HR Director · Lyon · Danone

Assia AMEZIAN

HR Director

Social transformation.Labor relations.Business partnering.

Head of HR, Specialized Nutrition France. 300-employee BU scope. CODI member. 10 years of HR experience at Danone and Sanofi.

10 years of HR experience

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Portrait of Assia Amezian — Assia AMEZIAN
HR Director

years of HR experience

employees in BU scope

people in the HR team

Africa transformation projects

Experience

Professional track record.

2024 - Present

Danone

Head of HR

Specialized Nutrition France

300 employeesCODI5-person HR team

BU scope: 300 employees · CODI member · HR team management for 5 HR professionals.

Own the HR roadmap across talent, performance, C&B, engagement and workforce planning.
Lead the Sales Force reorganization from target design to deployment and change adoption.
Drive transformation social agenda with legal, stakeholder and employee-representative alignment.

Manage HRBP, HR operations/support roles and apprentices through development and prioritization routines.
Pilot people costs and overheads to balance recruitment needs, business ambition and financial constraints.
Support sensitive individual situations and leadership decisions with social-risk calibration.

2023 - 2024

Danone

Social Dialogue Manager France

NEO, GEPP and France-level labor relations

NEOGEPPFrance level

France-level labor relations mandate covering strategic negotiations and transformation projects.

Led NEO and GEPP negotiations from social strategy to agreement drafting.
Structured negotiation roadmaps, risk assessments, governance and stakeholder alignment.
Managed employee representative and union relationships on transformation and workforce planning.

Secured legal and social consistency across projects before deployment.
Partnered with HR leaders and business stakeholders on communication and rollout strategy.
Prepared decision frameworks for sensitive collective topics at France level.

2022

Danone

HRBP Operations / Labor Relations Manager

Operations, QFS, IPRO, R&I

90 employeesCSE PresidentCSSCT

Operations HR scope: QFS, IPRO and R&I teams, 90 employees.

Delivered HR business partnering for operations managers and teams.
Animated HR cycles: performance, talent, compensation and development reviews.
Led local labor relations as President of the Limonest CSE and CSSCT.

Acted as C&B SPOC for the HR community at CBU level.
Supported manager decisions on staffing, organization changes and employee relations.
Aligned site-level HR operations with business constraints and social dialogue requirements.

2021 - 2022

Danone Nutricia Africa & Overseas

Transformation Manager

Africa transformation deployment

PMO7 projectsAfrica

Transformation PMO for Africa & Overseas, coordinating 7 carve-out projects.

Drove the Local First social roadmap, including redundancy plan coordination and social procedure follow-up.
Coordinated Hub and local teams on responsibility carve-outs and implementation milestones.
Supported CODI members on governance, decision preparation and transformation follow-up.

Aligned HR, legal, finance and business stakeholders around deployment risks.
Tracked workstreams, interdependencies and decision points across the Africa transformation.
Prepared change materials and routines to help leaders move from design to execution.

2019 - 2021

Danone Nutricia Africa & Overseas

HRBP - Early Life Nutrition Africa

Topline, Operations and Support functions

80 employeesAfricaCODI routines

Early Life Nutrition Africa HRBP scope: 80 employees across Topline, Operations and Support.

Partnered with CODI members and managers across Africa business functions.
Led performance, talent, compensation and engagement action-plan cycles.
Contributed to organization reviews and fit-for-purpose organization design.

Translated business priorities into HR actions for dispersed teams.
Supported entity-level agreements and social dialogue preparation.
Built recurring HR routines for leadership visibility and decision follow-up.

2014 - 2018

Sanofi Aventis Group

HR Partner / HR Project Coordinator

Corporate HR, transformation and ERP

PharmaceuticalsLyonTransformation

Corporate HR and project coordination scope across support functions.

Supported HR administration, recruitment, internal mobility, performance and talent processes.
Coordinated HR workstreams for transformation and ERP projects.
Managed recruitment and contingent workforce processes with managers, agencies and HR teams.

Tracked workforce planning, staffing needs, budget follow-up and stakeholder actions.
Prepared and co-animated employee representative bodies for labor-relations topics.
Built a cross-functional HR foundation across operational delivery and project execution.

Experience

Professional track record.

2024 - Present

Danone

Head of HR

Specialized Nutrition France

300 employeesCODI5-person HR team

BU scope: 300 employees · CODI member · HR team management for 5 HR professionals.

Own the HR roadmap across talent, performance, C&B, engagement and workforce planning.
Lead the Sales Force reorganization from target design to deployment and change adoption.
Drive transformation social agenda with legal, stakeholder and employee-representative alignment.

Manage HRBP, HR operations/support roles and apprentices through development and prioritization routines.
Pilot people costs and overheads to balance recruitment needs, business ambition and financial constraints.
Support sensitive individual situations and leadership decisions with social-risk calibration.

2023 - 2024

Danone

Social Dialogue Manager France

NEO, GEPP and France-level labor relations

NEOGEPPFrance level

France-level labor relations mandate covering strategic negotiations and transformation projects.

Led NEO and GEPP negotiations from social strategy to agreement drafting.
Structured negotiation roadmaps, risk assessments, governance and stakeholder alignment.
Managed employee representative and union relationships on transformation and workforce planning.

Secured legal and social consistency across projects before deployment.
Partnered with HR leaders and business stakeholders on communication and rollout strategy.
Prepared decision frameworks for sensitive collective topics at France level.

2022

Danone

HRBP Operations / Labor Relations Manager

Operations, QFS, IPRO, R&I

90 employeesCSE PresidentCSSCT

Operations HR scope: QFS, IPRO and R&I teams, 90 employees.

Delivered HR business partnering for operations managers and teams.
Animated HR cycles: performance, talent, compensation and development reviews.
Led local labor relations as President of the Limonest CSE and CSSCT.

Acted as C&B SPOC for the HR community at CBU level.
Supported manager decisions on staffing, organization changes and employee relations.
Aligned site-level HR operations with business constraints and social dialogue requirements.

2021 - 2022

Danone Nutricia Africa & Overseas

Transformation Manager

Africa transformation deployment

PMO7 projectsAfrica

Transformation PMO for Africa & Overseas, coordinating 7 carve-out projects.

Drove the Local First social roadmap, including redundancy plan coordination and social procedure follow-up.
Coordinated Hub and local teams on responsibility carve-outs and implementation milestones.
Supported CODI members on governance, decision preparation and transformation follow-up.

Aligned HR, legal, finance and business stakeholders around deployment risks.
Tracked workstreams, interdependencies and decision points across the Africa transformation.
Prepared change materials and routines to help leaders move from design to execution.

2019 - 2021

Danone Nutricia Africa & Overseas

HRBP - Early Life Nutrition Africa

Topline, Operations and Support functions

80 employeesAfricaCODI routines

Early Life Nutrition Africa HRBP scope: 80 employees across Topline, Operations and Support.

Partnered with CODI members and managers across Africa business functions.
Led performance, talent, compensation and engagement action-plan cycles.
Contributed to organization reviews and fit-for-purpose organization design.

Translated business priorities into HR actions for dispersed teams.
Supported entity-level agreements and social dialogue preparation.
Built recurring HR routines for leadership visibility and decision follow-up.

2014 - 2018

Sanofi Aventis Group

HR Partner / HR Project Coordinator

Corporate HR, transformation and ERP

PharmaceuticalsLyonTransformation

Corporate HR and project coordination scope across support functions.

Supported HR administration, recruitment, internal mobility, performance and talent processes.
Coordinated HR workstreams for transformation and ERP projects.
Managed recruitment and contingent workforce processes with managers, agencies and HR teams.

Tracked workforce planning, staffing needs, budget follow-up and stakeholder actions.
Prepared and co-animated employee representative bodies for labor-relations topics.
Built a cross-functional HR foundation across operational delivery and project execution.

Expertise

HR expertise.

Senior HR leadership at the intersection of social dialogue, organizational transformation and business partnering.

300+employees in current BU scope

5HR professionals managed

FranceCSE, CSSCT, GEPP and strategic negotiations

Labor Relations & Social Dialogue

CSE, CSSCT, NAO, PSE, GEPP. Social strategy, negotiation, signed agreements.

Organizational Transformation

Restructuring, carve-outs, reorganizations. Framing, deployment, change management.

Business HR Partnering

CODI/CODIR partner. HR decisions aligned with business, budget and social risk.

People Cost Management

Payroll, overheads, hiring. People cost decisions under business constraints.

Talent & Succession Planning

Performance, talent reviews, succession planning, development and retention.

Change Management

Communication, governance, manager support and adoption tracking.

Education

Education.

Labor law, HR management, business partnering and transformation.

2025

Ouvrir Mon Monde

Cross-company executive program bringing together leaders from major groups such as Google and Danone

2022

Danone Business Partnering Training

AMEA Zone: stakeholder value, change, influence, communication

2019

Danone Transformation Model Training

Transformation methodology and change management

2015

Master 2 in HR Management

ECEMA Lyon

2013

Master 1 in Labor Law

Université Jean Moulin Lyon III

2012

Bachelor's degree in Private Law

Université Jean Moulin Lyon III

Languages

Languages & soft skills.

FrenchNative

EnglishFluent

BerberNative

SpanishBasic

Soft skills

Strategic thinkingBusiness acumenInfluence & negotiationDecision makingResilienceSocial intelligenceSelf-initiative

Professional contact.

HR leadership, social transformation, labor relations, business partnering.

Emailassia.amezian@gmail.com LinkedInProfessional profile

LocationLyon, France · National mobility

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