Expert in International Mobility, CEO of Living Kultures®

Karen has been working in the aeronautical environment for over twenty years and could acquire a rare expertise in all domains of International Mobility Management during more than ten years, in her own company as well as with other international groups thanks to regular exchanges.

In 2007, Karen Oppermann-Calvet started International Mobility (IM) operations where still manual techniques were applied to calculate the IM package, balance sheet and cost projection. Thanks to her experience from the ground, she had been solicited for the user testing, the implementation and the trainings to end users for the sole IM tool used: R@YS by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Very soon, Karen became specialised in transnational tax and social security thanks to her self-education, trainings at IBFD and PwC in Bristol, Paris, Hamburg and Madrid. Following this very intensive learning, she created and implemented a tool being able to compare different tax and social security schemes, perfectly illustrating to the employee his situation in his home and his host country.

During her career at the IM, Karen has managed the expert team being in charge of the externalisation and invoicing of services as well as of guaranteeing compliance of taxes and social security exemption management.

The coordination of the four international payroll teams in the founding countries of Airbus, has Karen made become a specialist of the different legislations and ways that the tool SAP is manipulated.

During her long career at Airbus, she has been dedicated to knowledge sharing as a trainer, first in Finance and later on in International Mobility. Karen has lectured in Prague, London, Vienna, Fort Lauderdale etc. to share her experience with IM specialists of other companies and consultancy firms (Deloitte, PwC).

Moreover, she has taught at the University of Paul Sabatier in Toulouse (Bachelor HR) and has been forming for more than five years students of Master 2 International Human Resources of Toulouse School of Management (formerly IAE). Karen is frequently called to intervene at conferences organised by universities.

Recently, Karen has created her own company to specialise even more in training of IM as well as foreign languages. She is frequently solicited by expats for advice on international social security and pension.

After having worked in Germany, UK, USA, Turkey and Switzerland, Karen Oppermann-Calvet has become herself a real “expat” as she quit her country of birth in 1996 to move to the Toulousain region. She has the French-German double nationality.