HR-26001 HR BUSINESS PARTNER

Permanent contract | Belval

Are you passionate about research? So are we! Come and join us

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is a leading Research and Technology Organisation (RTO), bridging scientific excellence and applied research to address real-world challenges. With over 840 employees — more than 70% of whom are researchers, engineers, and PhD-level professionals working across Natural & Built Environments, Industrial Technologies, Space, AI, Security and Defence.

Do you want to know more about LIST? Check our website: https://www.list.lu/

How will you contribute?

Our HR team of 20 professionals covers the full spectrum: HR Administration, Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, HR Projects, and HR Business Partnering. This last function currently comprises two HRBPs. Following continued organisational growth and increasing complexity, we are creating a third HRBP position — not to replace someone, but because the demand is real.

The role

The HR Business Partner operates with a high degree of autonomy under the general supervision of the HR Director.

This is an individual contributor (IC) role — you will not manage a team, but you will lead by influence, advise with authority, and build lasting relationships within a public research institution that has its own culture, pace, and governance dynamics.

You will be the primary HR point of contact for a defined population of managers and employees (e.g. Head of Units, Group Leaders, Service Heads), supporting them across the full employment lifecycle — from recruitment validation to exit interviews, from salary review to contractual management. You will work side-by-side with HR Admin, Talent Acquisition, and L&D, but the accountability for your client perimeter is yours.

This is not a role where you execute a playbook. It is a role where you read the situation, navigate the rules, and find the right path — always within a well-defined legal and regulatory framework.

What you will actually do

We believe in radical transparency in job descriptions. Here is what you will spend your time on:

1. Conflict Management & Difficult Situation Advisory

This is the most demanding dimension of the role - not in volume, but in complexity, emotional weight, and reputational stakes. Your approach is fundamentally advisory: you coach managers on how to prevent tensions from escalating, and when a situation has already become critical, you guide them through a structured, legally sound resolution process. You distinguish between what requires immediate intervention and what requires patience. You document carefully, advise precisely, and remain steady when those around you are not. Working with highly educated, articulate professionals means that the people on both sides of a conflict are often skilled at constructing their argument - your job is to remain the clearest, calmest voice in the room.

2. Manager Coaching

You act as a trusted sounding board for managers navigating team dynamics, people decisions, and leadership challenges. This is not change management in the programme-delivery sense - it is the daily, relational work of helping managers think through situations, anticipate consequences, and gradually build their own HR reflex. You build your influence over time, not through authority, but through consistency, credibility, and genuine availability.

3. Recruitment Facilitation & Internal Mobility

You are the HRBP anchor in the recruitment process for your perimeter: framing needs with Hiring Managers, contributing to the annual recruitment plan, and supporting internal mobility decisions. You do not own the end-to-end recruitment process - that is the Talent Acquisition team's remit - but you ensure the right organisational decisions are made at the right moments.

4. Trial Period & Contract Monitoring

You actively track trial periods, flag risks early, and organise structured feedback conversations between managers and employees. You manage end-of-trial-period decisions with rigor and care. You conduct or facilitate exit interviews and ensure that what can be learned is captured. You have a genuine appetite for contractual matters - including the nuances of employment situation.

5. Luxembourg Employment Law - Applied Advisory

You are a reliable reference point on Luxembourg labour law and its practical application: CNS procedures (reclassement, medical visits), parental and family leave frameworks, absence management processes, and dismissal procedures. You do not just cite the rule - you contextualise it, assess the risk level, and give the manager and HRD actionable guidance, always within the legal and regulatory framework.

6. Annual Salary Review

You coordinate and manage the annual salary review cycle for your client perimeter, ensuring internal equity, policy compliance, and a smooth process across managers, HR Admin, and Finance. You are comfortable working with data - building and maintaining Excel dashboards, producing pivot-table-based analyses, and transforming raw data into clear decision-support materials for management. Advisory skills.

7. Performance Management Support

You oversee the annual appraisal cycle and provide advisory support to managers on objective-setting and performance conversations, ensuring process consistency — while remaining in an advisory capacity rather than a direct participant in those discussions.

8. HR Department Contribution

You contribute to collective HR objectives, participate in cross-functional initiatives, and actively represent the HR team's values in every interaction with your internal clients. You communicate through influence - not authority - and you understand that in a public institution, relationships are built slowly and lost quickly.

The Environment

We want you to know what you are signing up for:

• Your internal clients are highly educated. Many are PhD-level professionals who are rigorous, analytical, and used to evidence-based reasoning. Vague HR advice will not land. You must be precise, credible, and consistent.

• This is a public research institution. That comes with real strengths - stability, mission-driven colleagues, genuine intellectual depth - and real challenges: governance layers, decision cycles that can feel slow, and the need to build trust incrementally. If you have only worked in fast-moving private sector environments, be honest with yourself about whether this context suits you.

• Ambiguity is structural. LIST operates across multiple research domains with matrix-like reporting lines and evolving team structures. You will frequently need to act without the full picture being settled. Flexibility is key.

• The tooling is pragmatic, not perfect. Office 365 is your daily environment. The ERP (Hr Access) has its limitations.

• Proactive, not reactive. The best HRBPs here anticipate - they may notice a manager struggling before it becomes a case, they flag a contractual risk before it becomes a dispute. High-energy reactivity is less valued than quiet, structured foresight.

• You will need to be present. Open-space team, occasional presence across LIST sites. Being accessible and visible matters here.

Is Your profile described below? Are you our future colleague? Apply now!

Must-haves

• At least 5 years of HR experience after Bachelor’s degree or 3 years after Master’s degree in Human Resources, with a substantial portion in a generalist HRBP or HR advisory role - you have operated independently, ideally not as support to a more senior HRBP

• Proven conflict management and employee relations expertise - you have coached managers through difficult situations, both preventively and curatively, from first signal to resolution

• Solid knowledge of Luxembourg employment law in practice (CNS, absences, dismissals, parental leave, etc).

• Genuine appetite for contractual matters - you find contract drafting, amendment, and employment nuances interesting, not burdensome

• Excel proficiency at pivot-table level minimum - you can produce clean, decision-ready reporting and work with compensation or absence data without requiring handholding

• Fluency in both English and French (written and spoken) - both languages are in daily use

• A diplomatic, influence-based communication style - you know how to move people and decisions without relying on positional authority

• Rigorous attention to detail - you do not lose track of a deadline, a trial period, or a data inconsistency

  
  

Ideal assets

• Exposure to international or cross-border employment situations

• Experience supporting internal mobility processes

• Comfort with SharePoint and using tools within Office 365

• Experience in a research organisation, university, public institution, is a plus but optional

  
  

This Role is Probably Not Right for You If…

• You are looking for a stepping-stone role - this requires day-one autonomy and credibility

• You need a well-defined, stable context to perform well - complexity and shifting priorities are features here, not bugs

• You expect to be validated at each decision point - you will be trusted, but also held accountable

Your LIST benefits

·          An organization with a passion for impact and strong RDI partnerships in Luxembourg and Europe that works on responsible and independent research projects

·          Sustainable by design, empowering our belief that we play an essential role in paving the way to a green society

·          Innovative infrastructures and exceptional labs occupying more than 5,000 square metres, including innovations in all that we do

·          An environment encouraging curiosity, innovation and entrepreneurship in all areas

·          Personalized learning programme to foster our staff’s soft and technical skills

·          Multicultural and international work environment with more than 50 nationalities represented in our workforce

·          Diverse and inclusive work environment empowering our people to fulfill their personal and professional ambitions

·          Gender-friendly environment with multiple actions to attract, develop and retain women in science

·          32 days’ paid annual leave, 11 public holidays, 13-month salary, statutory health insurance

·          Flexible working hours, home working policy and access to lunch vouchers

Apply online

Your application must include:

·          A motivation letter oriented towards the position and detailing your experience;

·          A detailed CV

·          References

Please apply ONLINE formally through the HR system. Applications by email or Linkedin message will not be considered.

Application procedure and conditions

We kindly request applicants to provide their nationality for statistical purposes only, as part of our commitment to promoting diversity and ensuring equal opportunities in our workforce. This information will be kept confidential and will not be used for any discriminatory purposes.

LIST is dedicated to maintaining an inclusive work environment and is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to attracting, hiring, and retaining a diverse workforce. All applicants will be considered for employment without discrimination based on national origin, race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, religion, age, or disability.

Applications will be continuously reviewed until the position is filled. An assessment committee will thoroughly evaluate applications, adhering to guidelines designed to ensure equal opportunities. The primary criteria for selection will be the alignment of the applicant's existing skills and expertise with the requirements mentioned above.