Nicolas Van Den Steen

Turning HR Complexity into Business Performance | Interim CHRO | M&A People Integration · Total Rewards · EU Pay Transparency Directive | Founder, KoMiChi Consulting

Brussels, Brussels Region, Belgium

About

I turn HR complexity into business performance — M&A integrations, Total Rewards strategy, organisational redesign, and EU Pay Transparency Directive implementation. Pragmatic solutions grounded in 25+ years of operator experience, not borrowed playbooks. My foundation is 11+ years at Bridgestone, across progressively larger roles. I built Total Rewards and analytics across Europe and EMIA, then ran HR for Africa, Middle East, India, Russia & CIS — 45+ countries, minimal central support, no infrastructure to inherit. I designed the organisational model for a new global business unit from scratch, a startup build inside a 100-year-old manufacturer. Most recently, VP HR for 27,000 employees across five continents. The common thread: complex, multicultural environments with lean resources, consensus-driven governance, and in most cases no playbook to copy from. Earlier career at Coca-Cola Enterprises, LBC Tank Terminals, Pfizer, and consulting at Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, and EY. At KoMiChi Consulting, I work with PE-backed portfolio companies, mid-market organisations in transition, and leadership teams that need surgical expertise — not wholesale reinvention. Post-acquisition integration, Rewards function rebuilds, interim CHRO mandates: I operate inside the business, not beside it. Current work includes EU Pay Transparency Directive implementation for a global biopharma, and performance and reward framework design for an international sector federation. Core expertise: HR transformation · M&A integration & carve-outs · Total Rewards strategy · EU Pay Transparency Directive · Organisational design · Interim CHRO & HR leadership · PE portfolio company HR email: [email protected] · www.komichiconsulting.com

Experience

  • Founder & Principal Consultant at KoMiChi
    Sep 2025 - Present · 10 mos

  • Bridgestone Americas (Hybrid)
    • Vice President HR Retail West | Strategy | Credit First National Association | Firestone Airide
      Feb 2025 - Dec 2025 · 11 mos

      Part of an 11+ year Bridgestone career spanning EMIA, Global Mobility Solutions, and Bridgestone West (Americas + EMEA). Led HR strategy and operations across Bridgestone's West Retail network, Strategy division, Credit First National Association, and Firestone Airide. Scope: 27,000 employees across North/Latin America, EMEA, and Asia. Reported into Bridgestone Americas executive leadership. Partnered with business unit presidents on workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, and cost structure optimization during a period of strategic portfolio realignment.

    • Vice President Human Resources - Retail Americas and EMEA
      Jan 2024 - Jan 2025 · 1 yr 1 mo

      Full HR leadership for Bridgestone's retail operations across the Americas and EMEA. Designed and executed the people strategy supporting the integration of multiple retail entities under a unified operating model. Drove leadership capability building and succession planning across a geographically dispersed, acquisition-built network — a structure closer to a PE portfolio than a traditional corporate division.

    • HR Leader Global Bridgestone Mobility Solutions | DE&I
      Mar 2023 - Jan 2024 · 11 mos

      Built the HR function from scratch for BMS 2.0 — Bridgestone's new global mobility solutions business unit spanning North America and EMIA. Defined the organizational design, governance model, capability framework, talent processes, and culture roadmap for a business being stood up inside a 100-year-old manufacturing company. Essentially a startup build with corporate stakeholder complexity. Parallel mandate: led Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategy across EMIA.

  • Bridgestone EMIA (Full-time · 8 yrs 6 mos)
    • HR Leader Africa, Middle East, India, Russia & CIS | DE&I - EMIA
      Apr 2019 - Feb 2023 · 3 yrs 11 mos

      Part of an 11+ year Bridgestone career. Progressing from Total Rewards leader to regional HR leader across 45+ countries. Owned HR strategy for 6,000+ employees across 15+ countries in Bridgestone's most complex, resource-constrained markets. Managed through COVID, geopolitical disruption (Russia/CIS), and significant organizational restructuring — with minimal central support and no regional HR infrastructure inherited. Built local HR capability, drove talent agenda, and led employee relations in jurisdictions ranging from South Africa to India to the UAE. Added EMIA-wide DE&I leadership from Oct 2021.

    • Director Total Rewards & Data Analytics - EMIA
      Sep 2014 - Mar 2019 · 4 yrs 7 mos

      Built Bridgestone EMIA's Total Rewards and HR analytics function from the ground up. Started with European scope, expanded to full EMIA (45+ countries) within two years. Transformed the HR operating model from country-based to regional via SAP/SuccessFactors standardization. Designed and implemented compensation structures, benefits harmonization, and executive reward frameworks across entities acquired through Bridgestone's buy-and-build strategy. Added HR Business Partner responsibility for the IT function from 2016. This role laid the technical and operational foundation for everything that followed.

  • Group Head of Reward at LBC Tank Terminals
    Jan 2014 - Aug 2014 · 8 mos

    PE-owned global logistics business in Oil&Gas; first Group-level Rewards hire. Led global total rewards and payroll operations; designed and secured Board approval for senior leadership LTIP. Defined global HRIS architecture (Microsoft Dynamics) to support scalable, consistent reward practices.

  • Coca-Cola Enterprises (Brussels Metropolitan Area)
    • Assoc. Director, Executive Compensation
      Dec 2011 - Dec 2013 · 2 yrs 1 mo

      Led executive compensation for ~$8B revenue bottler/distributor; advised Board Compensation Committee on executive pay. Managed executive reward programmes and equity schemes; developed 3-year Total Rewards Strategy (2013–2015).

    • Sr Manager, Enterprise Comp Initiatives
      Aug 2010 - Dec 2011 · 1 yr 5 mos

      Led global mobility programmes and vendor management across North America and Europe. Programme-managed enterprise-wide grading refresh: transformed job titles, compensation architecture and capability frameworks.

    • Manager, Compensation Belgium / Luxembourg
      Dec 2007 - Jul 2010 · 2 yrs 8 mos

      Managing all Managed compensation cycles for Belgium & Luxembourg (4,000+ employees). Co-represented employer at European Works Council; co-led union negotiations (bi-annual wage reviews). Supported HR transformation across Europe, including HRIS deployment (MSS/ESS) and process redesign.compensation-related items for Belgium and Luxembourg