HR Generalist Retail Europe (f/m/d)

Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company founded in 1973. At a time when all life on earth is under threat of extinction, we aim to use the resources we have—our business, our investments, our voice and our imagination—to influence changes needed to protect our planet. A registered B Corporation and founding member of 1% for the Planet, Patagonia is recognised internationally for its commitment to product quality and environmental activism, contributing over $145 million in grants and in-kind donations to thousands of grassroots environmental groups around the world.

Your role:

We are in business to save our home planet. You’ll be helping us achieve this by coordinating all retail HR activities across Europe and working closely with the HR Manager EU and HR Director EMEA on all HR-related Retail programs and initiatives.

Main tasks: 

Be an Human Resources partner to the Retail team at the Amsterdam office and to all Stores Managers across Europe, regarding all aspects of the HR lifecycle. Specifically, the following:

• In partnership with HR Manager Europe, advising Store Managers regarding employee questions and concerns, as well as policy and procedures, sickness follow up and employee relationship issues.

• Manage all HR administration tasks for our retail employees in conjunction with HR Manager Europe, HR Coordinator, Recruitment Lead and Payroll & Benefits Coordinator (maintain and update personnel data, contract administration, record absence, manage maternity leave, holidays, sickness, filing any legal data, keeping reports, etc).

• Support the HR Manager Europe and Payroll & Benefits Coordinator on any Payroll / C&B data coordination and administration. Answer any payroll related and or compensation benefits queries from Retail employees. Payroll cover as required across retail Europe.

• Coordinate, participate and collaborate during the Recruitment process for all retail stores with the Recruitment Team Europe.

• Ensure full coordination and support to all annual HR processes for retail– Performance Management, Compensation & Reward, Career Development, Annual Budgeting processing, and our Learning and Development programs.

• Support Store Managers for all health and safety needs of employees.

• Create and implement new employee induction program for our retail employees. 

• Support the HR Manager Europe in the set-up of all aspects related to HR (legal, contract, services, etc) when opening new retail stores in Europe.

• Support the HR Manager on matters related to the engagement of our retail employees – field issues / understanding the pulse of the retail organization.

• Support and contribute to the development and roll- out of HR processes and policies to the European retail business.

• Support and prepare accordingly any necessary HR data / overviews for or HR Manager Europe.

• Conduct exit interviews of retail employees and analyze results, supporting HR Operations Coordinator in building Quarterly Business Reviews for HR.

• Support as needed HR administration in conjunction with HR Operations Coordinator, Recruiters, Payroll & Benefits Coordinator, and HR manager.

What we’re looking for:

• A love of the outdoors

• A passion for saving our home planet and making a positive impact through your work

• Degree in HR and / or Business

• 3 - 5 years of HR generalist experience, preferably in the apparel/retail sector

• Very important to have the ability to move between very operational/admin matters and being hands on & dealing with some levels of strategy within the HR Retail world

• Extremely strong interpersonal skills and stakeholder management

• Spoken and written English

• HR experience with different European countries.

• Familiar with employment law concepts and ensuring confidentiality, tact and sensitivity when handling any HR / employee case 

• Demonstrated ability to work independently, including the ability to organize, plan, and prioritize tasks

• Proven ability to build strong partnerships and work collaboratively with line managers and colleagues

• Proactive, dynamic, attention to detail, accuracy

• Excellent computer knowledge (Microsoft Office, Excel, Internet) and general skills to learn new systems

• Adapts to change quickly (learning on the fly)

• Very good communication skills including effective listening, writing and presentation.

• Excellent administrative and organizational skills

• Ability to travel 10 - 15% of the time

It’s a plus if you also have the following:

• Other languages are a plus, preferably French and/or Dutch

• Payroll experience

• Knowledge of specific HR systems

Other important details:

• This is a full time position, based in Amsterdam

• We’re working in the office 2-3 days per week, and working from home the rest of the week. We can support employees who need to work at the office more frequently

• We strive to make unbiased decisions and to offer a great experience to every person who applies for a role at Patagonia. Our interviews include standardised questions that focus on the aspects that are important for success in the role. For some roles there will also be a practical assignment, where you can showcase your skills 

Perks:

Note: Below is only an indicative list and may change at the time an offer of employment is made. 

• Events and workshops with environmentalists, change-makers, educators and sports ambassadors

• Taking part in employee-lead groups such as Sports, Internal Communications, Footprint, Pride, Pata Parents and Events, or create your own!

• Ongoing unique learning and development opportunities such as our own programme Earth University and workshops in anti-racism, core sports, among others.

• Possibility to apply for an Environmental Internship (spending time away from your regular job to work for an environmental group, while being paid your regular salary) after one year of employment

• Option to participate in our 1% for the Planet grants council, being trained and empowered to review and make funding decisions on the grant applications from environmental groups.  

• We have dog-friendly offices where employees can bring their furry friend to work

• We are an activist company and have policies in place to support employees that want to engage in activism.

• All employees interns and their families have access to our Employee Assistance Programme, designed to provide third party, confidential support on a wide range of topics relating to emotional, behavioral and social challenges 

• Fully paid maternity leave (duration varies by country). After nine months of employment, we offer 12 weeks of partner leave and 12 weeks of adoptive leave. Pro-rated for part-time employees.

• Access to Patagonia discounts and sample sales, as well as discounts at other outdoor and value-aligned companies

• Plus other benefits specific to each region

At Patagonia, we commit to becoming an anti-racist company that leads by example. This means doing the work to be inclusive and equitable, across all aspects of our business.  

Every person who applies to join Patagonia receives equal employment opportunities, and we value a welcoming environment where each member of our EMEA team feels included, respected and empowered, regardless of their race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, civil status, national origin, disability or age. 

At Patagonia, we strive to have inclusive representation within our organisation and embrace a diverse mix of talent to contribute to our culture. We actively seek applications from Black and People of Colour (BPOC) and other underrepresented groups.

As we are in business to save our home planet, we can only do this together.

Please make sure that your CV and cover letter are in English.