Head of Talent Acquisition

Job description / Role

Head of Talent Acquisition – Emiratisation (UAE)

A leading organisation in the UAE is hiring a Head of Talent Acquisition (Emiratisation) to own and scale their national hiring strategy. This is a senior role for someone who can build a credible pipeline of UAE National talent, partner confidently with the business, and deliver measurable outcomes against Emiratisation targets—without compromising quality.

What you’ll be doing
- Own the Emiratisation hiring strategy end-to-end (workforce planning, sourcing, selection, offers, onboarding)
- Partner with senior stakeholders to define priority roles, hiring plans, and realistic timelines
- Build strong UAE National talent pipelines across early careers and experienced hires
- Strengthen employer brand and candidate experience for UAE Nationals
- Lead relationships with relevant external partners (universities, training providers, job boards, community networks)
- Ensure compliance with UAE labour requirements and reporting expectations
- Build a high-performing TA team and operating rhythm (SLAs, governance, dashboards)
- Track and report performance: pipeline health, conversion rates, time-to-hire, quality-of-hire, retention signals

What we’re looking for
- Proven leadership in Talent Acquisition with a clear track record in Emiratisation delivery
- Strong stakeholder management: able to influence hiring managers and drive decision-making
- Deep expertise in sourcing UAE National talent and building long-term pipelines
- Data-led approach to TA: you can run dashboards, diagnose bottlenecks, and improve conversion
- Comfortable balancing speed, quality, and compliance
- Excellent communication—credible, direct, and culturally aware

Nice to have
- Experience in large, multi-site or high-volume environments
- Sector experience in government-linked, industrial, logistics, retail, banking, tech, or healthcare
- Exposure to TA tech/ATS optimisation and process redesign

Package
- Competitive salary + benefits (based on experience)
- Location: UAE (details shared with shortlisted candidates)

You’re a senior talent acquisition leader with a proven track record of delivering Emiratisation outcomes in the real world—building credible UAE National pipelines, partnering with the business at senior level, and hitting targets without lowering the bar on quality.

You understand that Emiratisation isn’t a “TA campaign”; it’s a long-term workforce strategy. You can translate organisational goals into practical hiring plans, prioritise the right roles, and set clear expectations with hiring managers on timelines, selection criteria, and what a strong process looks like. You’re confident challenging stakeholders when requirements are unrealistic, and you keep decisions moving with calm, direct communication.

You’re strong on the market. You know how to attract and engage UAE National talent across early careers and experienced hires, and you can build sustainable channels—universities, community networks, referrals, events, targeted sourcing, and partnerships—rather than relying on one-off job ads. You care about candidate experience and employer brand, and you know that trust and reputation matter in this space.

Operationally, you bring structure and accountability. You run a tight TA cadence, build dashboards that actually drive action, and improve conversion through better screening, faster feedback loops, and cleaner governance. You’re comfortable with compliance and reporting expectations, and you’re equally focused on outcomes after hire—onboarding quality, retention signals, and the support needed to set UAE National hires up to succeed.

Most importantly, you lead from the front. You can build and coach a high-performing TA team, influence without drama, and create a delivery culture where Emiratisation is owned by the business—not just HR.

Salary:
AED 70,000 to 100,000 per month inclusive of fixed allowances.

About the Company

eMagine Solutions is one of the leading authorities on leadership and talent globally. Our combined resources of over 100 years professional experience mean that our clients trust us with finding them the top talent globally and candidates trust us to find them the right opportunity in a timely and confidential manner.

Throughout our offices we provide complete solutions for our clients, including traditional temporary and permanent recruitment, executive search, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), salary survey's, market mapping and training and development courses.

Our global client list work with us not only because of our expertise but also because of our honesty, integrity and passion.