for our Japan and Korea hub and sponsorship license. You will ensure we can seamlessly move and hire talent across borders without regulatory friction.
• Operational Excellence & Automation: Act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for HR processes. In collaboration with People Operations, you will refine and automate them to reduce administrative burden and improve the speed of service for our employees.
• Benefits & Wellbeing: Support the Global Benefits Lead in rolling out and managing benefit packages that remain competitive in the Japan and Korea market and attractive in our growth regions, ensuring our employees feel physically and financially supported.
• Data-Driven Insights: Create high-quality reports and analyses in collaboration with People Operations. You will use data to identify trends in retention, engagement, and performance, providing leadership with the insights needed to make informed talent decisions.
• External Representation: As we scale, you will represent the People function externally, helping to build our employer brand.

The qualifications you need:

• Experience: 8–10+ years of relevant experience in Regional HR Management, or as a Generalist, ideally within a hyper-growth or fast-paced international environment.
• Legal Expertise: Comprehensive knowledge of Japan labor legislation and compliance is essential. You have a track record of managing complex Employee Relations cases independently.
• Global Mindset: Experience scaling teams or managing HR topics across multiple geographies. Exposure to Korean labor frameworks is highly advantageous, but a willingness to learn and navigate these landscapes is equally valued.
• Stakeholder Partnership: Capable of advising and influencing senior Country Leaders.
• Tech-Savvy: Proficiency with modern HRIS tools (Workday is a plus) and a data-driven approach to solving people problems.
• The Celonis Attitude: You are resilient, collaborative, and take ownership. You enjoy building processes from scratch just as much as you enjoy optimizing existing ones.

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