Manager - Hire To Retire

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.

About the role

• The Manager, Hire to Retire Process Transformation is responsible for leading the day-to-day delivery of transformation projects and workstreams across the Hire-to-Retire lifecycle within Human Capital Services.
• Reporting to the Associate Director, the role translates the transformation agenda into executable plans, standardized processes, and digital-enabled solutions, working hands-on across process design, system configuration, data, and change.
• It combines strong project delivery discipline with practical HC process and technology expertise to move Group Services towards a best-in-class shared services operating model.
• The role is a key delivery partner to the Associate Director and to vertical HR teams, ensuring initiatives are delivered on time, on budget, and to the intended quality, while coordinating junior team members and third-party resources.

As a Manager - Hire to Retire, you will be responsible for...

Transformation Project & Workstream Delivery

• Leading the planning, delivery, and reporting of assigned transformation projects and workstreams across the entire Hire-to-Retire lifecycle, managing scope, timelines, budgets, risks, and issues.
• Developing and maintaining project plans, delivery artefacts, and status reporting for the Associate Director and governance forums.
• Coordinating project stakeholders, cross-functional contributors, and vendor resources to deliver against agreed milestones.

Process Standardization & Improvement

• Analyzing current-state Hire-to-Retire processes across verticals and designing standardized, simplified, and automated future-state processes.
• Documenting process maps, standard operating procedures, and service definitions, embedding controls-by-design and data quality requirements.
• Identifying and quantifying efficiency, experience, and control improvement opportunities to build the case for change.

Digital & Technology Enablement

• Supporting the configuration, testing, and deployment of HR platforms (HCM, ATS, LMS, ServiceNow, and workforce analytics) in partnership with Group IT and vendors.
• Gathering and documenting business requirements, translating them into functional specifications, and managing user acceptance testing.
• Supporting the expansion of service management capabilities, such as ticket taxonomy, SLAs, and self-service workflows.

Data, Analytics & Insight

• Compiling, validating, and analyzing workforce and process data to support business cases, benchmarking, and decision-making.
• Building clear, traceable analysis and reporting, including cost-to-serve, cycle time, volumes, and quality metrics.
• Supporting the development of dashboards and management reporting that track transformation benefits and service performance.

Change Enablement & Stakeholder Engagement

• Delivering change management activities for assigned initiatives alongside the Change and Communications team, including stakeholder engagement, communications, training, and adoption support.
• Conducting stakeholder interviews and workshops to capture pain points, requirements, and priorities across the Hire-to-Retire lifecycle.
• Building strong working relationships with vertical HR teams and enabling functions to secure buy-in and sustained adoption.

Value Realization & Continuous Improvement

• Tracking delivery against defined success metrics and supporting the realization and reporting of transformation benefits.
• Capturing lessons learned and embedding a culture of continuous improvement and service excellence within Human Capital Services.
• Contributing to the ongoing development of transformation standards, tools, and delivery methodology.

What you already have...

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in HR, Business, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
• 6 to 10 years' experience in HR transformation, HR shared services, consulting, or enterprise HC operations.
• Proven experience delivering process and technology change within complex, multi-entity organizations.
• Practical experience with HR technology ecosystems (for example HCM, ATS, LMS, and ServiceNow) and workforce data and analytics.
• Exposure to AI-enabled solutions within the Human Capital services domain is an advantage.
• Recognized project management or process improvement certification (for example PMP, PRINCE2, Agile, or Lean Six Sigma) is desirable.

Key Competencies

• Project and workstream delivery.
• End-to-end HC process design and improvement.
• HR technology enablement and requirements management.
• Workforce data analysis and reporting.
• Stakeholder engagement and change enablement.
• Structured problem-solving and attention to detail.
• Commercial and value-oriented mindset.