HR Director

Industry

Construction, engineering & infrastructure

Reporting to

Chief executive officer (CEO)

Location

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Role purpose

The HR director is a strategic business leader responsible for developing and executing the organization’s human capital strategy to support business growth, project excellence, and long-term sustainability. The role ensures alignment between people strategy, organizational capability, leadership development, and workforce performance across all business units.
The HR director will foster a high-performance culture while ensuring strict compliance with UAE labor law, Emiratization policies, and international HR best practices in a complex, multi-project contracting environment.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and execute long-term HR strategy aligned with corporate goals.
• Translate business objectives into workforce planning, organizational design, and talent strategies.
• Act as a trusted advisor to the CEO and board on succession planning, leadership development, and people risk management.

• Lead recruitment strategies for executive, technical, and operational positions.
• Strengthen employer branding within the construction and engineering sector.
• Oversee manpower planning, mobilization, and demobilization across multiple projects.

• Design and implement performance management frameworks.
• Lead leadership development and succession planning initiatives.
• Drive continuous learning, competency development, and capability building.

• Enhance employee engagement, retention, and organizational culture.
• Manage grievance handling, disciplinary procedures, and investigations.
• Promote diversity, inclusion, and employee wellbeing initiatives.

• Ensure compliance with UAE labor law, WPS, visas, and Emiratization.
• Maintain HR policies, procedures, and audit readiness.
• Oversee HR risk management and governance reporting.

• Lead HRIS implementation and HR automation initiatives.
• Utilize HR analytics for data-driven workforce decisions.

Requirements

• Minimum 15 years of HR leadership experience within construction or engineering organizations.
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in HR, business administration, or related field.
• Strong knowledge of UAE labor law and GCC HR practices.
• Proven experience managing large, multicultural workforces.

• Strategic and business-driven mindset.
• Strong leadership, communication, and negotiation abilities.
• High integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.

Benefits

Offered salary: 45K to 55K + benefits