PPLS Supervisor, South Asia and People Business Partner, Malaysia

• Position: People Services (PPLS) Supervisor, South Asia and People Business Partner, Malaysia
• Reporting Manager: PPLS Lead, South Asia People Services Asia

Opella, the Consumer Healthcare business unit of Sanofi, is the purest and third-largest player globally in the Over-The-Counter (OTC) & Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements (VMS) market. We have an unshakable belief in the power of self-care and the role it can play in creating a healthier society and a healthier planet. That’s why we want to make self-care as simple as it should be by being consumer-led always, with science at our core. 

Through our unique and balanced portfolio of more than 100 loved brands, including 15 global and local high-growth challengers such as Allegra, Dulcolax and Buscopan, we deliver our mission: helping more than half a billion consumers worldwide take their health in their hands. This mission is brought to life by an 11,000-strong team, 13 best-in-class manufacturing sites, and 4 specialized science and innovation development centers. We are also proud to be the first major fast-moving consumer healthcare company to achieve B Corp certification. 

Join us on our mission. Health. In your hands."

OPELLA MISSION AND VISION

At Opella Healthcare, we are united by one shared Mission – we work passionately every day, to put Health in Your Hands. We are committed to making healthcare as simple as it should be, thus helping people help themselves. This Mission is the core of our philosophy, driving all that we do to focus on people—our consumers, customers, healthcare professionals, employees, and the Opella Brands that support them.

As a top-three global player in Consumer Healthcare, we are raising the bar with a bold ambition to grow, perform, and outpace the market. We aim to build a more agile and responsive organization capable of delivering our Vision and Mission.

To achieve this, we need exceptional talent to shape Opella’s future and help us succeed. Together, we embrace our Challenger spirit, driven by our commitment to be Outcome-obsessed, Courageous, Radically Simple, and All-In Together.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE JOB

Global Business Services (GBS) was established as a new transversal, multi-disciplinary function supporting and accelerating Sanofi’s transformation towards establishing a sustainable standalone Consumer Healthcare business through the implementation of a set of operational legal presence across in-scope markets. Opella Global Business Services (GBS) drives transformation projects to ensure it delivers best in class processes in terms of quality, cost, performance, customer satisfaction and needs, supported by high quality master data and performance KPIs.

People Services (PPLS) Supervisor, South Asia and People Business Partner, Malaysia is a dual-role position that provides comprehensive HR support for our GBS in Malaysia, which encompasses multiple shared service functional units, while overseeing employee lifecycle and payroll operations across South Asia countries, including Malaysia, Australia, and China. This position reports directly to the PPLS Lead, South Asia with a dotted reporting line to the ASEAPeople Director.

For People Services, GBS will be covering the following areas of the process:

• Organization & Employee Master Data: data accuracy and data completeness
• Employee Life Cycle Management: from hiring to retiring, including contract and job changes
• Employee Queries: global and local articles, ticketing
• External Workforce: data management, onboarding and offboarding
• Transversal: reporting, compliance, continuous improvement
• Time to Pay (T2P): benefits, payroll data, calculation, post payroll and support activities

As a People Services (PPLS) Supervisor, South Asia and People Business Partner, Malaysia, you will support the diverse functions within GBS Malaysia by driving and cascading global HR initiatives that align with the organization’s strategic objectives. Your focus will include performance and talent management, workforce planning, employee engagement, and fostering an agile and inclusive workplace culture. Additionally, you will ensure smooth and compliant employee lifecycle and payroll operations across the designated countries, maintaining alignment with organizational policies and local regulations. This role demands a leader capable of effectively supporting the unique needs of GBS's multi-functional environment while executing people strategies that enable sustainable growth and operational excellence.

This role requires you to build strong partnerships with internal teams and external stakeholders to facilitate seamless HR and payroll operations, lead implementation of HR initiatives, fostering collaborative relationships across the organization, and driving sustainable growth by aligning people strategies with business and operational objectives.

Key Accountabilities:

• Manage individual and team performance: Supervision of the team of Employee Lifecycle and Time to Payroll Specialists: workload monitoring, backup allocation, planning for time off covering, setting and following-up annual goals, supporting the team in creating IDPs, evaluating team performance.
• Benefits, time & attendance and payroll expertise: Oversee the preparation of onsite benefit data including the collation of submissions from internal team and third-party suppliers/ BPO. Manage relationships with external vendors, such as service providers, to ensure effective HR service delivery. Stay updated with changes in HR regulations and labor laws, ensuring compliance and mitigating risks.
• Reporting & KPIs delivery: Ensure the completion of accurate & timely reporting to third parties including pensions & company benefit, together with all other reporting for Finance and business requirements. Oversee preparation of ad-hoc reports as required in line with data protection requirements. Ensure GBS People Services team in South Asia deliver with high quality and in compliance manner.
• Stakeholder management: Provide strategic leadership, collaborate with regional / global HR teams, and work closely with senior management to optimize the processes. Collaborate with senior management to align PPLS initiatives.
• Core model change agent: Ensure that People Services Global Core Model is in place for South Asia with minimal exception/deviation. Identify process improvement/ process simplification opportunities through elimination of redundant activities. Lead local implementation of new ways of working in South Asia, this includes communication to employees, demos, training etc.
• Compliance: Ensure that People Services process in South Asia fulfill Internal Control framework. Support South Asia Team to identify and implement action plan in case of Internal or External Audit finding. Ensure compliance with local labor laws, regulations, and employment practices across various jurisdictions.
• Continuous improvement: Drive the process automation initiatives and ensure seamless process for South Asia countries. Bring best practices and benchmark trend. Lead/Participate in global projects as required and if applicable.
• Project: Lead HR system implementation and HR process harmonization.
• Business partnering: Act as a trusted business partner to GBS Malaysia leaders on all people-related matters. Provide actionable insights into HR best practices, assess risks and implications, and offer guidance on workforce planning, analytics, and organizational effectiveness to drive informed decision-making and achieve desired business outcomes. Collaborate with Finance Business Partner to align headcount and personnel costs with business demands and financial targets, ensuring strategic workforce planning and cost management are seamlessly integrated.
• Employer branding: Execute local talent acquisition strategies to address capability gaps and meet the talent needs across the various functions within GBS Malaysia. Foster an inclusive and dynamic work environment that attracts top talent and promotes long-term engagement and success for all employees.
• Performance and compensation management: Drive the talent management process, coaching and partnering leaders to identify, develop, and retain high-potential employees, while promoting cross-functional and cross-zone talent exchange to support organizational growth. Partner with GBS Malaysia leaders to build succession plans for key positions assess and address learning and development needs, delivering targeted solutions that support both individual growth and broader organizational goals.
• Culture and change management: Champion the company’s culture by fostering a thriving, inclusive, and collaborative environment where employees embody the Challenger mindset—Outcome-Obsessed, Courageous, Radically Simple, and All In Together—empowering full alignment with the organization’s mission and vision. This also includes act as a change leader, partnering with senior leaders to drive and support organizational change initiatives.

Expected Skills:

Experience

• Track record of executional excellence: moving with fast lead-time from idea to action
• Ability to think strategically, take a helicopter view and develop a compelling vision, but also be able to dive deep into operational problems when required – focus on impact and results
• Authentic, collaborative and mindful leader, diligent to earn respect from the existing teams holding one-self responsible and accountable for the overall success within the team and towards senior management and internal stakeholders
• Lean management mindset to deliver value to stakeholders
• Mindset of challenging the status quo and exploring more effective ways of working through deployment of a “fail-fast and learn” culture
• Ability to build effective teams through mutual understanding of the targets in a complex and fast changing environment
• Ability to shape culture, shape GBS sense of belonging, motivate a group of people to work towards a common set of goals
• Ability to facilitate and steer difficult conversations to sustainable outcomes and move to action
• Exceptional relationship-building skills, with the ability to adapt communication styles to diverse audiences and foster collaboration across teams and stakeholders
• Advisory and influencing skills, with the capacity to guide leaders through workforce planning, organizational changes, and decision-making processes to achieve strategic outcomes
• Strong conflict resolution and problem-solving abilities, capable of navigating challenging situations and crafting effective solutions that align with organizational values
• Experience of embracing and delivering change within a multicultural organization

Educations

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, with substantial experience in HR Operations and HR Business Partnering or related disciplines.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in HR leadership roles, demonstrating comprehensive knowledge across HR functions and the ability to support both strategic and operational needs.
• Fluency in English with excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills to engage effectively across diverse audiences.