HR Business Partner Operations

Location: Danone Factory, Almaty
Scope: Manufacturing, Logistics & Warehouses

Danone Kazakhstan is going through one of the most significant transformations of its Operations organization in recent years. To support this transformation, we are looking for an HR Business Partner who will become a key people partner for our Operations leadership team and help build the organization and capabilities required for the next stage of growth.

This is an on-site role based at our factory in Baiserke, with responsibility for Manufacturing, Logistics and Warehouses.

Your mission

As Operations HR Business Partner, you will work closely with the Operations Director, Plant Director and Plant Leadership Team, translating business priorities into a practical people agenda.

Your role will go far beyond day-to-day HR support. You will help ensure that our organization, leadership and capabilities grow at the same pace as our production footprint.

You will:

• Partner with Operations leadership on organizational design, workforce planning and people decisions across the factory, logistics and warehouses.
• Support a major workforce ramp-up linked to new production lines and localization, ensuring the right organization, staffing and capabilities are in place ahead of operational needs.
• Build a strong talent and succession pipeline for critical Operations positions, with particular focus on frontline leadership, shift leaders, technical and scarce capabilities.
• Drive capability development across Production, Maintenance & Engineering, Quality, Logistics and frontline management, working closely with functional experts and learning teams.
• Play an active role in the IWS transformation, supporting leadership routines, organization effectiveness, capability building and the people/change dimension of implementation.
• Strengthen frontline leadership capability, helping managers improve daily people management, communication, performance management, coaching and team effectiveness.
• Own the Operations talent management cycle: talent reviews, succession planning, development plans, internal mobility and identification of high-potential employees.
• Lead the HR side of organizational and cultural change, helping employees and managers navigate a fast-changing industrial environment.
• Drive employee engagement and retention, turning employee feedback and people data into concrete actions and continuing the improvement already achieved in factory turnover.
• Ensure effective employee relations and social dialogue, supporting managers in complex employee cases and ensuring compliance with Kazakhstan labor legislation and Danone standards.
• Use people analytics and operational KPIs to identify workforce risks early and translate them into actions.
• Continuously improve the employee experience at the factory, from onboarding and communication to workplace environment and engagement initiatives.
• Work closely with Recruitment and other HR expertise teams while taking strong end-to-end ownership of the Operations people agenda.

What we are looking for

We are looking for an HR professional who is comfortable being close to the business and close to the shopfloor.

You are likely to succeed in this role if you have:

• Solid HRBP / HR Generalist experience in a complex operational environment; experience in manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, FMCG or another operationally intensive business would be a strong advantage.
• Strong understanding of workforce planning, organizational design, talent management, performance management and capability development.
• Experience supporting organizational transformation, rapid growth or significant business change.
• Ability to work with both senior leaders and frontline employees and build credibility at different organizational levels.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to move from HR data and business challenges to concrete actions.
• Confidence in challenging and coaching managers rather than simply executing their requests.
• Ability to operate in an environment where priorities evolve quickly and where HR needs to combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
• Knowledge of Kazakhstan labor legislation.
• Fluent Kazakh and Russian, strong English.

Why this role is different

This is an opportunity to join Operations at a point when the organization is being built for its next scale. The Operations HR Business Partner will have a direct impact on whether the organization is ready for that growth not only by hiring people, but by building the leadership, capabilities, culture and organization behind the factory of the future.