Melissa Jane Hawkins is an experienced international HR Director with over 15 years of experience in strategic HR leadership roles across various industries. She has a track record of driving people strategies that deliver business results through talent development, employee engagement, and building a strong employer brand. Her most recent role was as HR Director for Merlin Entertainments in Europe and the USA, where she led HR for over 5,000 employees across 124 attractions in 25 countries.

1. Melissa Jane Hawkins. BA Hons, MCIPD, SHRM
A commercially strong international HR Director experienced in driving people strategy for some of the worlds leading
brands. Passionate about delivering real business results through excellent customer satisfaction, talent development and
providing an engaging and rewarding environment for employees to become true brand ambassadors. Sector experience in
hospitality, leisure and tourism, financial services, manufacturing, fire and security and construction.
Key attributes:
European and USA HR Strategy People Engagement Acquisition & Integration
Talent Acquisitions Unions and labor relations Cultural change management
CAREER HISTORY:
Merlin Entertainments PLC HR Director for EUROPE and USA
December 2011 to February 2016.
Merlin Entertainments PLC is a British company headquartered in the UK operating 124 attractions, 16 hotels and 3
holiday villages in 25 countries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100
Index. Iconic brands include LEGOLAND, SEALIFE, London Coca Cola Eye, Madame Tussauds, Dungeons and
Resort Theme Parks globally.
January 2015 February 2016
HR Director, LEGOLAND California Resort, Carlsbad, California, USA.
LEGOLAND California Resort is the largest of all the 124 Merlin attractions and is c$100m EBITDA; the resort consists of a
SEALIFE Centre, Hotel (250 rooms) and Waterpark. LLCR employees 2750 people who welcome 3m visitors each year.
• Part of the resorts Senior Executive and reporting directly to the General Manager responsible for leading a
team of 15 HR professionals for all HR functions which include Engagement and Internal Communications,
Talent and Development, Compensations and Benefits, Total Rewards, Employee Relations and Talent
Acquisition
• Drive Engagement across the resort that has resulted in 92% staff engagement in 2015
• Build a center of excellence in L&D, for talent pipeline growth across the resort and wider Merlin Group
• Develop an Employer Brand strategy that supports growth plans of the resort
• Responsible for all internal communication thats aligned to culture and target audience
• Build a competitive employment proposition that feeds into the employment attraction strategy
December 2011 to January 2015
HR Director, Merlin Entertainments, Midway Europe, based in the UK, relocating to Germany.
Design & delivery of European HR Strategy for 49 attractions across UK, EIRE, Germany and Rest of Europe, c 2700
people. Responsibilities include engagement, succession & talent mapping, employment law for 15 countries, cultural
change and People Engagement. Leading a team of 10 HR professionals throughout Europe.
Key Achievements:
• Turned around a disengaged workforce in Midway Germany from a climate of employee strikes and protests to
creating ambassadors of Merlin through winning ‘hearts and minds’. A change program consisting of
harmonization, new payment frameworks, improvements in working conditions, learning and development
opportunities, re-election of works councils, and targeted internal communication campaigns
• Achieved Outstanding Contribution Award 2014, for continuous drive and commitment, passion and enthusiasm to
make a difference in Midway Europe, spending several months in Germany building a talented strong HR team
• Led the creation of ‘Midway GM Bootcamps’ and ‘Career Discovery Days’ , now key strategic global initiatives
• Seconded in July 2014 to Group HR Projects to drive the Global Engagement Strategy.
September 2010 to December 2011
HR Business Partner, LV= LIFE SBU, based in Dorset, UK.
LV= LIFE comprises of Retirement Solutions and Protection products. A member of the LIFE Executive and HR Leadership
team. Enterprise Value of c£400m, Headcount of 1,000, Influence of 4,700 across all LV=.
Ultimate responsibility to provide strategic HR direction to the LIFE SBU that enables the business to meet its business
plans of growth whilst retaining strong internal and external brand values. Responsible for all HR areas including resourcing

2. & L&D, the talent agenda and embed robust development plans. Top Talent attraction strategies and executive
remuneration packages, Integration and acquisition project lead, including organizational design. Built very strong relations
with the Life Executive and have demonstrated ability to move the delivery agenda forward taking into account both the
needs of the SBU and the wider HR community.
August 2003 – September 2010
Head of HR reporting to MD of Peverel Building Technologies (PBT) Dorset, UK, part of the Peverel Property
Management Group. PBT comprises of: Cirrus Communication Systems Ltd, Interphone Security Group, Instant Fire
Protection & Cirrus Careline the largest call monitoring centre in Europe. PBT is a National operation, operating 24 hours.
Total head count c500.
• Working with Heads of Business to ensure that the Business Plans are achieved through effective 3 year HR &
Learning & Development Strategy
• Responsible for defining & managing HR related budgets e.g. Salary, L&D, head count & Recruitment
• Project managing HR integration of two new business acquisitions creating two new business streams into the PBT
Group of Companies involving 100 transferred staff
• Ensuring effective Succession Planning and Personal Development Plans are implemented throughout PBT
• Responsible for Reward and Recognition Strategy, ensuring market rate analysis and pay benchmarking
• Responsible for full H&S co-ordination and compliance
• Coaching & development of a team of four HR and Training professionals
Key Achievements:
• Achieved Orange National Business Award for ‘Employer of the Year’ category November 2009. The judges
praised how the robust HR Strategy that returned outstanding financial business results
• Led HR related activities in transforming the four PBT businesses from a loss of £500k to profits of £3.5m over a
three year period, now the largest contributor of profit to the Peverel Group. Activities included: Organizational
redesign & restructure, Leadership Programs, Performance Management, Cultural Change & Customer Service
Programs, Quality Standards, ‘Plan on a Page’, Employee Briefings etc
• Project led PBT to gain Investors in People Accreditation
• Reduced recruitment costs by £30k and reduced employee turnover across the PBT Group from 48% to <8%
December 2000 to August 2003
Personnel Officer for Warings Contractors Ltd, Hilsea, Portsmouth, UK. Construction Company with head
count of c300 across a multitude of sites, providing national contracting services with large clients such as
BAA & Unite.
• Provision and co-ordination of full range of personnel expertise to ensure efficient and timely issue resolution
performance management, compensation and benefits, talent management
• Advising the Management Executive (10 members) of current personnel issues/ legislation
• Recognized as a ‘star’ and placed on an external Management Development Program, this gained points towards
an MBA
September 1998 to December 2000
Personnel Advisor for Coopervision, Southampton, UK. Manufacturer of Contact Lenses, c1000
EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS:
BA (Hons) Human Resource Management 2:1, June 1998 - Southampton University, UK
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, March 2002 to July 2002, UK
MCIPD Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, September 2014, UK
Studying towards SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Current
SDI Strength Deployment Inventory Practitioner level 1&2, May 2006 & 2013, UK
Thomas International, (DISC profiling tool) July 2012, UK
NLP Practitioner, NLP Coach & Time Line Therapist , November 2013, The Performance Partnership, UK
Contact: Liddymel@me.com (760) 460 6121 (cell),
2548 Marron Road, Carlsbad, California, USA