Peter Vermeulen, GPHR

Consultant

Meet Peter Vermeulen

Peter is a seasoned executive coach who works closely with leaders at all levels all around the world to support them in achieving their career goals. His global human resources experience combined with a strong background in finance and data analytics has contributed to multiple successful innovative enterprise-wide transformative Human Resources initiatives across global markets. As a coach, Peter uses his expertise to help leaders increase self-awareness, reflect on their strengths and weaknesses so the leader can make intentional decisions on honing behaviors to move onwards and upwards.

As the recent Chief People Officer at TeleSign, a California-based cyber security tech company, Peter led the cultural transformation from a technology start-up to a publicly traded company (IPO). Prior to joining TeleSign, he was the Global Head of Human Resources, Customer Experience at Amazon. While at Amazon, Peter led a team of over 360 Human Resources and Recruiting professionals in 19 countries. In 2019 Peter led the recruitment and onboarding of 40,000 employees globally to support the rapid expansion of the business. Peter started new business units in the Philippines and Columbia, and prepared start-ups in Brazil, Sweden, Mexico, Romania, and the Middle East. He also supported the Robotics Division by launching a robot delivery pilot for Amazon Prime customers and launched a predictive AI tool to forecast and manage employee attrition (Nostradamus).

Prior to Amazon, Peter was Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Americas for Linde, a leading industrial gas company, where he managed budgets of over $20 million, drove organizational transformation, and prepared for the merger with Praxair. Earlier at Johnson & Johnson), Peter’s roles included Global Vice President of Talent Management, Global Vice President of Human Resources for Global Supply Chain for Medical Devices, Country Human Resources Director for France, and Finance Controller. Prior to that, Peter was a Senior Consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and an internal auditor for Shell International.

Peter holds a GPHR certificate from the Human Resources Capital Institute, where he formerly served as a member of the Board of Directors. Peter has lectured at leading universities, is active in industry and community events, and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of a nonprofit organization (International School Services) in Princeton, NJ.

Additionally, Peter is the co-author of the book Be(come) an Awesome Manager (2020), available on Amazon. In addition to English, Peter is fluent in Dutch, French, and German.

Professional Experience

Professional History:

  • CHRO, TeleSign, Marina del Rey, CA

  • Head of Human Resources Global CS and CX, Amazon , Seattle, WA

  • Senior Vice President Human Resources, Linde, Bridgewater, NJ

  • Vice President Human Resources, Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ, Beerse, Belgium and Paris, France

  • Senior Consultant, PwC, Brussels, Belgium

  • Internal Auditor, Shell Oil, Brussels, Belgium

Relevant Experience:

  • Successfully coached a CEO in his search for a new CEO role by helping him create a compelling Personal Value Proposition, assessing leadership attributes, engaging with a network of key decision makers, preparing for interviews, controlling the message, and accelerating his onboarding.

  • Accelerated onboarding for newly appointed Regional VP in Asia: interviewed stakeholders, crafted an onboarding plan together with coach and manager with the input from multiple stakeholders and successfully coached the Regional VP in executing the plan. Checked progress with manager and key stakeholders on a regular basis.

  • Coached 30+ white male VPs in a large Technology company to be active sponsors and mentors for diverse High Potential Talent within their organization. Also helped these leaders to develop a more inclusive leadership style by recognizing their own privileges and blind spots. Checked progress with key stakeholders on a regular basis.

  • Coached Executive VP in making and owning difficult decisions and how to actively engage in conflict situations. Collected compelling 360-degree information and stakeholder feedback (using the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI)), crafted a development plan in partnership with the manager and successfully executed the plan. Checked regular progress with coachee, manager and key stakeholders.

  • Coached multiple High Potentials in unleashing their potential. In a major technology company, Peter was assigned to develop accelerated development plans for approximately Fifteen high potential leaders in partnership with Human Resources and senior management. Once the plans were in place, Peter was asked to coach the individuals in executing their development plans. In addition, Peter helped the individuals identify a sponsor to accelerate their development.

  • Successfully coached a commercial leader in Latin America to write his own book and start a 'dog hotel'. Identified and discussed career options, assessed leadership strengths and opportunities for development, created a roadmap for his portfolio career and helped him to execute it in a timely and successful way.

CERTIFICATIONS

  • Herman Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI)

  • 360 Energy Profile (Human Performance Institute)

  • Thunderbird Global Mindset Inventory

  • Bar Raiser (Amazon)

  • Customer Obsession (Amazon)

Education

  • College of Executive Coaching

    • Certification in Executive Coaching

  • University of Leuven, Belgium

    • Master’s in Economics and International Affairs

  • University of Strasbourg III, France

    • Master in European Studies (Law, Economics, Politics and History)

MEMBERSHIPS

  • Human Resources Certification Institute (ex Board member)

  • Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)

  • International School Services (ISS), Board Chair

  • Enspira, Advisory Board Member

  • Association for Talent Development (ATD)

  • Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)

Publications

  • Be(come) an awesome manager (the essential toolkit for impact leadership), Lisbeth Claus, Scott Baker and Peter Vermeulen, available on Amazon (v2.0 2021)

  • Turn Diversity and Inclusion into a Talent Strength , white paper in partnership with Randstad, 2017