Associate Director - HRBP

About WhiteCrow

We are global talent research, insight, and sourcing specialists with offices in the UK, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Dubai, and India. Our international reach has helped us to understand and penetrate specialist markets at a global level. In addition to this, our service is also extended to complement our client’s in-house talent acquisition teams.

About our client

Since its inception in 2000, our client has emerged as a prominent and fast-growing retail group serving markets across the Middle East. The organization partners with world-class fashion and lifestyle brands, delivering globally inspired products and experiences to discerning consumers throughout the GCC. Guided by a vision to become a leading regional gateway for international retailers, the company has successfully built a broad portfolio across diverse consumer categories. Its collaborative approach with global brand partners, combined with extensive market expertise and a customer-first mindset, has enabled sustained growth and ongoing expansion across the region. Today, our client remains well-positioned to capitalize on emerging opportunities within the dynamic Middle Eastern retail market.

As an Associate Director - HRBP, you will be responsible for...

Strategic HR Leadership:

• Acting as a trusted advisor to executive leadership, influencing business strategy through human capital insights.
• Leading the development and execution of enterprise-wide people strategy aligned with business growth objectives.
• Driving workforce planning, organizational design, and operating model effectiveness across multiple business units.

Talent Strategy & Leadership Development:

• Overseeing succession planning and leadership pipeline development for critical roles.
• Driving enterprise talent reviews, ensuring alignment with long-term business needs.
• Shaping and sponsoring leadership development and capability-building initiatives in partnership with COEs.

Organizational Performance & Effectiveness:

• Leading the performance management framework, ensuring alignment with business priorities and outcomes.
• Defining and tracking organizational performance metrics and ensuring continuous improvement initiatives are implemented.

Culture, Engagement & Transformation:

• Championing culture transformation initiatives, fostering engagement, inclusion, and high-performance behaviors.
• Driving employee engagement strategies, leveraging insights from surveys and analytics to influence leadership action planning.

Change & Transformation Leadership:

• Leading enterprise-level change management initiatives, including restructuring, integration, and transformation programs.
• Providing strategic counsel on people implications, risk mitigation, and stakeholder alignment during major business changes

Employee Relations & Governance:

• Ensuring governance, compliance, and risk management in line with company policies and UAE labor laws.
• Providing oversight on complex employee relations cases, investigations, and escalations.

HR Analytics & Business Insights:

• Driving data-led decision-making, leveraging workforce analytics to inform strategy.
• Presenting insights on talent trends, productivity, engagement, and organizational health to senior leadership

Collaboration with HR Centers of Excellence:

• Ensuring alignment and integration of HR services across Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, L&D, and other COEs.
• Leading the localization and execution of group-wide HR initiatives across company.

Leadership & Team Development:

• Leading and developing HRBP teams, ensuring capability building and succession readiness.
• Fostering a high-performing, collaborative HR function aligned to business needs.

What you already have...

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Psychology, or a related field.
• A Master’s degree or MBA is preferred.
• 8–10 years of progressive HR experience, with at least 3–5 years in a business partnering or HR leadership role.
• Proven experience supporting senior leadership and driving strategic HR initiatives.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Familiarity with systems and collaboration platforms (e.g., Microsoft Teams, SharePoint) is preferred.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Interpersonal Skills.
• Employee Relations.
• Organizational Development.
• Additional languages (e.g., Arabic) is an advantage.