HR Director- Middle East & Africa

Thales; Dubai; On-site; AED 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Thales is seeking an HR Director to lead the HR function for the UAE region, including UAE and coordination with Africa & Near East and KSA teams. You will drive HR strategy, compliance, and employee development across 600 UAE employees and broader regional scope.

The role focuses on aligning HR processes with local regulation, supporting managers, and delivering an engaging and productive work environment across multiple countries within the region.

Qualifications

• In-depth experience across HR disciplines including policy deployment, recruitment, learning and mobility.
• Fluent in English; Arabic a plus; able to drive HR transformation.

Responsibilities

• Contributes to business strategy by activating HR levers to support performance.
• Deploys HR policies and ensures quality HR deliverables.
• Advises managers and supports development, careers, and working environment.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

English fluency

Arabic language

Education

Masters degree in HR management

Job description

Location: Dubai United Arab EmiratesIn fast changing markets customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each aerospace transportation defence security and space our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrows possible.Thales has built a presence in the United Arab Emirates for over 35 years and today has over 300 employees. Thales in the UAE is part of our Middle East business that has 1800 people across Egypt Iraq Kuwait KSA Lebanon Oman Pakistan Qatar and UAE. Together we delivered technology for the Dubai metro the longest driverless metro network in the world and a fare collection system that processes up to 250000 transactions per day. We make UAE a safer place by providing secure electronic payment solutions cyber security systems and communications as well as security systems for Dubai International Airport and air traffic management and navigation systems for Abu Dhabis airport.

JOB OBJECTIVE

Thales has built a presence in the Middle East and Africa region for over 50 years and today has over 1800 people across Egypt Iraq Kuwait KSA Lebanon Oman Pakistan Qatar and UAE. We make the region a safer place by providing secure electronic payment solutions cyber security systems and communications as well as security systems.

Thales has been selected to supply major electronic systems for air defence and the Group also supplied communication and optronic systems in the region. Thales is specialized in developing local defense and aerospace capabilities. The primary goal is to integrate into the local industrial ecosystem generating economic value and offering unique and sovereign technology capabilities to address both the domestic and the export markets. Thales operates several Centers of Excellence including radars radio communications and defense services in the region.

The Human Resources Director (HRD) is the n1 of the function leading a team of 30 people covering 20 countries 1800 employees organised in 3 Thales regions: Africa & Near East KSA & Central Asia and UAE & Iraq.

In addition the HRD is himself / herself in charge of HR for the largest country of this geographical scope: UAE (600 employees) a strategic country for Thales Towards 2030 strategy accomplishment.

In a context of strong development the HRD is at the interface of the economic and human challenges of the regions. He/she supports managers and employees to help define and implement the short- and long-term strategy and performance of the entity within the Groups purpose and its policies (HR compliance ethics etc.) according to the laws and regulations of his/her geographies.

Because of his/her dimension as an HR generalist he/she is the preferred HR contact on all HR topics for the populations for which he/she has responsibility.

To do this beyond the challenges he/she manages directly or with the HR teams he/she relies on experts in the HR specialty areas in keeping with the HR Group business model. He/she guarantees the social climate of his/her organization and is committed to providing a quality employee experience. He/she is responsible for developing the skills of his/her organization.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• BUSINESS STRATEGY: The HR Director contributes to the Business strategy by activating the HR levers at his/her disposal (recruitment learning mobility promotion social relations etc.) to the business performance of his/her entity and to his/her main issues (Trade Operations offers and projects etc.). He/she contributes to developing the operational strategy of his/her organization. He/she takes into account the needs linked to development of activities evolution of organizations and trades as well as transformation plans to draw up the appropriate HR action plans within his/her scope in consultation with all stakeholders and in compliance with local legislation and social dialog.

• HR POLICY: The HR Director deploys the Groups HR policies and leads successful implementation of HR processes within his/her scope. He/she engages the HR policies and processes of the Group as well as the HR projects specific to his/her Business area coordinating the actions of local or shared HR teams (Pay/personnel administration training recruitment) internationally while ensuring the quality of the deliverables.

• ADVICE & SUPPORT TO MANAGERS: The HR Director advises and supports the managers of his/her entity in their role toward the collective and the individual (development of skills careers individual and collective motivation working environment etc.). He/she guides the managers of his/her management committee towards management practices in line with the model he/she advises them in their organizational evolution and the support of change social dialog and crisis management.

• WORK ENVIRONMENT COMMITMENT: The HR Director is the preferred point of contact for employees in his/her entity on all HR topics. He/she provides them with direct answers or relies on HR specialty areas. He/she manages the individual working relationships related to HR for his/her population (listening to employees conflict management disciplinary law ethics etc.) He/she ensures a safe inclusive work environment of management practices conducive to diversity commitment and performance. At the country/region level he/she ensures consistency of practice across business lines.

• TALENT MANAGEMENT: The HR Director develops and directs actions to promote the attractiveness of the Group and the retention of talent within his/her scope. He/she organizes Talent Reviews paying particular attention to succession plans identification and monitoring of the organizations key talents (including top executives) as well as development of the skills within his/her scope. He/she builds the skills development paths of his/her employees and monitors their implementation. He/she manages the Human Resources aspects of his/her team (setting objectives check-in skills development recruitment etc.).

WORK EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• In-depth experience of several disciplines of the HR profession and experience of 15 years in leading HR teams

• Experience in HR within Large International Group and / or in HR within Middle East KSA Africa regions is a plus.

QUALIFICATION CERTIFICATION & EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Masters Degree in human resources management

• Ability to drive HR transformation projects with both strategic vision and operational execution.

• Fluent in English both spoken and written (capable of leading professional discussions and producing written deliverables) Arabic is a plus.

PREFERRED SKILLS

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with political acumen adaptability and a strong field orientation.

HSE RESPONSIBILITIES*

• Ensure both your own safety and the safety of others at all times.

• Maintain an active role in achieving the objectives and adhering to the HSE Thales Policy

• Comply with local HSE laws and legislation.

• To use safety equipment (including PPE) as required and intended.

• Lead by example and actively encourage departments to look at ways to conserve water & energy minimise the generation of waste and encourage recycling.

• Everyone within Thales has the right to stop work if they believe that their activities may affect their health and safety or that of this circumstance such conditions must be reported immediately to their line manager and the HSE department.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Required Experience:

Director