Director, HR UK

The purpose of Idorsia is to discover, develop, and commercialize innovative medicines to help more patients.

Headquartered in Switzerland – a biotech-hub of Europe – Idorsia is a high-potential biopharmaceutical company, specialized in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative small molecules, with the aim of transforming the horizon of therapeutic options.

We are looking for an experienced HR Business Partner who has successfully supported demanding clients in dynamic and fast-changing environments, with a proven record of contributing to business success by helping identify, prioritize, build, and transform organizational capabilities, behaviours, structures and processes.

This role offers the chance to lead and shape the UK HR function, influence organisational culture and partner closely with the UK Leadership Team, Head of HR Europe and International Markets and Global HR.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted advisor to the UK leadership team, supporting the design and execution of the affiliate people strategy in line with business priorities and EUCAN objectives.
• Lead end-to-end recruitment processes for the UK affiliate, from defining hiring needs with line managers, to sourcing, selection, offer management, and onboarding, ensuring compliance with local employment legislation.
• Support managers in forecasting talent needs, succession planning, and building a strong local pipeline aligned with EUCAN priorities.
• Drive the local implementation of core HR processes (performance management, development planning, career growth), ensuring consistency with global frameworks while adapting to UK context.
• Partner with leaders to implement organizational changes, providing guidance to managers and employees during transitions.
• Act as the first point of contact for employees and managers in the UK, providing coaching and advice on performance, development, conflict resolution, absence management, and exit processes.
• Anticipate employee needs, gather feedback, and contribute to initiatives that enhance engagement, wellbeing, and retention within the UK affiliate.
• Ensure adherence to UK employment law, HR policies, and procedures; collaborate closely with HR Services to maintain accurate employee data and ensure efficient management of the employee lifecycle.
• Deliver and continuously improve onboarding for new hires in the UK; support the rollout of learning and development initiatives.
• Work closely with EUCAN HRBPs and Global HR specialist functions, sharing best practices and ensuring alignment across affiliates.
• Track and analyse local HR KPIs, providing insights and recommendations to improve organizational effectiveness.

 Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; HR qualification (e.g., CIPD Level 5 or above) preferred.
• Minimum 8 years’ experience as HR Generalist/Business Partner, ideally within an international company (pharma/healthcare industry preferred).
• Strong knowledge of HR operations and proven track record across the full employee lifecycle.
• Solid understanding of UK employment law and HR compliance requirements.
• Pragmatic, proactive, and results-oriented, with strong ability to drive initiatives to completion.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, able to engage effectively with stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work through ambiguity, and challenge the status quo.
• High sense of customer orientation and solution-driven mindset.
• Strong team player, comfortable working in a culturally diverse and matrix environment.

Work Location: London (hybrid)
Country: United Kingdom
Business Area: Global Human Resources – EUCAN
Schedule: Full-time
Job Type: Permanent

At Idorsia, we harness the power of difference, authenticity, and inclusion to achieve business success.
We encourage all potential candidates with diverse backgrounds of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, and disability to submit their job applications. All applicants will receive consideration.
We are committed to fostering respect, fairness, and equal opportunities for all job applicants and our employees.

Please be informed that if you are selected for this position, your employment will be subject to a pre-employment background screening process, of which you would be informed in greater detail in due course.

Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd ("Idorsia") is committed to a fair and transparent application process. In order to avoid any conflict of interest in line with Idorsia Code of Business Conduct, which would undermine such a commitment, the applicants  must disclose any personal, financial, or other outside interests interfering with the interests of Idorsia. Further, the applicant is obliged to disclose any and all relationships with close or affiliated persons, who are employees of Idorsia or are collaborating with Idorsia in any other contractual relationship. 

Please note Idorsia operates a strictly controlled list of preferred recruitment partners. For those partners who have no valid, signed Master Service Agreement in place with Idorsia, all unsolicited resumes, CVs, anonymous profiles, or any other candidate details submitted through our website or to personal e-mail accounts of employees of Idorsia Pharmaceuticals (including any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, or related companies) are considered the property of Idorsia Pharmaceuticals and are not subject to payment of any form of introduction, placement or referral fees.