HR Manager
Opening in early 2025, The Standard, Brussels marks the hotel brand’s third outpost in Europe. Set in the city’s Northern Quarter, The Standard, Brussels brings the brand’s design, culture and activation-driven philosophy to Belgium.
With 180 guestrooms (plus 20 residences), the modern, new-build project features many stages for The Standard’s renowned day- and nightlife. A ground-floor greenhouse welcomes guests and locals into the lobby lounge, restaurant, and terrace. Upstairs, The Rooftop features its own restaurant, bar and garden—set to become a neighbourhood destination. Throughout the building, additional public and private event spaces are platforms for happenings.
The Standard, Brussels will welcome a new set of creative, dynamic guests into the brand ethos. In Brussels, The Standard’s signature mix of playful, sophisticated, unexpected hospitality finds roots and resonances in local culture. The simple premise behind The Standard is that it is anything but. Founded in 1999, the goals of every Standard are to up the aesthetic stakes and defy convention while attending to every detail, embracing our local communities, providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for our teams and, of course, delivering a smashing good time for our guests.
We are defined by our richness of personality, diversity of background and lifestyle and are now looking for a HR Manager who will embody our ‘Anything but Standard’ ethos as we commence our pre-opening period.
Your role
As our HR Manager, you will work in partnership with our General Manager, Senior Executive team and Corporate HR teams to oversee the HR function of our new property in Brussels. As part of our senior pre-opening team, you will oversee a number of important HR projects on our critical path during pre-opening period, to ensure that recruitment of the team runs to schedule, pre-opening budgets are managed, HR systems and procedures are in place and the property is successfully launched.
As a HR Manager at The Standard, Brussels, you will work as part of a wider HR team and supported by a HR Coordinator and the Regional HR Director to provide a generalist HR and L&D service to over 150 employees once the hotel is fully operational.
The primary focus of the HR team is to partner with our department managers and provide support, coaching and guidance across a range of HR areas to facilitate the effective people management of their teams. There are of course several areas where you will be more actively involved in operational HR activities including the provision of a full end to end pre-opening recruitment service for the hotel; more specifically the development of employee attraction strategies in order to secure top quality candidates, conducting interviews for senior positions, contracting and onboarding. You’ll also lead the onboarding and pre-opening orientation of all new employees in the lead up to the opening of the hotel.
The HR team also manage a number of people systems across the hotel, including our payroll and you will be responsible for managing the entire administration cycle for our monthly payroll. You will also manage ER issues providing advice and guidance to line managers, whilst maintaining an unbiased yet pragmatic business approach to ensure we maintain legal integrity. There will of course be many other aspects to your role including various HR and Recruitment projects that you will have the opportunity to manage, both within the hotel and wider HR projects in collaboration with other HR teams as we grow the Standard brand worldwide.
You will look towards the longer-term development and engagement of our employees to continually inspire them and deliver a truly bespoke HR service experience, that is anything but Standard! You will need to be highly social, upbeat and friendly; confident and can handle pressure well; thrive in a high-volume, high-energy environment and can manage both employees and senior managers with ease.
Do you have what it takes to be a HR Manager at The Standard, Brussels?
A minimum of 3+ years’ experience as a HR Manager or Head of HR gained within a similar Lifestyle Hotel or large 4- or 5-star Hotel in Brussels or the Benelux region is essential for this role
In addition to this you will also need….
- A confident and proactive self-starter ideally with strong project management skills (including system implementation and setting up of HR functions)
- Pre-opening hotel experience is an advantage
- A solid understanding of Belgium employment law, and industry CBAs (JC 302 and Sectoral Social Guide Horeca)
- Be well versed in Belgium payroll requirements including taxation, social security, benefits, and insurance
- Have experience across a range of HR and L&D disciplines
- Be able to act with integrity, professionalism, and positivity in all employee interactions
- Hold relevant HR qualifications at an equivalent of bachelor’s degree
- Exceptional Administration and IT skills
- Fluency in French or Dutch in addition to English is essential for this role
- During our preopening period you may need to have a flexible approach to working hours
We are defined by our richness of personality and diversity of background and lifestyle so if you think you have what it takes to be a HR Manager at The Standard, Brussels we’d love to hear from you.
All applicants must be eligible to live and work in the European Union. Documented evidence of eligibility will be required from candidates prior to commencing employment.