Head of Human Resources 80-100%

We are looking for a Head of Human Resources 80 - 100% starting 1 December 2026 or by arrangement.

In this responsible role, you will lead and develop the Human Resources department together with your small team. You will shape professional, reliable, and contemporary HR work and ensure competent HR support for employees, managers, and the university management.

You will advise the university management and managers on personnel and leadership issues, have practical experience in operational HR work, and reliably drive important topics forward. You combine strong advisory skills with a good understanding of overarching contexts and practical solutions.

Reporting directly to the CFO, you create clarity, standardise processes, and further develop HR processes, tools, and systems in a contemporary manner. You identify optimisation potential, initiate improvements, and implement them pragmatically and sustainably. You utilise digitalisation opportunities and actively contribute to overarching HR and organisational projects.

With your structured and solution-oriented working style, entrepreneurial thinking, and integrity, you build trust and acceptance. You reliably bring topics to completion and thus make an important contribution to the professional development of HR work and Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences as an attractive employer.

• You lead and develop the HR team.
• You are responsible for the entire HR lifecycle for around 120 permanent employees and approximately 650 part-time lecturers.
• You and your team ensure efficient personnel administration and reliable payroll and guarantee the correct handling of relevant social insurance and withholding tax matters.
• You are the contact person for employees and a sparring partner for managers on personnel and leadership-related issues.
• You identify improvement potential in HR processes and pragmatically implement optimisations – from further developing existing procedures to introducing contemporary tools and digital applications.
• You independently lead HR projects and actively contribute your expertise to overarching HR and organisational projects.
• You contribute to the further development of the personnel strategy and actively shape topics such as personnel development, employer branding, and the positioning of the university as an attractive employer.
• You prepare relevant HR key figures and decision-making bases for the university management and derive concrete measures from them.

• You have several years of experience in a demanding, generalist HR role with leadership responsibility in an SME environment within a larger corporate group.
• You have completed higher education or further training in HR management or hold a comparable qualification.
• You bring broad experience in operational HR processes along the entire HR lifecycle and have sound knowledge in personnel administration, recruiting, payroll, social insurance, and labour law.
• You enjoy working operationally, are hands-on, and combine a strong service orientation with personal responsibility and implementation strength.
• You are a reliable and experienced personality and advise different stakeholders confidently, competently, and solution-oriented even in challenging situations.
• You communicate fluently, appropriately for the audience, and convincingly – both orally and in writing. Your advisory competence and good sensitivity for different target groups distinguish you.
• You work in a structured, careful, and solution-oriented manner and keep an overview even with diverse tasks.
• You have good IT user skills and a strong affinity for digital tools. Experience with Abacus or comparable HR and ERP systems is an advantage.

• A responsible key position with great operational responsibility.
• The opportunity to visibly improve complex HR processes and sustainably enhance the quality of HR work.
• A committed, small HR team and short decision-making paths.
• Contemporary employment conditions (40 hours/week, coverage of daily sickness benefits and accident insurance contributions, supplementary accident insurance, own pension fund, etc.).
• A centrally located workplace in Zurich Oerlikon as well as attractive internal training and development opportunities.

Would you like to help shape HR work at an innovative university of applied sciences? Then we look forward to receiving your application via the "Apply" button below. Unfortunately, applications by e-mail or post cannot be considered.

For further information, our CFO, Sabine Eichert, will be happy to assist you.