Nobody becomes a human resources director (DRH) through a competitive exam or a degree. The role is built over a long period, often more than fifteen years, through a succession of positions that widen your scope, your technical skills and your proximity to senior leaders. The executive search consultants who recruit HR directors do not just read your latest job title: they look at the logic of your career path, the choices you made along the way and the topics you have already led. This article describes what the role covers depending on company size, the classic stages, the choice between generalist and expert, the move to the executive committee, and what a CV must already show long before the title.
What the HR director role covers depending on company size
In a small or mid-sized company
The HR director of a smaller company is often the first, sometimes the only, person in charge of the function at that level. They personally run recruitment, employee relations, payroll (often outsourced) and training, and they advise the managing director directly. The role is very hands-on: they are expected to be able to do everything and to structure what is not yet structured.
In a mid-cap company
In a mid-cap company (ETI), the HR director leads a team with site or subsidiary HR managers and a few experts. They build HR policies (pay, development, employee relations), negotiate the major agreements and support transformations: acquisitions, reorganisations, new sites. They usually sit on the executive committee.
In a large group
At group level, the HR director leads a function organised into HRBPs, centres of expertise and shared services. Their work is first and foremost strategic: organisation, executive management, central social dialogue, pay policy, culture and engagement. There are also division, country or subsidiary HR directors, which are all steps towards this level.
What remains the same
Whatever the size, an HR director is judged on their ability to help leadership make good decisions about organisation and people, to maintain a good social climate and to protect the company legally. Onisep describes the duties of the HR manager 🔗, which form the foundation of this role.
The classic stages of the career path
There is no single path, but most careers follow a four-stage logic.
The early years: learning the techniques
The first roles (HR officer, recruiter, payroll administrator, training officer) are used to learn the basics: employment law, processes, tools, the relationship with employees and managers. It is also the period when you discover what you enjoy doing in the function.
The building period: widening your scope
Next comes a role as site, subsidiary or small-company HR manager, or an HRBP role. This is the decisive step: you become the HR contact for a leadership team, you manage relations with employee representatives, you lead projects. Our article on becoming an HRBP details one of these routes, and the HR manager CV example illustrates another.
The consolidation period: leading a team and a policy
Moving into managing an HR team, or taking responsibility for a policy (pay, development, employee relations) across a whole company, prepares you for the HR director role. You learn to arbitrate, build a budget and defend choices before senior management.
The HR director role
It often comes after a first HR leadership role in a smaller organisation or in a division. Many HR directors of large groups were first HR directors of a subsidiary or a country.
Detours that add value
International experience, time in an operational job, a period in a consulting firm or another support function: these detours do not always slow your career, they often make it stronger. Recruiters see in them an ability to understand the business beyond the HR function.
Generalist or expert: which specialism to choose along the way
The generalist’s advantage
The generalist path (HR officer, HR manager, HRBP) naturally leads to the HR director role, because it gives a complete view of the function and a habit of advising leaders. It is the most common route.
What expertise brings
Strong expertise (employee relations, compensation and benefits, talent development, HRIS and data) can also lead to the role, especially in companies where this expertise is a major issue: a highly unionised company will value an employee relations background, a fast-growing company a background in recruitment and development.
The right combination
The most sought-after profile often combines both: a generalist foundation and one or two in-depth areas of expertise. If you are a specialist, look to widen your scope at some point in your career; if you are a generalist, go deep in at least one area. Our article on the choice between HR generalist and specialist develops these trade-offs.
Employment law, an unavoidable step
Whichever route you take, an HR director must master employee relations: negotiating agreements, consulting the CSE works council, handling collective disputes. A career path with no experience of this will be questioned.
Moving onto the executive committee
What changes
Joining the executive committee means moving from running a function to being one of the company’s leaders. The HR director takes part in strategic decisions, not just HR matters. They are expected to understand the economics, argue with figures and know how to say no to a senior leader.
The skills that count
- understanding the business: market, margins, costs, growth issues;
- the ability to turn a strategy into an organisation and into skills needs;
- managing executives: recruitment, assessment, succession, pay;
- leading transformations: reorganisations, mergers, culture change;
- relations with governing bodies: board of directors, employee representatives, shareholders.
How to prepare
Take on topics that expose you to senior management: a reorganisation project, preparing a committee meeting, negotiating a major agreement. Ask to present your work yourself. These experiences are often more formative than an extra degree, even though an executive education programme can support this transition.
What a future HR director’s CV must already show
A readable trajectory
The recruiter must understand at a glance how each role prepared the next. For each experience, state the scope (size of the population, number of sites or countries, size of the HR team), the reporting line and the major topics.
Decisions, not processes
An HR manager’s CV aiming for a director role must show decisions and their effects: a reorganisation led, an agreement negotiated, a pay policy revised, a succession plan built. Compare:
Before
Managed employee relations and pay policy.
After
Negotiated the working-time agreement with the group’s trade unions; redesigned the variable pay policy for sales staff, presented to the executive committee.
A balance between technique and strategy
Both must appear: technical mastery (employment law, pay, HRIS) and strategic contribution (organisation, transformation, executives). A CV that is too technical suggests an expert; one that is too strategic suggests a profile that has lost touch with the field.
Use a model
The HR director CV example and our guide to the HR director CV show how to present this kind of career. When you are ready to update yours, create your CV for free: the tool takes care of formatting, and the file remains usable by the ATS of executive search firms and large groups, which index your career before the consultant even opens it.
Sources
- Onisep, HR manager job profile 🔗: duties and entry into the job.
Frequently asked questions
Which degree do you need to become an HR director?
A five-year degree is very common: a master’s in HR management or employment law, a business school, sometimes political science. The degree opens the first roles; after that, it is the career path that makes an HR director.
At what age do people become HR directors?
There is no typical age, but the role rarely comes before around fifteen years of experience in a company of significant size. In a smaller company, it can come earlier, with a narrower scope.
Can you become an HR director coming from another job?
It is possible, notably for operational managers or employment lawyers who have gradually taken on HR responsibilities. They then need to fill technical gaps and show real experience of the function.
Do you need to have worked in a large group?
It is not essential, but experience in a structured organisation brings methods and credibility that are valued. Conversely, time in a smaller company shows an ability to do everything yourself, which is also valued.