Recruitment Director - Contracting & Services

Big Fish Recruitment; Dubai; On-site; AED 300,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Big Fish Recruitment in Dubai, UAE, seeks a Senior Recruitment Lead to guide strategy and delivery across contracting, construction, facilities management, fit-out and related services.

You will oversee executive, professional, and high-volume recruitment, build talent pipelines, and manage budgets, KPIs, and cross-functional partnerships to ensure timely mobilisations and scalable hiring across projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business Administration or related field.
• CIPD or SHRM qualification preferred.
• 12–15 years in recruitment, with at least 5 years in leadership.
• Strong UAE or GCC recruitment experience.
• Experience in contracting, construction, facilities management, fit-out, MEP or related sectors.
• Experience managing teams, agencies, budgets and applicant tracking systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the recruitment strategy across all business units.
• Lead recruitment for executive, corporate, engineering, technical, operational and frontline positions.
• Manage high-volume recruitment and overseas mobilisation campaigns.
• Develop recruitment plans for new contracts, project awards and operational start-ups.
• Build talent pipelines for critical and recurring positions.
• Advise stakeholders on talent availability, salary levels and recruitment timelines.
• Establish structured screening, interviewing, technical assessment and selection processes.
• Manage recruitment agencies and overseas partners based on quality, compliance, cost and delivery.
• Improve direct sourcing and reduce reliance on external agencies.
• Lead and develop the recruitment team, setting clear targets and accountability.
• Maintain recruitment dashboards covering vacancies, pipelines, offers and joining status.
• Ensure compliance with UAE labour regulations, ethical recruitment standards and company policies.
• Manage the recruitment budget and monitor cost per hire.
• Strengthen employer branding and ensure a professional candidate experience.

Skills

Recruitment strategy

Workforce planning

High-volume hiring

Stakeholder management

Vendor management

Team leadership

English fluency

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR/Business

CIPD/SHRM qualification preferred

Tools

Applicant Tracking System

Recruitment analytics tools

Job description

Location: Dubai, UAEJob PurposeLead the recruitment strategy and delivery across contracting, construction, facilities management, fit-out and related service businesses. The role will oversee executive, professional, technical and high-volume recruitment while ensuring workforce requirements are delivered in line with project mobilisation schedules and business growth plans.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the recruitment strategy across all business units.
• Partner with leadership, HR and operations to forecast manpower requirements.
• Lead recruitment for executive, corporate, engineering, technical, operational and frontline positions.
• Manage high-volume recruitment and overseas mobilisation campaigns.
• Develop recruitment plans for new contracts, project awards and operational start-ups.
• Build talent pipelines for critical and recurring positions.
• Advise stakeholders on talent availability, salary levels and recruitment timelines.
• Establish structured screening, interviewing, technical assessment and selection processes.
• Manage recruitment agencies and overseas partners based on quality, compliance, cost and delivery.
• Improve direct sourcing and reduce reliance on external agencies.
• Lead and develop the recruitment team, setting clear targets and accountability.
• Maintain recruitment dashboards covering vacancies, pipelines, offers and joining status.
• Ensure compliance with UAE labour regulations, ethical recruitment standards and company policies.
• Manage the recruitment budget and monitor cost per hire.
• Strengthen employer branding and ensure a professional candidate experience.

Key Performance Indicators

• Time to shortlist and time to fill
• Project mobilisation against schedule
• Offer acceptance and joining rates
• Quality of hire and early retention
• Direct sourcing percentage
• Recruitment cost per hire
• Hiring-manager satisfaction
• Recruitment-team productivity

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration or a related field.
• CIPD, SHRM or an equivalent professional qualification is preferred.
• Minimum 12–15 years of recruitment experience, including at least five years in a leadership role.
• Strong UAE or GCC recruitment experience.
• Proven experience within contracting, construction, facilities management, fit-out, MEP or related service sectors.
• Demonstrated experience in professional recruitment, high-volume hiring and project mobilisation.
• Strong knowledge of local and international recruitment markets.
• Experience managing recruitment teams, agencies, budgets and applicant tracking systems.

Core Competencies

• Recruitment strategy and workforce planning
• Project mobilisation and high-volume hiring
• Executive and technical recruitment
• Stakeholder and vendor management
• Recruitment analytics and reporting
• Commercial awareness and negotiation
• Team leadership and development
• Strong communication and decision-making
• Fluency in English; Arabic is advantageous