Unit People & Culture Manager

Candidate profile (title) Our team within IKEA

Candidate profile (text) - Default language Are you a passionate people leader with a genuine love for culture, driven to create an engaging co-worker experience whilst delivering exceptional business outcomes? Do you thrive in dynamic environments where strategic thinking meets hands-on action, and where your influence shapes the way people lead, grow, and connect? If so, we would love to meet you!

Key responsibilities (title) About this work area

Key responsibilities (text) At the heart of IKEA is people. The People & Culture function exists to secure the competence and organisation needed to reach our business ambitions, ensuring co-workers have the preconditions to meet customers in the best possible way. As the Unit People & Culture Manager, you will be a trusted business partner to the Unit Manager, a leader of your local P&C team, and a key contributor to the Unit Management team. You will be a performance-driven, solution-oriented leader with a genuine interest in people and business development. Your responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Acts as a People & Culture business partner to the Unit Manager on all people topics, providing specialist knowledge and advisory support across performance, succession, and confidential business matters.
• Leads and develops the unit People & Culture team to deliver an excellent co-worker experience in new and innovative ways.
• Ensures the people strategy, global principles and guidelines as localised by the Country P&C team, and relevant business plans are operationally implemented and embedded to across the unit.
• Influences the Unit Management team to continuously develop local leadership capabilities within their functions, according to business needs.
• Supports the building of local business competence and performance by setting and working on relevant goals in collaboration with unit managers.
• Ensures delivery of learning and training at unit level, supported by the P&C Generalist.
• Ensures local employer communication is consistent, well perceived, and builds on the IKEA brand.
• Together with the other stakeholder secures an up-to-date succession process and plan by influencing managers to take the lead, with a focus on developing talents and high-performing potentials.
• Leads by example in ways that express the IKEA values, and together with unit managers, helps to safeguard and promote the IKEA culture.
• Responsible for the implementation of the co-worker relations plan, ensuring all areas of the unit uphold labour relations principles, local policies, procedures, and relevant legislation.
• For the distribution of budget hours between unit departments, enabling an effective and efficient people planning process.

Let's connect Who you are

Let´s connect You are a passionate, highly motivated people leader with a strong business acumen and a genuine belief in individuals' potential. You combine strategic and operational thinking with practical action, thriving in environments where you can influence, inspire, and create meaningful change. You bring comprehensive knowledge across long-term planning, budgeting, and goal setting, as well as a deep understanding of labour relations, co-worker performance, onboarding, succession planning, and leadership development. You are energised by the opportunity to act locally within a global framework, and you are committed to creating an engaging co-worker experience that reflects what IKEA stands for.
You accomplish goals, complete tasks, and achieve results with a proactive, self-directed approach. You develop collaborative relationships both virtual and in-person to facilitate current and future business objectives, and you take initiative and work independently while also being a strong and supportive team player. You express ideas and opinions effectively in both verbal and written communication, with the ability to influence and inspire those around you.
To be considered for this role you will have:

• A minimum of three years of Human Resources experience, demonstrating a solid foundation in people practices, policies, and strategy.
• A minimum of two years in a leadership role, with a proven ability to lead, develop, and inspire a team.
• A proven record of developing people and organisations, with demonstrated success in building capability and driving performance.
• Experience from a global matrix organisation and/or participation in global projects, enabling you to navigate complex structures with confidence.
• Experience working in the retail sector will be highly regarded.

Additional information

• This role is Permanent, full-time 76hrs/fortnight
• As our store operates 7 days per week, you must have the availability to work a rotating roster with a mix of day and evening shifts. You also have the availability to work 1 in 3 weekend shifts (both Saturday and Sunday).
• As part of the recruitment process this role requires a pre-employment check, including a National Police Check for final candidates.

Local section (title) We need people like you

Local section (text) At IKEA, work is so much more than a job. Come join us!