Manager HR Onboarding

Job Description

At Etihad Airways, we are continuing one of the most ambitious transformation journeys in global aviation. As we scale our operations, expand our workforce, and continue delivering world-class employee experiences, we are seeking an experienced and people-focused Manager HR Onboarding to lead a high-performing HR operations team responsible for delivering seamless employee lifecycle experiences across the business.

This is a critical leadership role within HR Services, responsible for overseeing high-volume onboarding and offboarding operations while ensuring exceptional service delivery, operational efficiency, compliance, and stakeholder experience.

The successful candidate will lead a team supporting both UAE-based and international employees across a fast-paced, highly operational environment where attention to detail, customer experience, and process excellence are essential.

Accountabilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing onboarding and offboarding team, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, engagement, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee the end-to-end onboarding lifecycle for high-volume hiring populations including cabin crew, pilots, technical, and corporate employees, ensuring a smooth and seamless employee experience from offer acceptance through to joining.
• Manage employee offboarding processes across the organization, ensuring all exit activities, clearances, compliance requirements, and stakeholder coordination are completed accurately and within agreed SLAs.
• Drive operational excellence across onboarding and offboarding activities, ensuring accuracy, efficiency, and strong attention to detail across all employee records, documentation, and workflow processes.
• Partner closely with internal stakeholders including Payroll, Government Relations, Staff Travel, HR Business Partners, Accommodation, Recruitment, and operational business units to ensure seamless employee transitions.
• Build and manage strong relationships with external stakeholders including hotels, relocation providers, and travel agencies supporting employee mobility and onboarding logistics.
• Lead the continuous improvement and transformation of onboarding and offboarding operations through process optimization, automation, and AI-enabled solutions.
• Manage and optimize onboarding technologies including Employee Central and onboarding platforms integrated with SAP SuccessFactors, ensuring process integrity and system effectiveness.
• Ensure all onboarding and offboarding activities remain compliant with UAE labour regulations, internal governance standards, and company policies.
• Monitor operational KPIs and customer satisfaction metrics (CSAT), identifying trends and implementing improvement initiatives to enhance employee experience and service delivery outcomes.
• Maintain governance of SOPs, process documentation, onboarding knowledge platforms, and chatbot workflows including Zella onboarding solutions.
• Support workforce planning and operational capacity management to ensure onboarding volumes and service expectations are consistently achieved.
  
  

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in HR onboarding, HR operations, employee services, or shared services environments.
• Proven experience leading and developing operational HR teams within a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
• Strong understanding of onboarding and offboarding processes within the UAE.
• Experience working with HR systems including Employee Central and onboarding technologies integrated with SAP SuccessFactors.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to build effective partnerships across both internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to manage operational complexity while maintaining exceptional accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong customer service mindset with a focus on delivering exceptional employee experiences.
• Ability to lead teams effectively under pressure while managing competing priorities and high operational volumes.
• Experience within aviation, hospitality, shared services, or other highly operational environments is advantageous.

What We’re Looking For

We are looking for a leader who combines operational rigor with a people-first mindset - someone who can balance process excellence, customer experience, stakeholder management, and team leadership within a fast-moving environment.

This role would suit a candidate who thrives in high-volume operations, enjoys solving complex operational challenges, and is passionate about creating seamless employee experiences at scale.

Recruitment Process

The recruitment process for this position will involve the following steps:

1. All applications will be reviewed by a human-member of our Recruitment Team
2. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to completed a recorded video interview via our third-party platform HireVue. This interview will allow you to record your responses to a range of questions related to the position and will allow you to demonstrate your knowledge and experience in a way that just your CV alone would not be able to. It also ensures fairness for you and all candidates, as all of our shortlisted candidates are asked the same questions and assessed on their responses.
3. After a review of completed video interviews, shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview with the hiring manager.
4. Finalists may be invited to a final meeting with the hiring team and other key stakeholders.
5. All candidates will be notified as to the status of their application as soon as is possible.

Etihad Airways is more than the UAE’s national airline - we’re shaping the future of global aviation. From our hub in Abu Dhabi, we connect people across continents and cultures, while driving our “Journey 2030” ambition to double our fleet, expand our network and grow our people for a new era of excellence. Join us and become part of a vision where the world is your workplace and extraordinary experiences take flight.

To learn more visit www.etihad.com

Recruitment Fraud Alert

Beware of fraudulent job offers from individuals or organizations claiming to represent the Etihad group. We will never ask for personal information, bank details, or payment during the recruitment process. Interviews are conducted face-to-face or via video/telephone before any formal offer. If you are asked for money, please treat it as fraudulent.