Ahold Delhaize is one of the world's largest food retail groups and a leader in both supermarkets and e-Commerce. Its family of great, local brands serves more than 50 million customers each week in Europe, the United States and Indonesia. Together, these brands employ more than 420,000 associates in more than 7,000 grocery and specialty stores. Our Global Support Office (GSO) is based in Zaandam in the Netherlands, but GSO associates also work in all the countries we serve. This team supports all our great local brands in finance, HR, IT, legal, communications, sustainable retailing, and other key functions. . 

PROGRAM & CHANGE MANAGER

This role is responsible for leading the multi-year POD program and change initiatives, which accounts for a significant portion of the Manager’s time and focus. The role is also responsible for managing key organizational development initiatives, acting as a key expertise liaison between the Group POD team, other Group HR teams, and Regional HR teams, ensuring alignment with the People Thrive strategy and managing cross-functional collaboration. The role includes mentorship and development oversight for management trainees, and driving cross-functional collaboration in the execution of the broader People and Organizational Development (POD) plan. 

About Ahold Delhaize

We’re Ahold Delhaize, one of the world’s largest food retail groups and a leader in both supermarkets and e-commerce. Together with our 19 strong local retail brands all over the world, we aim to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our customers, our people and the world around us. We offer a highly dynamic, international work environment in which our employees thrive.

Your new work environment

This role plays a pivotal part in supporting strategic HR initiatives and fostering leadership development through the management and mentorship of trainees. With significant influence over senior leadership and cross-functional teams, the Manager is responsible for ensuring that people and organizational development programs are fully aligned with the organization's long-term objectives. 

You will be given the freedom and responsibility to take ownership of your work and broaden your horizons by working together with knowledgeable colleagues from different countries who have an abundance of expertise in many areas. We will continually invest in you and help you build on your talents and skills for the future.

Key responsibilities of your role

Your role is highly diverse and encompasses various responsibilities. Here are the key ones:

POD program / change leadership
Lead the change programs in area of POD, ensuring alignment with the organization's long-term objectives for executive talent acquisition, leadership development, and succession planning. Drive the design and implementation of change roadmap to enhance the leadership pipeline, addressing both current and future organizational needs. 

Collaborate closely with Group HRBPs and regional HR teams (EU&I, US) to roll out the POD projects and initiatives across the organization, ensuring seamless execution and full alignment with the global HR and business strategies. 
 

Stakeholder Engagement & Planning Support
Provide support to the SVP POD & Group HR in the preparation and execution of the strategic HR cycle, ensuring engagement of key stakeholders (Supervisory Board, Group Nomination Committee, Executive Committee, and HR Leadership Team). 

Support the execution of the People Thrive strategy, ensuring that the key people metrics and KPIs are defined, tracked, and met. 
 

Cross-Functional Collaboration & HR Program Integration
Collaborate with the key HR teams (Total Rewards, Tech & Innovation) to ensure integration and prioritization of HR initiatives within the broader People Plan. Facilitate seamless alignment and delivery of strategic HR programs across functions. 

Identify opportunities for synergy between Group, Regional, and Brand HR teams to optimize program outcomes and ensure alignment with the business strategy. 

Organizational Development & Cultural Transformation

Collaborates with Director OD and DE&I in driving organizational change, with a particular focus on cultural transformation and embedding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) into all HR initiatives. Ensure alignment between culture-building efforts and the broader People Thrive strategy. 

Management & Mentorship of Trainees

Provide direct mentorship and management oversight to the organization’s management trainees, ensuring they are fully supported in their development journey. Guide their professional growth and help them identify optimal landing roles within the organization post-program. 

Foster a positive and growth-oriented environment, ensuring trainees receive the resources and feedback necessary for success. Supporter for the trainees’ landing spots in the organization in each of the traineeship’s rotations, in line with their IDPs. 

What’s in it for you?

Aside from what we ask of you in this role, we also have a great deal to offer you: plenty of growth opportunities and various cross-brand career options; flexible working hours; a hybrid working model (we ask you to spend at least 50% of your working time at the office); and the chance to drive meaningful change on a global scale. You can look forward to a good work-life balance, and the chance to work in an inclusive environment that wholeheartedly encourages growth and welcomes you just the way you are.

Requirements

We think you’ll be best geared for success if you meet the following requirements:

• Education: Master’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field. An MBA or equivalent is preferred. 

• Experience: Minimum of 10 years of progressive or related experience in human resources, with at least 5 years in a strategic leadership role focused on talent management and organizational development. Proven track record of leading large-scale talent strategy initiatives and organizational change programs at the global level. 

• Strategic Acumen: Demonstrated ability to think strategically and translate business objectives into effective talent and organizational development strategies. 

• Stakeholder & Project Leadership: Experience in leading cross-functional teams and managing complex projects across multiple regions, demonstrating strong project management skills. Proven experience engaging and influencing senior stakeholders, including executive-level leadership, with exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. 

• Cultural Competence: Strong understanding of global HR practices and experience in fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace culture. 

• Analytical Skills: Proficiency in utilizing data and analytics to drive talent strategy decisions, with experience in defining and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs). 

• Language Proficiency: Fluency in English is required; proficiency in additional languages (e.g., Spanish, Dutch, French) is a plus, particularly for roles supporting global regions. 

Aside from these hard skills, we think you should also bring some much-valued soft skills to the table: an entrepreneurial mindset, outspoken communication skills and a proactive approach. In addition to these, a high level of creativity, empathy, and enthusiasm will take you far. 

Apply now!
Are you keen to join the team? Even if you don’t tick all the boxes, but you still believe you have the personality and skills that make you a suitable candidate, we strongly encourage you to reach out to us. Apply now via the button on this page, or feel free to contact Katie Hillman via katherine.hillman@aholddelhaizeusa.com if you have any questions.

At Ahold Delhaize and our local brands, we broadly define diversity as being inclusive of thoughts and skills, generational differences, LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disabilities, nationalities and more, and we accept all people for who they are.
 

The GSO sets global strategies frameworks, facilitates the sharing of best practice and encourages economies of scale. Great examples include sharing technology and digital know-how, so we can continue to lead in online and in-store retailing, setting global targets for healthy and sustainable products-including reducing food waste, use of plastics and making our products healthier to use and eat, and championing development for our future leaders-from learning about the digital mindset to leading our stores of the future.

Under the federal Transparency in Coverage rule, group health plans are required to make publicly available machine-readable files that include in-network rates and out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges. Click  the link to view the in-network rates and out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges under the welfare benefits plan in which GSO participates

We are an equal opportunity employer. We comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to sex, race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, marital status (including civil unions), military service, veteran status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, legally recognized disability, domestic violence victim status or any other characteristic protected by law.