HR Manager

Job description

The HR Manager Nordics, based at the Esbjerg Headquarters, is responsible for leading the People function across Skechers Nordics, including all corporate and retail operations in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. As a key member of the Nordic Management Team, the HR Manager partners closely with senior leadership to develop and execute a people strategy that supports business growth, operational excellence, and employee engagement across the region. The role provides strategic leadership across all areas of Human Resources, including organizational development, talent management, employee relations, performance management, compliance, and workforce planning. In addition, the HR Manager holds overall accountability for payroll operations across all four Nordic countries, ensuring compliance with local legislation and company standards. WHAT YOU’LL DO: • Act as the HR representative within the Nordic Management Team, influencing business decisions through a people-focused perspective. • Partner with the HR Director Nordics & UK to develop and implement the Nordic HR strategy, ensuring alignment with global business objectives and company values. • Translate business priorities into a clear and measurable HR roadmap that supports sustainable growth and operational performance. • Provide strategic guidance and coaching to senior leaders on organizational effectiveness, talent management, workforce planning, employee relations, and change management. • Identify organizational capability gaps and implement initiatives that enhance performance, leadership capability, and business effectiveness. • Lead and continuously improve the performance management framework, driving a high-performance culture across all functions and locations. • Develop management capability through coaching, leadership development programs, and targeted learning initiatives. • Utilize workforce analytics and HR metrics to identify trends, risks, and opportunities, presenting actionable recommendations to leadership teams. • Own the employee engagement agenda, ensuring engagement survey results are analyzed, communicated, and translated into meaningful action plans. • Champion an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing culture across both corporate and retail environments. • Ensure compliance with employment legislation, GDPR requirements, pension obligations, and internal company policies across all Nordic countries. • Maintain and continuously update employee policies, procedures, and handbooks to ensure legal compliance and operational effectiveness. • Oversee employment frameworks including contracts, terms and conditions, compensation structures, and employee benefits programs. • Hold overall accountability for accurate and compliant payroll delivery across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. • Ensure payroll processes, controls, and governance standards are consistently applied and compliant with local legislation and tax regulations. • Act as the senior escalation point for payroll-related matters, ensuring timely resolution and minimal business disruption. • Partner closely with Finance to ensure payroll reporting, reconciliation, budgeting, and cost management requirements are met. • Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing HR team consisting of HR Business Partners, Payroll & Administration, and Canteen Management. • Establish clear objectives, performance expectations, and development plans for all direct reports. • Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, commercial awareness, and strong business partnership within the HR team. • Maintain overall management responsibility for the Headquarters canteen operation. • Lead and support regional and global HR projects as required. WHAT YOU’LL BRING: • Strong leadership presence with the ability to influence and build credibility at all levels of the organization. • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to operate effectively within a matrix environment. • Strategic mindset combined with strong operational execution capabilities. • Proven ability to translate business challenges into practical and impactful people solutions. • Strong coaching and mentoring capabilities, particularly in supporting leadership teams and people managers. • High levels of integrity, professionalism, and sound judgment. • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven approach to decision making. • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic, and multi-country environment. • Collaborative working style with the ability to build strong relationships across functions, countries, and cultures. REQUIREMENTS: • Minimum 8–10 years of progressive HR experience, including significant experience in a senior HR Manager or Senior HR Business Partner role. • Proven experience leading and developing HR teams within a multi-site and preferably retail or consumer-focused environment. • Demonstrated success operating as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and management teams. • Strong experience designing and implementing HR strategies that deliver measurable business outcomes. • Experience supporting multiple countries and navigating complex employment legislation, ideally across the Nordic region. • Strong knowledge of Nordic employment law, HR compliance requirements, and employee relations practices. • Proven experience developing performance management, leadership development, and organizational effectiveness initiatives. • Experience overseeing multi-country payroll operations with a sound understanding of payroll compliance and legislative requirements across the Nordic countries. • Experience working within a global matrix organization is highly desirable. • Experience partnering with regional HR leadership teams and international stakeholders is an advantage. • Fluent English communication skills, both written and verbal. Additional Nordic language skills are considered beneficial. This job description is not exhaustive and may be reviewed and amended in line with business requirements. WHO WE ARE: Headquartered in Southern California, Skechers—the Comfort Technology Company®—has spent over 30 years helping men, women, and kids everywhere look and feel good. Comfort innovation is at the core of everything we do, driving the development of stylish, high-quality products at a great value. From our diverse footwear collections to our expanding range of apparel and accessories, Skechers is a complete lifestyle brand. Be You - Feel Welcome Skechers recognises the importance and power of diversity within our business. We ensure that our people processes are fair, transparent and promote equality of opportunity for all employees and job applicants. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities or health conditions, who are otherwise qualified for the job position, to perform the essential functions as detailed above.