Anja Heilmann
Head of Operations & HR @ headcount
meet Anja
I bring a broad mix of international experience, from tourism and hospitality to client-facing operations, life on ships, and more than 13 years in HR. In other words, I have spent most of my career working with people in every possible mood, country, situation, and level of urgency.
For me, HR & Operations supports headcount’s purpose from the inside: helping our team work clearly and reliably, so they can focus on helping those who help others.
at a glance
My role at headcount
- Looking after the HR & Operations side of the business, together with Morgane, and making sure the day-to-day foundations are in place
- Creating structure around people topics, processes and knowledge that should not sit with only one person
- Making the employee journey feel clear, human and properly looked after, from joining to growing to moving on
- Keeping documentation, compliance, payroll readiness and audit readiness on track before they become urgent
- Helping build HR & Operations in a way that feels clear, reliable and still human as the business evolves
Background & expertise
I have more than 13 years of experience in HR, across operations, business partnering, employee relations and people processes.
Before that, I worked in tourism, hospitality, events and client-facing operations across several countries and cruise environments. This taught me how to work with different cultures, backgrounds, seniority levels and communication styles, and gave me a strong foundation in service, stakeholder management, operational delivery and team leadership.
Over the years, I have learned how to turn HR processes, recruitment structures and employee lifecycle topics into something people can actually work with. I also hold a CAS in Employment Life Cycle and am a certified Personal Assistant.
What I bring to the team
I enjoy creating structure without making everything feel like a rulebook. I bring a positive mindset, a caring and pragmatic approach, and I’m at my best when there are lots of moving parts to coordinate. Bringing calm, fairness and a protective instinct for both people and the business is simply part of how I work.
my approach
How I came to headcount
My path to headcount has always been close to people.
I started in tourism and hospitality, where you quickly learn that people remember how you make them feel, especially when things are busy or not going according to plan. Working abroad and on ships gave me a very real education in communication, service, pressure and cultural differences.
Later, HR gave me a way to combine that people focus with structure, fairness and problem-solving. At headcount, it all comes together: a people business with strong foundations behind the scenes.
My philosophy
I believe people do their best work when they feel supported, expectations are clear, and communication is honest.
For me, good HR & Operations work reduces friction. It makes things easier to understand, easier to hand over, and easier to scale. It also creates the structure people need without making everything feel rigid or impersonal.
And when things run smoothly, it usually means someone cared enough to make the work behind it almost invisible. That is often the best sign that the right foundations are in place.
behind the profile
Outside work, you’ll usually find me exploring new places with my camper van Sammy, spending time outdoors with our dogs, jumping, ice bathing.
My superpower is saying yes to scary things and figuring it out on the way.
Unpopular opinion: Being helpful does not mean being interruptible all day.
