HR Director – Education

Location: United Arab EmiratesEmployment type: Full-timeReporting to: CEO / Group CEOScope: Schools, campuses and central-office teamsSector: EducationRole purposeLead the organisation’s HR strategy and operations, attracting, developing and retaining high-quality academic and non-academic talent.Partner with executive leadership and school or campus heads to align people priorities with educational outcomes, growth plans and approved budgets.Key responsibilitiesHR strategy and workforce planningDevelop and implement the HR strategy in line with organisational objectives.Lead staffing plans, organisation design, succession planning and annual HR budgets.Advise leadership on workforce productivity, organisational change and people-related risks.Recruitment and onboardingLead recruitment of teachers, faculty, school leaders and administrative staff.Align recruitment campaigns and onboarding with academic calendars and expansion plans.Oversee reference checks, qualification verification and safeguarding-related employment checks appropriate to each role.Employee relations and complianceMaintain policies aligned with applicable UAE employment requirements and relevant education-authority requirements.Oversee employee relations, grievances, disciplinary matters and separations.Supervise visa, work-permit and government-relations processes through the relevant teams.Maintain accurate, confidential employee records.Performance and talent developmentLead performance-management frameworks for academic and non-academic employees in partnership with education leaders.Build leadership-development, succession and high-potential talent programmes.Drive employee engagement, wellbeing and retention initiatives.Compensation and HR operationsOversee salary structures, benefits, payroll governance and workforce cost reporting.Improve HR systems, reporting, data quality and process automation.Support Emiratisation objectives where applicable.These responsibilities reflect the strategic, recruitment, reward, HR-systems and operational scope found in UAE education-sector HR leadership descriptions.recruit.hct.ac+1Qualifications and experienceProposed selection criteria for this vacancy:Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration or a related discipline.Master’s degree and CIPD, SHRM or equivalent certification preferred.Minimum 12 years of progressive HR experience, including at least 5 years in senior HR leadership.Demonstrated HR leadership experience within an education organisation.Multi-school or multi-campus experience strongly preferred.UAE or GCC experience, with strong knowledge of applicable UAE employment practices.Proven experience in recruitment, employee relations, talent management, budgeting and HR transformation.Excellent English communication; Arabic is an advantage.These experience thresholds are proposed hiring criteria—not statutory requirements.

Published UAE education-sector roles vary in seniority, qualifications and language requirements.newhr.sharjah.ac+2Key competenciesStrategic thinking and commercial awareness.Strong stakeholder management and executive-level communication.Sound judgement, discretion and professional integrity.Ability to lead multicultural teams and organisational change.Data-driven decision-making and operational discipline.Success measuresCritical academic and leadership vacancies filled before the academic year.Improved retention of high-performing employees.Accurate payroll and delivery within approved HR budgets.Timely completion of required employment checks and audit actions.Stronger employee engagement and leadership succession coverage.