VisualCV

I am a broad-spectrum HR professional with an unique combination of project management, corporate communications and IT experiences. My passion is social media and its application to HR and internal communications.

My educational background includes a Master's degree in Industrial & Organizational Psychology (University of Berne), a Master's degree in Project Management (George Washington University), a Black Belt certification in Internal Communications, as well as additional trainings.

My experiences cover operational, tactical and strategic fields, on the front line and on the corporate level: I've done classic HR work in recruitment, compensation, organization development, as well as talent and performance management. Furthermore, I have analyzed and re-designed processes, conducted complex statistical data analyses, as well as developed and implemented communication campaigns. I have led Novartis’ HR strategic planning process for two years. I was also the HR representative in the Novartis Social Media Catalyst team, advising the Chief Operating Officer on the application and introduction of Web 2.0 tools.

I am known as a skilled internal consultant, an intrepreneur who is able to bring the right people together, “translate” between various business terminologies, and get things done. My previous supervisors appreciate me as a person with outstanding analytical skills, the ability to balance details and big picture concerns, and the courage to challenge the status quo.

Head of HR Projects, Manor AG
Basel, Switzerland - since October 2010

• Responsible for Manor's corporate HR projects and the overall HR project portfolio

• Projects include Employer Value Propositions and communication measures, HR policy redesign HR strategic planning, development of KPIs and employee engagement surveys

Head of Know How Management, BrainStore AG
Biel/Bienne, Switzerland - May 2010 - July 2010

• Responsible for process standardization, training and certification across franchises and clients

• Member of the strategy team during ongoing re-organization
• Participation in ideation projects for various clients

Positions at Novartis Pharma / International AG (August 2000-April 2010)

Executive Compensation Manager / Social Media Catalyst Team Member
Novartis Pharma AG, Basel Switzerland - February 2008-April 2010

• Process management for salary reviews, benchmarking and stock option programs of Novartis Pharma AG's top 200 executives.

• Since September 2009 project management for the departments of international assignment management and reward solutions (planning, programming and introduction of collaboration software; evaluation of a global compensation package tracking solution)

• HR representative in the Novartis Social Media Catalyst Team, advising Novartis' Chief Operating Officer on the strategy and implementation of Web 2.0 internally and externally. Planning, implementation, testing and change management for blogging and microblogging platforms, wikis, and social networks. Successfully sensitized the HR leadership to the importance of social media by publishing whitepapers on the subject, presentations in strategic meetings and participation in task forces.

HR Manager (rotations through various HR functions)
Novartis Pharma AG, Basel Switzerland - January 2006-January 2008

Rotations within the Pharmaceutical Drug Development department, including:

• Staffing Manager: Recruitment of scientists, including defining the recruitment strategy, sourcing, pre-selection, interviews, selection, salary negotiation, contract preparation

• HR Generalist: Creation of specialized talent sourcing programs; leading the process to create employer value propositions for client departments (including planning, moderation and evaluation of workshops); development and implementation of stress prevention campaigns; training of new line managers in HR processes

• Compensation Manager: Review of internal offer data; calculation of net-to-net comparisons and stock option buy-outs; project management for the introduction of global job families and bands; development, programming and roll-out of offer tracking software; detailed analysis of internal and external salary benchmarks (incl. the proposal to use advanced analysis techniques)

• Organizational Development: Co-lead in a major assessment of project team performance and collaboration within the drug development function; planning and organization of change workshops hosted by the divisional CEO, involving top representatives from Marketing and Development

Head of Strategic HR Projects (Executive Support to Global Head of HR)
Novartis International AG, Basel, Switzerland - December 2003-January 2006

• New conception of of annual HR strategic plans

• led the HR strategic planning process for two years

• participation in the HR-internal organizational re-design project HR Roadmap, with a key role in establishing an HR project office and the HR Business Excellence function

• conception, development and co-ordination of the Novartis HR Board and HR Leadership meetings: Set up of agendas, co-ordination of invitees and topic submissions, handling of meeting logistics, writing and distribution of minutes; including meetings abroad, e.g. Barcelona and Cambridge

• proposed, developed, and implemented communication campaigns for Corporate HR (e.g. graphical process explanation of HR processes with townhall meetings of 600 participants)

• lead and coordinated the global introduction of socially responsible basic living wages in over 60 Novartis country organizations

• led special projects and was the ghostwriter for the Global Head of HR

• leadership responsibility for an internship position

HR Project / Communications Manager, Novartis Pharma AG
Novartis Pharma AG, Basel Switzerland - March 2001-December 2003

• Established the HR Communications department as part of an autonomous team (definition of services and strategy, planning and introduction of tools, departmental branding and fostering of client relations, selection of new team members)

• developed, programmed and introduced several very successful HR intranets

• co-lead of the re-vamped Welcome Day event for new employees

• planning, branding and roll-out of the first global employee survey as well as Novartis' "Fishing for Friends" employee referral program

• workstream lead in a major SAP-HR project

• on behalf of the Pharma Executive Committee, managed the Global Pharma Team Awards 2003 process and event (incl. re-branding of the awards, co-ordination and assessment of award submissions, interviews with the winning teams and creation of winning teams videos, organization of public celebration event hosted by the divisional CEO, 200 attendees)

• global introduction of Open Space Technology, a large-group intervention technique to creatively solve business problems (incl. set-up of the introduction strategy, creation of training material, programming of a website)

• created branding, website design and brochures for the roll-out of an HR career development program

HR Associate, Novartis Pharma AG
Novartis Pharma AG, Basel Switzerland - August 2000-March 2001

• co-led the introduction and change management for the introduction of the Novartis Staffing Center in Basel (incl. planning and implementation of change workshops with HR and new Staffing managers, co-ordination of staffing processes, policies and interface definition, training of Staffing managers, establishment of the new Staffing team in a new building, programming, introduction and training of custom applicant tracking system)

• as part of a task force, defined and introduced the revised local exit processes

• proposal, programming and roll-out of decentralized mass mailing system for HR Switzerland

• recruitment of scientists for HR Research & Development

HR Manager / Industrial Psychologist (50%), BrainStore AG
Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, November 1998 - December 1999

• Evaluation of organizational climate and internal work processes

• recruitment and on-boarding of new employees; management of the freelancer network

• research, consulting of the CEO and training of employees in new creativity techniques

• planning of organizational development projects and process re-designs

• moderator and team member of an international creative team in London for project with C&A

• member of creative teams for clients such as the SVV, Laurastar, Neckermann and Mediamarkt.

Freelance Work & Internships During Studies (1992-2000)

HR and Statistics Consultant, Basel City Police Department
Basel, Switzerland, February 1998 / March 1999

Project: Statistical analysis, evaluation of and recommendations on employee satisfaction surveys

Intern, Basel City Police Department, Psychology Unit
Basel, Switzerland, August 1997 - September 1997

Creation of competency profiles for police officers; conception of an assessment center; leadership development & coaching of line clients; creation of hostage situation training materials; examinator at police officer exams

Researcher, Statistics Commission of the University Basel
Basel, Switzerland, August 1996

Project: Collection, evaluation and reporting of statistics needs of 70 university institute heads; presentation of research findings to university statistics commission

IT Consultant & Supporter, Comix AG (Bookstore)
Basel, Switzerland, Feb 1996 - Jul 2000

Freelance work: Setup, programming and maintenance of databases

Sales/Decoration Clerk, Manor AG
Basel, Switzerland, April 1992 - September 1995

Black Belt, Internal Communications

Henley Management College, Henley-on-Thames, UK, 2005
Training program accredited by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in the UK

Masters Degree, Project Management

George Washington University, Washington D.C., 2001-2004
Novartis Executive Masters Program

Masters Degree, Industrial & Organizational Psychology (lic. phil. I)

University of Berne, Switzerland, 1996-2000
Graduated Magna Cum Laude; Minors in Social Psychology, Organization & Leadership

Pre-licensiate, Psychology

University of Basel, Switzerland, 1994-1996
Minors in Information Technology, Economics & Business Administration

High School / Swiss Matura

Type C (Math & Sciences), MNG Basel, Switzerland, 1986-1994

Further Training

• 2008: World At Work: 4 trainings as part of Global Rewards Professional certification
  (Total Rewards Principles, Quantitative Methods, Variable Pay, International Remuneration)

• 2007: Leadership and Cooperation: Seminar

• 2007: Novartis Finance Fundamentals: Training on business finance principles

• 2005-2006: WIN Mentoring: Mentorship of an university graduate

• 2004: HR Excellence: Novartis HR executive education program at University of Stanford, California

• 2003: FAR Moderation: Novartis-internal training on workshop and group moderation

• 2000: DDI Targeted Selection: Interview technique based on critical incident questions

• Member, Industrial & Organizational Psychologist
  Swiss Association for Industrial & Organizational Psychology, SGAOP (www.sgaop.ch)
• Voting Member, Humanity+
  Humanity+ is an international NGO which advocates the ethical use of emerging technologies to enhance human capacities (humanityplus.org)

• German: native language (excellent oral / written skills)

• English: Fluent (excellent oral / written skills, incl. copywriting, translations)

• French: Used to work in a French speaking team; excellent understanding, good oral and written skills

• Spanish: Basic knowledge

• Italian: Basic knowledge

• IT Skills: I wrote my first programs at the age of 7, and haven't stopped programming since. Excellent knowledge in standard office software and multimedia applications, databases. Programming knowledge in HTML, VBA, Javascript, PHP. Generally very short initial periods to learn new software and programming languages. I have led several IT application projects, as well as planned, created, programmed and introduced new systems (intranet, internet, databases, CMS, desktop tools).

• Whitepaper: "Why HR Should Care About Social Media"

• Award Nomination: "HR Team Award 2009", Novartis International AG
• Award: "Best Virtual Team Award 2002", Novartis AG
• Award: "HR Innovation Award 2001", Novartis AG

• Guest Lecture, Apr 2007, University of Basel ("Career Perspectives for Psychologists" - 100 attendees")
• Guest Lecture, Dec 2005, University of Bern ("Internal Communications" - 150 attendees")
• Many, many business presentations on HR and Social Media topics

• I am the author of Re:connected, a blog on Social Media and HR
• In my private life, I'm a passionate hobby photographer specializing in industrial and decay photography. I have had two successful exhibitions, and my work was featured in prominent online magazines. Visit my online gallery at http://timmsuess.com/decay
• I have invented a popular open source intervalometer for digital cameras:
http://timmsuess.com/intervaluino


• Between 1998 and 1999, I founded and led a one-man e-business for typography and design

• At university, I was leader of a students group publishing study scripts and book summaries

• At high school, I was a member of the student's council and editor of several school newspapers