Employee Relations Lead

ABOUT US:

As a world leading provider of integrated solutions for the alternative investment industry, Alter Domus (meaning “The Other House” in Latin) is proud to be home to 90% of the top 30 asset managers in the private markets, and more than 6,500 professionals across 24 jurisdictions. 

With a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed in alternatives, we believe in being different - in what we do, in how we work and most importantly in how we enable and develop our people. Invest yourself in the alternative, and join an organization where you progress on merit, where you can speak openly with whoever you are speaking to, and where you will be supported along whichever path you choose to take. 

Find out more about life at Alter Domus at careers.alterdomus.com  

Your Role

Alter Domus is a ~€960M revenue business providing tech-enabled fund and corporate service solutions for the private equity, real assets and private debt sectors globally. In October 2024, Cinven acquired a majority stake in Alter Domus.
The Employee Relations Lead – Luxembourg is a newly created role and a founding appointment in Alter Domus’s Employee Relations Centre of Excellence (ER COE). Luxembourg is AD’s largest European location, with over 1,000 employees, and operates in one of the most regulated and codified employment law environments in the EU. This role will establish the ER function in the market, bringing legal expertise, strategic structure and consistent standards to how AD approaches employee relations in Luxembourg for the first time.

This is an individual contributor role operating at Senior Manager level. It is not a people manager position – its impact will be achieved through deep legal and ER expertise, stakeholder credibility and strong partnership. The role reports directly to the CHRO, with a dotted line to the Group Head of Legal on all matters of legal and regulatory significance.
Given the complexity and codified nature of Luxembourg employment law – including the Labour Code, staff delegation obligations, collective bargaining dynamics, and the volume of EU directives currently in transposition – a legal qualification in employment law is strongly preferred for this role. The ER Lead will own all complex ER cases in Luxembourg, define the local ER strategy, manage staff delegation relationships, and build meaningful ER capability across managers and HRBPs. Over time, as the three-region COE matures, one of the regional ER Leads may take on a Global ER Lead coordination role with a first-amongst-equals mandate. Specifically:

Your Responsibilities

1. ER COE Establishment and Luxembourg ER Strategy

• Develop a Luxembourg-specific ER strategy that reflects the Labour Code, collective employment law obligations, staff delegation framework and the EU regulatory landscape applicable to AD.
• Define the ER operating model for Luxembourg: what sits with People Operations and People Advisors, what escalates to this role, and the clear standards and thresholds governing each — ensuring that the Luxembourg model is consistent with AD's ER operating model across other regions.[AJ1.1]
• Build the AD ER playbook for Luxembourg – covering grievances, disciplinary processes, performance improvement plans, investigations, exits with legal risk, and whistleblowing matters.
• Partner with People Operations to ensure lower-level ER activity is handled consistently and compliantly, with appropriate oversight and quality assurance from this role.
• Establish ER governance and reporting – case tracking, trend analysis, legal spend management – to give the CHRO and GC timely, actionable insight into ER risk in Luxembourg.

2. Complex Case Management

• Own and manage all significant, sensitive, or legally complex ER cases in Luxembourg, including: harassment and discrimination complaints, whistleblowing and ethics matters, senior employee cases, collective and individual restructuring with legal complexity, and cases with regulatory or reputational exposure.
• Conduct or oversee thorough, fair and legally sound investigations in line with Luxembourg procedural requirements, ensuring documentation integrity and appropriate outcomes.
• Manage exits, terminations and settlement agreements with legal risk, including the specific notice, indemnity and consultation requirements of the Luxembourg Labour Code.
• Maintain case records in line with GDPR and Luxembourg data retention requirements.

3. Employment Law Expertise and Legal Interface

• Maintain current, authoritative knowledge of Luxembourg employment law – including the Labour Code (Code du Travail), staff delegation law, individual and collective dismissal procedures, transfer of undertakings (TUPE equivalents), working time obligations, and the employment law implications of applicable EU directives.
• Stay current on Luxembourg legislative developments and EU directive transpositions relevant to AD, including: pay transparency (EU Directive 2023/970, transposition deadline June 2026), right to disconnect sanctions (July 2026), platform work directive, and immigration/permit changes.
• Act as the first internal point of employment law expertise before external counsel is engaged; manage the brief, scope and cost of external employment lawyers in Luxembourg based on the strategy developed with the Group Head of Legal.
• Develop and maintain a clear framework for when external counsel is used, for what types of cases, and at what cost threshold.
• Partner closely with the Group Head of Legal and, if applicable, the local legal teams on all cases with material legal, regulatory or reputational risk.

4. Staff Delegation and Collective Relations

• Manage the day-to-day employment relations interface with the Luxembourg staff delegation, ensuring obligations under the Labour Code are met consistently and proactively.
• Lead or support collective consultation processes, including information and consultation obligations on organisational change, redundancy or restructuring.
• Monitor collective bargaining developments in the Luxembourg financial sector and advise the CHRO and GC on implications for AD.
• Ensure AD’s social elections obligations are met and well-managed, in line with Labour Code requirements.

5. ER Prevention and Manager Capability

• Design and deliver a phased ER training programme for people managers, developed and delivered in partnership with the US ER lead – covering early intervention, Labour Code compliance, documentation standards, disciplinary procedures, performance conversations, and escalation triggers.[AJ2.1]
• Build and maintain toolkits, templates and guidance – in English and French – that enable managers and People Advisors to handle lower-level ER matters confidently and consistently.
• Train and quality-assure HRBPs and People Advisors on ER handling within their scope, ensuring the two-tier model works effectively in practice.
• Proactively identify ER risk themes from case data and engagement signals, and develop targeted prevention programmes in response.

6. COE Standards and Cross-Region Coordination

• Collaborate with the ER Lead – US and, in time, the ER Specialist – India to develop common ER standards, frameworks and minimum viable approaches applicable across the three-region COE.
• Contribute to shared investigation methodology, common case management standards and cross-region ER governance, adapted appropriately for each jurisdiction.
• Share legal developments, market intelligence and ER best practice across the COE on a regular basis.
• Where designated, take on the Global ER Lead coordination role – acting as first amongst equals across the COE, providing light-touch global oversight without direct line authority over regional peers.

Your Profile

The successful candidate will be an experienced ER professional with deep, hands-on knowledge of Luxembourg employment law. They will bring strong investigative and case management capability, sound judgement under pressure and the credibility to operate independently as a senior individual contributor. A legal qualification in employment law is strongly preferred, reflecting the complexity and codified nature of the Luxembourg legal environment.

Experience Required

• Significant experience (typically 8–10+ years) in a dedicated Employee Relations, employment law or HR advisory role with substantial ER case management responsibility.
• Deep, demonstrable knowledge of Luxembourg employment law – Labour Code, staff delegation, individual and collective dismissal, TUPE, working time and EU directive implementation.
• Experience managing or advising on staff delegation relationships and collective consultation processes in Luxembourg.
• Proven ability to conduct or oversee thorough investigations into serious workplace matters, including harassment, discrimination and whistleblowing, in line with Luxembourg procedural requirements.
• Experience managing the interface with external employment counsel – briefing, scoping, cost management.
• Experience building ER frameworks, operating models or playbooks in a matrixed or scaling organisation.
• Ability to communicate fluently in English and French, both written and verbal; this is essential given the bilingual nature of the Luxembourg workplace.
• Experience in financial services, fund administration, professional services or another regulated sector is advantageous.

Qualifications

• A legal qualification in employment law is strongly preferred – for example: a Luxembourg law degree or Master’s with employment law specialisation, a French DESS/Master 2 en droit social, or qualification as an avocat with employment law focus.
• Candidates without a formal legal qualification but with equivalent depth of Luxembourg employment law expertise, demonstrated through extensive practice, will be considered.
• CIPD Level 7 or equivalent HR professional qualification is a relevant additional credential.

Language Requirements

• French: fluent (written and spoken) – essential.
• English: fluent (written and spoken) – essential.
• Luxembourgish or German: advantageous.

Candidate Specific Expectations

• Authoritative on Luxembourg employment law, applied with pragmatism not just theory.
  •    Confident managing complex, sensitive cases with minimal supervision.
  •    Able to navigate the collective relations dimension of ER – staff delegation, consultation, social dialogue – with confidence and skill.
  •    Credible with senior stakeholders, HRBPs and Legal in a multilingual, multicultural environment.
  •    Able to build from scratch: frameworks, playbooks and capability where little currently exists.
  •    Collaborative in approach to cross-region COE working; willing to contribute to common standards as well as own the Luxembourg market.
  •    Comfortable operating in both English and French across all aspects of the role.

Success Measures

Success in this role will be measured by the extent to which AD has:

• A clear, documented Luxembourg ER strategy and operating model within the first six months.
• A functioning two-tier ER model – People Operations handling lower-level activity, this role owning complex cases – with clear escalation standards.
• A Luxembourg ER playbook covering grievances, disciplinary, investigations, PIPs, exits and collective consultation.
• A well-managed staff delegation relationship with proactive compliance on all information and consultation obligations.
• Full preparedness for imminent Luxembourg legislative changes – including pay transparency, right to disconnect enforcement and EU directive transpositions due in 2026.
• Manager and HRBP ER training delivered in English and French, with measurable improvement in ER handling quality.
• Active contribution to common COE standards across Luxembourg, US and India.

Why This Role Matters at AD

Luxembourg is Alter Domus’s home market and its largest European location. With over 1,000 employees operating in one of the EU’s most complex employment law environments, the absence of dedicated ER expertise has created real risk. EU directives coming into force in 2026, active staff delegation obligations, and the complexity of individual and collective employment law in Luxembourg all demand a dedicated, expert approach.
This role will establish that expertise at AD for the first time. The person who takes it will shape how ER is done in Luxembourg, build the legal and operational foundations the business needs, and over time contribute to a coherent global approach to employee relations across AD.

Your AD Key Relationships

• Chief Human Resources Officer
• Group Head of Legal
• HR Business Partners, Luxembourg
• People Advisors, Luxembourg
• People Operations Team
• Staff Delegation, Luxembourg
• ER Lead – US
• ER Specialist – India (future)
• External Employment Counsel, Luxembourg

What We Expect from a Leader at Alter Domus

• Driving Change and Engagement: As a senior leader, you will be responsible for driving change when necessary, delivering communications and direction to the team, and supporting the development and engagement of employees at all levels.
• Culture of Compliance and Accountability: You will drive a culture of compliance and risk control to mitigate financial, operational, and reputational risks, while maintaining a relentless focus on cost and budget discipline.
• Brand and Culture Promotion: As a leader of Alter Domus, you will promote and build the Alter Domus brand and culture both internally and externally, acting as a role model to our people, clients, and customers.
• Transformational Leadership: Demonstrate high energy and passion for improving the business, with a commitment to avoiding complacency and striving for excellence in everything you do.
• Intellectual Curiosity and Global Mindset: Exhibit intellectual curiosity and a global mindset, enabling effective partnerships across regions and a willingness to challenge the status quo.
• Interpersonal Skills and Influence: Possess strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and build trust quickly, navigate complexity and ambiguity, and negotiate with tenacity and focus.
• Resilience and Prioritisation: Show resilience and composure under pressure, adept at managing competing demands and prioritising effectively while navigating challenges with confidence.
• Integrity and ESG Commitment: Demonstrate a strong commitment to high integrity, ethics, and the application of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices.

Creating a Workplace Where Everyone Can Belong

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruiting and onboarding process. Please contact our hiring team if you require any accommodations to make our recruitment process more accessible for you.

Alter Domus is an Equal Opportunity Employer: Equity Statement 
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. 

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