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Resume example

HR director resume example

A directeur or directrice des ressources humaines (DRH) in France sits on the executive committee and carries the people side of the company's strategy.

Much of the job is shaped by French labour law and social dialogue. You chair or prepare meetings with the CSE (the elected staff council), lead the mandatory annual negotiations on pay and working time with union delegates, and sign company agreements on topics such as remote work or profit-sharing. Alongside that, you plan workforce needs, steer recruitment and the skills development plan, oversee payroll and compliance, handle sensitive individual cases up to dismissals and labour court disputes, and support managers through reorganisations. In a group, you also align French practices with international HR policies.

Resume example

[First name Last name]

HR Director (DRH) | Social Dialogue, Company Agreements, Transformation

[City] · [phone] · [email]

Profile

HR director with [x] years of experience in multi-site companies. I lead social dialogue with the CSE and unions, have signed agreements on working time, pay and gender equality, and supported two reorganisations including a voluntary departure plan.

Experience

Directrice des ressources humaines, [sector] group, [x] employees across [x] sites

[month year] to present

  • Led the HR team of [x] people covering recruitment, payroll, training and labour relations
  • Negotiated and signed agreements on remote work, working time and profit-sharing with union delegates
  • Steered a reorganisation of the sales network with the CSE information and consultation process
  • Rolled out a new HRIS across all sites with the payroll and IT teams
  • Built a skills planning approach linked to the three-year business plan

Resume headlines

  • HR Director (DRH) | Social Dialogue, Company Agreements, Transformation
  • Directrice des ressources humaines | Multi-site Industrial Group, [x] Employees
  • HR Director France | International Group, HR Policies and Labour Relations

Summaries for your profile

Entry level

HR manager (RRH) with [x] years in an industrial site of [x] employees, now ready for a first HR director role. I have led CSE meetings, negotiated a remote work agreement and managed a team of three HR generalists.

Experienced

HR director with [x] years of experience in multi-site companies. I lead social dialogue with the CSE and unions, have signed agreements on working time, pay and gender equality, and supported two reorganisations including a voluntary departure plan.

Career change

Former operations director moving into HR leadership after a master's in human resources management. I bring [x] years of managing large teams, workforce planning and change projects, and have handled labour relations as a site manager.

Tips

  • Show the scale: headcount, number of sites, size of your HR team, French or international scope.
  • Name the agreements you negotiated and the topics, since this is the heart of a French DRH role.
  • Describe one transformation you led from start to finish, including the staff consultation process.
  • Mention your sector and its collective agreement (métallurgie, Syntec, retail), which recruiters often filter on.
  • Keep the CV to two pages and put the most strategic achievements first.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Listing HR processes without showing your decisions and their effect on the business.
  • Saying nothing about labour relations, which French employers see as central.
  • Translating HR jargon from another country without its French equivalent.
  • Hiding a difficult project such as a redundancy plan, when it shows experience.

Working as an HR director in France

The job is not regulated, but it requires deep knowledge of French labour law, collective agreements and staff representation (CSE, union delegates, mandatory annual negotiations), which foreign HR experience rarely covers. Most HR directors hold a Bac+5 in HR, law or management and have worked as responsable des ressources humaines first. Fluent French is essential: negotiations, agreements and legal procedures happen in French. In international groups, roles titled 'HR Director France' combine local labour relations with group policies. Search for 'DRH', 'directeur des ressources humaines', 'directrice des relations humaines' or, for smaller companies, 'responsable des ressources humaines'.

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Frequently asked questions

Should I mention redundancy plans I led?

Yes, factually. Steering a PSE (plan de sauvegarde de l'emploi) or a voluntary departure plan shows mastery of French procedures and consultation. Describe the context, your role and the support measures put in place, without dwelling on the human difficulty.

How do I present international HR experience?

Explain the scope (countries, headcount) and what you coordinated: policies, compensation reviews, talent programmes. Then make clear what you know of French specifics. A French employer needs reassurance that you can handle the CSE and the NAO, not only global frameworks.

Do I need a specific diploma?

No diploma is legally required, but most DRH hold a Bac+5: a master's in HR, a business school degree, Sciences Po or a law degree. Long experience as an HR manager can replace it, especially when backed by executive training.

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