Senior HR Generalist APAC (f/m/d)

Open jobs

• Singapore
• applike group
• applike group
• Full time

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Job Profile

As the Senior HR Generalist APAC, you are the local HR presence and operational backbone for our regional headquarters in Singapore and growing APAC entities (such as, Japan, South Korea, China). Positioned at the intersection of hands-on HR operations and leadership advisory, you serve as the central HR expert for local employees, leaders, and external authorities.

You combine regional labor law expertise with operational excellence, owning the full employee lifecycle, managing payroll preparation with outsourced providers, and coordinating regional HR data, tools, and external partners. As a trusted partner to local management and the German HR Headquarter, you provide excellent and compliant HR operations, pragmatic HR sparring, execute annual HR cycles, and ensure smooth service delivery across assigned markets as our regional workforce continues growing.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Employee Lifecycle & Contracts: Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle, including contract creation, onboarding to offboarding, and local payroll & benefits administration.

• APAC Business Partnering: Provide pragmatic HR sparring on leadership inquiries, employee relations, and team dynamics for regional Leads in Singapore, Japan, South Korea and China.

• Performance Management: Steer the local performance management and ensure smooth and compliant procedures in alignment with local requirements and German HQ.

• Payroll Preparation Management: Prepare, validate, and submit monthly pre-payroll data to external payroll providers and ensure 100% payout accuracy.

• Labor Law & Compliance: Serve as regional SME on Singapore labor law (plus additional support for Japan, South Korea and China), ensuring legal compliance across local policies and audit-readiness.

• Coordination of external partners: Manage relationships and coordinate with regional vendors/tool providers and authorities.

• Annual HR Cycles: Co-steer our performance feedback and compensation cycles, as well as engagement surveys across APAC in alignment with German HQ.

• HQ Alignment: Act as the primary liaison between local APAC leadership and Hamburg HQ to align global guidelines with local market practices.

• Process Optimization & AI: Optimize local workflows, leverage HRIS capabilities, and integrate AI tools to increase operational efficiency.

Requirements

• Experience: 5+ years of generalist HR activities as an HR Operations expert and/or HRBP, ideally in a fast-paced tech or growth environment in Singapore or the APAC region

• APAC Law & Pre-Payroll: Tested expertise in Singapore labor laws (South Korea, Japan & China knowledge is a strong plus) and payroll preparation experience.

• Balanced Skillset: Balancing practical startup realities with compliance & integrity standards, as well as hands-on HR administration with manager coaching.

• Vendor Management: Track record of coordinating external HR partners and vendors (payroll, immigration, legal, advisory) and managing multi-cultural stakeholders.

• Tech & Tool Savviness: Proficiency in modern HRIS platforms and standard digital collaboration tools.

• Future-Proof Mindset: Proactive interest in leveraging AI tools and tech integrations to optimize daily workflows.

• Working Style: Structured, solution-oriented, and empathetic workstyle.

• Languages: Business fluent in English. Mandarin, Japanese and/or Korean language skills are a strong plus.

• Our mission is to create an inspiring work environment for amazing people to achieve extraordinary things. Be part of it!

• Skip writing cover letters. Tell us about your most passionate personal project, your desired salary, and your earliest possible start date. We are looking forward to your application!

• We welcome applications from people who will contribute to the diversity of our company.

• Apply for this job

Tips & Tricks to Nail Your Interviews!

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Skip cover letters

Since we want to keep everything fast and easy for you, we don’t want you to waste time on a cover letter – we would rather take a look at your CV and if it’s a match, we directly invite you to a first call.

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Check your equipment

Test your internet connection, camera, mic, and speakers beforehand. Time for each interview is limited, and we’d like to spend as much of it as possible on getting to know each other. If the interview is online, always have your camera on! It’s way easier to create a meaningful interaction if we also see each other.

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Do some research

We will give you all the information about the role & company’s culture, but it’s always nice to see how you perceive us after doing some online detective work. ;)

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Prepare an elevator pitch

We will certainly ask you to briefly summarize your work experiences in a short overview. Think of what you’re going to say beforehand so you can fit all of the essential information in 2-3 minutes. Keep the goal of the interview in mind, and make sure everything you say is relevant to the position you’re applying for.

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Structure your answers

Be specific, but don’t get caught up in details – following the STAR method can help you: Situation (set the scene and give the necessary details of your example) – Task (describe what your responsibility was in that situation) – Action (explain exactly what steps you took to address it) – Result (share what outcomes your actions achieved).

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Let your personality shine

It is a recruiting process, but this doesn’t mean you can’t loosen up and showcase your personality. We are looking for an authentic character and we are open to having some small talk or a funny joke thrown into the mix. This might even show us that you’re a good cultural fit. Remember, next to all our ambition we like to have fun!

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Come with your questions

At the end of the interview, we will ask you whether you have any questions for us. Use this time to get answers to all your questions or clear out any curiosities. Always have two or three questions prepared, whether about the position specifically or about career development, upcoming projects, or company culture.

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Don’t be afraid of rescheduling

Even if you’ve already scheduled an interview, urgent things might pop up in your schedule or you might not feel fit to attend the interview. We are all humans & we treat these situations with empathy. It’s better to reschedule rather than not be 100% prepared to attend the interview. Simply communicate the change with your TA Manager and we will find a solution.

Finding Home Abroad – Relocation Stories

We’re supporting new colleagues from all over the world to move to Hamburg, Germany – see what they have to share about their relocation experience:

Read Relocation Article

“Unlike other companies, justDice/applike was there for me from the beginning. After signing the offer, I got comprehensive support in getting my visa, finding a temporary apartment in Hamburg & covering travel expenses for my whole family. All of this made our relocation significantly easier and more enjoyable.”

Grigory – justDice

relocated from Georgia with spouse

“I moved to Hamburg from New Zealand. It is easily the most beautiful city in Germany, and in my eyes, the whole world. My story is a little different, as I was already living here when I found my role at applike group, bu