Country Head of People Experience – Japan

Job Description Summary
The Country Head of People Experience is the P&O leader who carries full accountability for all P&O-related experiences in a country and is responsible for local execution of business and people strategies where this impacts the local workforce, covering all business units that operate out of that country – to the business, to employees, and to external parties including regulatory bodies, works councils, and trade unions. The role partners closely with the global and local P&O Workforce Strategy Heads to understand the local business strategies and to identify how best to support the implementation of people related strategies. The local P&O Workforce Strategy Head is the primary contact for the local Business Leader.
This is the role that local leaders and (local/ global) P&O Workforce Strategy Heads turn to for guidance on country-specific P&O practices, for escalation of complex people matters that require local legal or regulatory authority, and for trusted guidance on the local context in which their respective business strategies must be executed. The role works in close partnership with Global & Local P&O Workforce Strategy Heads to translate business and P&O strategy into actionable, locally grounded plans — and is accountable for the implementation of that people experience strategy on the ground.
Alongside this strategic execution responsibility, the role ensures that global P&O products and programs land in ways that are legally compliant, culturally resonant, and genuinely adopted by employees and managers. It is the keeper of the lived people experience in-country — ensuring that what is designed globally is experienced well locally, across every moment that matters. The role provides input to People Experience Product Owners in case of issues or needs to adapt to local realities.
In a federated P&O model where global product teams and global business-aligned Expertise Hub partners each play distinct roles, the Country Head of People Experience is the integrating force on the ground: the single point of accountability for P&O in-country, and the organization's most authoritative voice when local law, practice, or context requires a considered response.
Job Description
Job Description (Main jobs to be done)
Global ‘Country People Experience’ Leadership Team Member Key and active member of the Global ‘Country People Experience’ Leadership Team, together defining and driving the Novartis Country People Experience ambition, strategy and enterprise priorities.
Local P&O Accountability to the Business & External Parties
This is the most fundamental accountability of the role and the one that distinguishes it from any purely product or operational function. The Country Head of People Experience is the single point of P&O accountability across all units in the country for local P&O practices and policies or in-country delivery of (relevant) P&O related products — to local business leaders who need P&O authority, to regulatory bodies that require a named responsible party, to external stakeholders including works councils, unions, labour inspectorates, and other government bodies, and to a P&O Workforce Strategy Head (global or local). The Country People Experience Head should support business leaders & P&O Workforce Strategy Heads, navigate these situations end to end. The Country head of People Experience will jointly assess together with the in-country P&O Workforce Strategy Head how certain local positions impact the local business strategies and execution and whether specific interventions are needed. The in-country P&O Workforce Strategy Head may lead the discussions with the local business leadership team to ensure streamlined communication to local leadership.
Business & P&O Strategy Execution in Partnership
The Country Head of People Experience is the execution leader of people experience strategy at the local level (covering all aspects of people experience across our key journeys and delivery of people products). And working in close partnership with Global or Local P&O Workforce Strategy Heads, to translate global business and P&O strategy into locally grounded, actionable people plans — and are accountable for the implementation and outcomes of that strategy in-country. The Country Head of People Experience also proactively engages with Local or Global P&O Workforce Strategy Heads in case he or she receives signals that business strategies are at risk due to specific execution challenges or business leader engagement. Together with the in-country P&O Workforce Strategy Head, this role co-creates the local P&O strategies that can be applied to all business units in that country. This is not advisory support to a P&O Workforce Strategy Heads; it is shared execution accountability. Where a major business initiative has people implications at country level — a new operating model, an M&A integration, an expansion into a new location, a significant headcount change — this role leads the local P&O workstream from planning through delivery.
First Point of Contact for Country-Level P&O Escalations
The Country Head of People Experience holds clear ownership of all P&O escalations that are country-specific in nature. Business leaders and the in-country P&O Workforce Strategy Heads do not need to navigate the global P&O structure to find the right person for a complex local matter — this role is that person. They diagnose the situation, apply local legal and regulatory expertise, coordinate with global product teams, P&O experts and Global P&O Workforce Strategy Heads where needed, and provide a clear resolution or recommendation. They ensure escalations are handled with speed, competence, and appropriate confidentiality — and that recurring patterns of escalation are fed back into product design or policy review so that systemic issues are addressed rather than repeatedly managed.
Local Product Landing & Adoption
The Country Head of People Experience is the primary accountability holder for how global P&O products are adopted and experienced in their country (where relevant) – for example when it comes to Rewards programs, employee benefits, payroll & time management, recruitment solutions, diversity & inclusion programs (illustrative, not exhaustive). They lead local change management for relevant P&O product launches or significant product change, building awareness, readiness, and momentum. They recruit and activate local champions — managers, employees, and team leads — who carry adoption into the organisation. They monitor adoption data, including usage of AI enabled technology, and act on it: where products are not being used or do not deliver required business outcomes / employee experience goals, they diagnose why and either address the local adoption gap or escalate a legitimate design issue to the Product Owner for improvement. In cases where there is a need for a local root cause analysis, this role is accountable to ensure end to end process fixes are put in place to avoid recurrence of the same issue.
Local Context & Product Feedback
This role is a critical intelligence feed for the global product teams. The Country Head of People Experience systematically gathers structured insight from employees, managers, and local P&O team members about what is working and what is creating friction in the lived experience or required business outcomes. They provide Product Owners with the local context — cultural norms, workforce composition, legal constraints, works council positions — that must inform product design and delivery.
Compliance, Controls & Product Integrity
The Country Head of People Experience owns compliance of global products against local legal standards. They ensure that every product is applied consistently and within the required local legal framework. Where a product cannot be applied as designed — for example where works council consultation requirements create mandatory process variations — they manage the exception with full transparency and documentation, ensuring this is the minimum necessary deviation, not a licence for broader non-compliance. They maintain the controls monitoring cadence for their country, flagging any control failures to the relevant Product Owner and Global Journey Head.
Employee Relations & Works Council/Union Partnership
The Country Head of People Experience is the organisation's accountable leader for all formal employee relations matters in the country. This includes works council and union relationships, collective agreement negotiations, handling of formal ER escalations, senior-level terminations, harassment and discrimination cases, and any ER matters that require legal or regulatory expertise.
Local Legislation Advisory to P&O Workforce Strategy Heads & Business Leaders
The Country Head of People Experience is the go-to authority on local employment law and regulatory requirements — for global and local Workforce Strategy Heads, for local business leaders, and for the wider P&O function. They advise on the country-specific legal or practice implications of workforce decisions — organisational changes, redundancies, cross-border moves, benefits structures, performance management approaches — ensuring that the business can act with confidence and without l