Sophia Bernard
Group HR Director
Volkswagen Group Australia
Sophia Bernard has more than 20 years’ experience as a Global HR Executive.
Many years in the C-Suite in Asia, the USA, UK and Australasia, has given Sophia “lived” experience helping organisations change, grow and adapt within highly complex environments. She has coached, mentored and developed hundreds of leaders from a variety of cultures and professions, and understand what it takes to lead, inspire and develop a cohesive, high performing team that delivers.
Sophia also started Sophia Bernard Consulting after a long corporate career to continue to do what she loves – work alongside CEOs and HR Directors and their teams, supporting them as they focus on the future of work and what that will mean for organisations, teams and our most senior leaders.
Sophia returned to corporate as the HR Director for Audi Australia for 3 years and following a merger, is now the HRD for Volkswagen Group Australia with 350 employees. In addition to being instrumental in the year-long merger, Sophia has navigated AA and VGA through the COVID-19 pandemic at sits as a esteemed and respected member of the Board of Management.
Sophia’s clients have included CEOs, CFOs, Heads of Marketing, HR and other executives from ASX listed and international corporates. She has also work with executives within the NSW Government and from the non-profit sector. This breadth of clientele provides Sophia with powerful insights on the many challenges and opportunities facing our leaders every day.
Sophia is an accredited Coach, completing her ACC at the Centre for Leadership, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town.
Sophia is a Professional Member of the Australian Human Resources Institute (MAHRI), Member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and have an Advanced Diploma Human Resources. Along with Change Management Foundational and Practitioner Qualifications, she is an Accredited Facilitator for HBDI, DISC Advanced and MBTI profiling tools, a Certified Facilitator for Strategies for High Involvement Leadership, DDI and has completed the Company Directors Course at the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
