Retail People Leader

At Sephora, beauty is about feeling seen, valued, and empowered, individually and collectively. It is connecting deeply with others, celebrating diversity and inclusivity, unlocking your potential and making a difference every day. Together, we belong to something beautiful.

Position Purpose

Sephora Middle East is recruiting a Retail People Leader to drive our people strategy across 50+ stores in 5 countries. We are looking for an operational leader who thrives on being close to our people and our stores, someone who can inspire, coach and develop teams to deliver excellence every day.

In this role, you will drive excellence through consistent people practices across all stores and act as a strong ambassador of Sephora’s culture. You will foster an inclusive, high-performance environment, develop future-ready leaders, and serve as a trusted advisor to retail leaders, championing how we attract, grow, and engage talent while strengthening Sephora’s position as an employer of choice in the Middle East.

Key Areas Of Responsibility

• Leadership, Talent & Performance
• Partner with Retail leaders, People CoEs and Sephora Univeristy to to align people priorities with business strategic goals.
• Partner with Retail leaders and People CoEs, sharing perspectives and recommendations to shape organizational design, rewards, HR operations, and learning initiatives that support and accelerate business goals.
• Attract, develop, and retain top retail talent, building strong and engaged teams at all levels.
• Identify and grow high-potential talent, creating clear development paths and succession pipelines in partnership with Sephora University.
• Lead performance management with clarity, accountability, and fairness.
• Leverage people analytics and KPIs to provide insights, build action plans, and influence decisions.
• Develop and lead a high-performing People team that is trusted and business-savvy.
• People Operations & Execution
• Oversee the full employee lifecycle, ensuring a consistent and engaging experience from onboarding to offboarding.
• Partner with HR operations teams to ensure seamless and efficient execution.
• Provide coaching and guidance on performance, development, and change management.
• Participate in business and People reviews with Retail leaders to track progress, share best practices, and resolve challenges.
• Ensure compliance with policies, standards, and retail procedures.
• Foster trusted relationships across all levels of the business, nurturing a culture rooted in Sephora’s values.
• Culture & Engagement
• Champin diversity, equity, and inclusion across every stage of the employee lifecycle.
• Act as a visible and accessible culture ambassador, ensuring Sephora’s values are lived every day across the retail network.
• Create an engaging environment where teams feel motivated, empowered, and inspired to deliver their best.
• Leverage employee feedback to shape action plans and deliver meaningful change.
• Handle employee relations matters with fairness and discretion, including investigations and disciplinary processes.
• Ensure consistent application of policies to sustain trust, fairness, and engagement
  
  

• Experienced HR leader with a strong track record in senior HR roles, preferably in retail or other fast-paced, multi-country environments.
• Proven ability to manage large retail networks and align people strategies with commercial priorities.
• Inclusive leader passionate about building diverse, high-performing teams.
• Hands-on and operational leadership with the ability to balance strategy with execution.
• Skilled communicator and influencer, with credibility across all organizational levels.
• Proactive, analytical, and solutions-oriented, with strong change management experience.
• Resilient and adaptable leader, thriving in dynamic and multicultural contexts.
  
  

• Community, in which authenticity is embraced, and the strength of our differences fuels our collective spirit
• Culture of empowerment, learning & growth, that offers you the tools, space and opportunity to learn, innovate and lead
• Work that brings fulfillment. From delighting clients every day, inspiring and developing talent, to inspiring our industry at large, every action makes a difference