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Head of HR Material Solutions
GKN Aerospace
Source: Headcount Labs · original listing ↗
Job data: Headcount Labs, ODbL 1.0. Job descriptions belong to their employers.
Source date: 2026-11-06
About this role
Fantastic challenges. Amazing opportunities. GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster and greener! Fuelled by great people whose expertise and creativity sets the standards in our industry, we’re inspired by the opportunities to innovate and break boundaries. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies. And we’re committed to putting sustainability at the centre of everything we do, opening up and protecting our planet. With over 16,000 employees across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.6bn in 2025. There are no limits to where you can take your career. Job Summary We are looking for a strategic and commercially minded Head of HR to join our Material Solutions Business Area. Reporting to the SVP HR, this role will act as a trusted advisor to the Material Solutions SVP and leadership team, translating business priorities into people and organizational strategies that drive growth, performance, and transformation. This is a highly visible leadership role combining strategic workforce planning, talent management, organizational effectiveness, leadership development, employee engagement, and change leadership. You will play a key role in shaping the future capability of the business while ensuring the successful execution of HR initiatives across a global and evolving organization. Job Responsibilities As Head of HR – Material Solutions, you will partner closely with senior business leaders and HR colleagues to develop and execute people strategies that enable business success. You will provide both strategic leadership and hands-on support across the full employee lifecycle while fostering a high-performance, inclusive, and engaging culture. Key responsibilities include: • Partnering with senior leaders to align workforce, talent, and organizational strategies with business objectives. • Leading strategic workforce planning and talent initiatives to ensure the organization has the capabilities required for future success. • Driving organizational effectiveness, leadership development, employee engagement, and culture initiatives across the business area. Additional responsibilities include: • Serving as a trusted advisor on organizational effectiveness, talent, culture, workforce transformation, and strategic people decisions. • Leading HR aspects of business transformation initiatives, including mergers, acquisitions, integrations, and organizational change. • Using people and business analytics to identify opportunities, manage risks, and support data-driven decision-making. • Partnering with HR teams across the organization to deliver effective talent, leadership, performance, engagement, and operational HR solutions. Qualifications & Personal Skills You are a strategic HR leader with a bachelor’s degree in human resources, Business, Organizational Development, or a related field, combined with significant HR experience and a proven track record as a strategic HR Business Partner. You have experience supporting senior leaders and driving organizational performance, talent management, succession planning, and change initiatives. Strong communication, influencing, stakeholder management, analytical, and project management skills are essential, together with proficiency in Microsoft Office applications. Desirable Qualifications and Experience • Advanced degree in a relevant field. • Senior HR leadership experience within a complex, global organization. • Demonstrated experience leading HR, workforce, organizational, or business transformation initiatives. • Strong expertise in several of the following areas: organizational design, HR operating models, workforce transformation, culture, employee experience, analytics, digital HR, and change management. • Proven track record of leading large cross-functional initiatives and influencing senior executive teams. Personal Skills To succeed in this role, you will be a collaborative and pragmatic leader with strong commercial awareness. You will combine strategic thinking with operational delivery and be comfortable operating across multiple stakeholders, cultures, and geographic locations. The ability to build trust, challenge constructively, and drive sustainable organizational change will be critical to your success. Employment Employment type: Permanent employment Location: Trollhättan Working hours: Full-time Travel requirements: Regular travel to other GKN Aerospace locations within the region and globally as required. Recruitment Process We review applications continuously and encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible. Application deadline: 2026-11-13 Please note that employment may be subject to security screening and approval in accordance with applicable security regulations. For positions where customer requirements include security classification, specific citizenship requirements may apply. We’ll offer you fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities. This is your chance to be part of an organisation that has proven itself to be at the cutting edge of our industry; and is committed to pushing the boundaries even further. And with some of the best training on offer in the industry, who knows how far you can go? A Great Place to work needs a Great Way of Working Everyone is welcome to apply to GKN. We believe that we can only achieve our ambitions through a coming together of diverse minds who enjoy collaborating in an inspirational environment. Through our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging and by living our five powerful principles we’ve created a culture where everyone feels welcome to contribute. It’s a culture that won us ‘The Best Workplace Culture Award’. By embracing and celebrating what makes us unique we encourage everyone to bring their full self to work. We’re also committed to providing an accessible recruitment process, so if you require reasonable adjustments at any stage during our recruitment process please get in touch and let us know. We are the place where human dreams, plus human endeavour, shape the future of aerospace innovation and technology.