Marie Van Rillas
YOUR PARTNER FOR PEOPLE & GROWTH
ABOUT ME
The person
behind the strategy.
Marie Van Rillas,
HR Consultant & Employer Brand Expert
For over 15 years I've worked at the intersection of people and business growth in luxury hospitality, NGOs, and international Oil & Gas company, always where the human challenges were hardest and the stakes were highest.
15+
Years of Experience
5-2'500
People
5+
Industries
Swiss & Intl Exposure
"Strong organisations don't scale through perks or headcount.
They grow when their people feel engaged, their culture is lived and everyone understands where the business is going and why it matters." Marie
MY STORY
Not on paper.
In practice, day to day.
For over 15 years I've worked across some pretty different worlds such luxury hospitality, NGOs, ioil & Gas, always in the middle of the people and culture challenges that come with growth.
I've helped organisations hire better, build cultures that actually hold up under pressure, and develop leaders who bring out the best in their teams.
Today I work with startups and SMEs building the right people foundations to support a sustainable growth.
What I've learnt along the way is simple: strong organisations don't scale through perks or headcount. They grow when their people feel engaged, their culture is lived not just written on a wall, and everyone understands where the business is going and why it matters.
That's what I help build. Because your growth begins with your team.
Sectors I've worked in
Luxury hospitality
Oil & Gas
NGO
Private companies & SMEs
Startups & scale-ups
What I help with
HR strategy & foundations
Employer branding & EVP
Recruitment & onboarding
Leadership & team engagement
Fractional HR
BACKGROUND
Experience & credentials
EXPERIENCE
Freelance HR Consultant & EB
Startups & SMEs, France · 2024–present
HR Manager & People Partner
Neste, Geneva · 2018–2023
HR Coordinator
Neste, IRU, Geneva · 2018–2023
Luxury Hospitality
Atlanta & Geneva · 2008–2014
CERTIFICATIONS
AI for HR
AIHR · 2026
Certified Digital Marketing Professional
Digital Marketing Institute · 2025
Developing Leaders, Transforming Organisations
IMD Business School · 2023
Strategic HR Leadership
Cornell University · 2022
LANGUAGES
French
NATIVE
English
FLUENT
Spanish
BASICS
Swiss HR Certificate
Ifage, Geneva· 2016
WHY STARTUPS & SMES
Every business is different.
That's exactly the point.
There's no standard playbook to follow, no one-size-fits-all solution to apply. Just a real business with real people and the space to build something that actually fits.
Direct business impact
In a team of fifteen, every hire is close to seven per cent of your company. Get it right and the whole team lifts. Get it wrong and everyone feels it. People decisions here aren't admin, they shape whether the business makes it.
No two are ever the same
Different industries, different stages, different people. Nothing is ever quite alike and there's no standard playbook to apply, which is exactly what keeps the work interesting.
Room to build, to innovate
I get to build culture and ways of working from scratch, rather than maintain a corporate system someone designed a decade ago. There's space to do it properly and differently.
MY APPROACH
HOW I WORK
For over 15 years I've worked across some pretty different worlds such luxury hospitality, NGOs, ioil & Gas, always in the middle of the people and culture challenges that come with growth.
I've helped organisations hire better, build cultures that actually hold up under pressure, and develop leaders who bring out the best in their teams.
01
Understand first
I start by understanding where you actually are. what's working, what isn't, and what the team really needs right now. No assumptions.
02
Build with you
From there I build with you, not just for you. That might take a few weeks or a few months but the direction is always clear from day one.
03
Practical, honest, transaparent
No unnecessary complexity. No frameworks for the sake of it. Practical, honest work focused on what will actually make a difference for your business.
The approach is always the same: practical, honest, and focused on what will actually make a difference.
BEYOND WORK
When I am not working
🌍 Travelling
🪁 kitesurfing
🤝 New cultures
When I'm not working, you'll find me kitesurfing, travelling, or somewhere new trying to understand how people live differently.
These aren't just hobbies. They've taught me that the best things - in sport and in business - come from reading the conditions, adapting fast, and trusting the process even when it's uncomfortable.
Reading the conditions. Adapting fast.
Trusting the process, even when it's uncomfortable.
