Norah McKee
Paris
Summary
Senior People Business Partner and HR Leader with extensive experience partnering with executive leadership across complex, international organisations and high-growth environments. Proven track record leading people strategies across the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, wider Europe, Asia and the US, combining strategic business partnering with hands-on ownership of employee relations, organisational design, performance management and change. Experienced in supporting entity set-up, navigating multi-country employment legislation, partnering with Employer of Record (EOR) providers and building scalable People Operations that enable rapid business growth. Trusted advisor to C-suite leaders with a pragmatic, commercially focused approach to delivering exceptional employee and organisational outcomes. I have exemplary organisational skills, as well as effective communication and stakeholder influencing and management abilities. I have won multiple external recognition awards for my work relating to Diversity and Inclusion and Social Responsibility. I’m a chartered member of the CIPD and have an Executive coaching certificate from HEC Paris. I’m fluent in French and English. Based in Paris for the last 8 years, I am looking to relocate back to the UK and begin a new chapter of my career.
Overview
2
2
Languages
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Global Head of Talent & Chief of Staff
BSR- Global Tech Business Sustainability consultancy
Paris
09.2021 - Current
- Established, designed and executed the People Strategy across 9 international markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. Developed an approach to attraction, performance, employee relations, engagement, organisational development, DEI, culture, L&D, and compensation for a scale-up organisation.
- Acted as senior People Business Partner to Executive Leadership, coaching leaders through organisational design, performance management, succession planning, talent strategy, complex employee matters and restructuring including redundancy
- Owned employee relations across multiple jurisdictions, navigated local employment laws and requirements, as well as employee representation groups such as the CSE (France) to deliver compliant outcomes across differing employment frameworks
- Worked closely with Employer of Record (EOR) partners to support hiring, onboarding, employment changes and compliance in countries where the organisation did not yet have legal entities
- Built scalable People infrastructure supporting rapid international expansion across multiple jurisdictions, whilst ensuring a positive employee experience
- Successfully recruited over 100 staff in under 1 year to meet business growth strategy demands
- Built a local HR framework from the ground up including policies, performance management program, onboarding framework and employee engagement scheme to support a fast-paced and high-growth organisation
- Designed and delivered HR transformation, introducing new EOR provider and HR system to streamline processes, improve HR data management, reduce manual work and improve user experience
- Pioneered embedding AI into HR processes to optimise efficiencies, reduce external consultancy costs
- Worked with the Executive team to complete an Organisational Redesign and Restructure, ensuring operational efficiencies and optimising Resource planning across all functions
- Delivered Global DEI programs, focusing on belonging, inclusive management, and staff wellbeing including All Staff residential retreats and quarterly virtual retreats
HR Business Partner, Europe
Aberdeen Standard Investments
Paris
01.2018 - 08.2021
- Strategic HR Business Partner supporting leadership and their teams across the UK, France, Ireland and Germany
- Led challenging employee relations cases, delivering fair, compliant, and commercially sound outcomes.
- Supported complex organisational change and restructuring initiatives including redundancy and TUPE during intense organisational change following the merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen
- Led HR workstreams supporting establishment of new legal entities, including workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, employment compliance, local processes and stakeholder coordination
- Established new EMEA locations including Ireland, launched in new markets, and set up new offices/teams from scratch, ensuring that the Aberdeen culture was consistent across the new markets
- Executed annual compensation reviews and reward planning, ensuring equity and alignment with market benchmarks
- Championed diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, including social mobility programs and gender equity policies such as enhanced parental leave.
- Introduced local employee handbooks and innovative inclusion policies, including market-leading parental leave for all types of parents.
- Delivered cultural awareness training for global employee population, unifying work culture while respecting local variances, resulting in a 20 basis point improvement in collaboration in employee survey.
- Designed and executed direct sourcing recruitment strategy in European business, developed strong employer brand and achieved cost saving of €150k within 2 years
- Introduced social responsibility programs in France and Ireland partnering with local charities, notably internship programs for students with disabilities (France) and an entry-level program for young people affected by homelessness (Ireland)
Global People Consultant, delivering a range of business projects
Standard Life/Standard Life Investments
Edinburgh
09.2014 - 12.2017
- HR lead for new entity set ups, including Singapore and the Accelerate Europe project
- Management of global mobility for key talent employees across multiple global locations. Notably management of: relocation, international assignments, localisation, repatriation, immigration/Visas and global tax issues
- Implemented global HR strategy across regional markets, partnering with business leaders to embed consistent People practices while balancing country-specific employment requirements
- Lead for ongoing HR BAU activities in Europe including benefits, payroll, HR Systems, onboarding
- 8 month secondment in the Global Talent Acquisition team with focussed objectives on talent attraction, sourcing and pre-boarding
Education
Diploma - Executive Coaching
HEC Paris
Paris05-2022
MSc - Human Resources Management
Edinburgh Napier
Edinburgh05-2017
MA - Geography
The University of Glasgow
Glasgow 05-2014
Skills
- Talent strategy
- HR transformation
- Organisational design
- Global mobility management
- Employee relations
- Employee engagement
- Leadership coaching
- Training and Development
Languages
English
First Language
French
Proficient
C2
Timeline
Global Head of Talent & Chief of Staff
BSR- Global Tech Business Sustainability consultancy
09.2021 - Current
HR Business Partner, Europe
Aberdeen Standard Investments
01.2018 - 08.2021
Global People Consultant, delivering a range of business projects
Standard Life/Standard Life Investments
09.2014 - 12.2017
Diploma - Executive Coaching
HEC Paris
MSc - Human Resources Management
Edinburgh Napier
MA - Geography
The University of Glasgow