Senior HCM Portfolio Manager

Astek Middle East; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Astek Middle East in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, seeks a Senior HCM Portfolio Lead to own the strategy, delivery, and operational performance of our enterprise HCM technology portfolio. This role partners with the People & Organization team, aligning workforce priorities with robust platforms and a clear investment roadmap.

The successful candidate brings deep HCM process knowledge, ERP and portfolio management expertise, and a track record of governing complex programs across HR domains

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading an enterprise HCM technology portfolio.
• Strong ERP and portfolio management expertise with governance.
• Proven ability to translate workforce priorities into roadmaps and budgets.

Responsibilities

• Own the strategy, delivery, and performance of the HCM technology portfolio.
• Lead governance for demand, prioritization, design decisions, risks, and benefits.
• Oversee end-to-end solution design, configuration, testing, deployment, adoption, and support.
• Ensure HR processes across core HR to payroll, talent, learning are integrated.
• Provide reporting to senior leadership on progress, spend, and realized benefits.

Skills

12+ years experience

HCM portfolio leadership

ERP & portfolio management

stakeholder communication

Tools

Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM

Job description

Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Experience: 12+ years

Primary platform: Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM

Role overview

We are seeking a Senior HCM Portfolio Lead to own the strategy, delivery, and operational performance of our enterprise HCM technology portfolio. This role is the principal technology partner to the People & Organization (P&O) team, connecting workforce priorities with effective business processes, reliable platforms, and a clear investment roadmap.

The successful candidate will combine deep HCM process knowledge with strong ERP & portfolio management expertise. He will be accountable for the portfolio throughout its lifecycle: shaping demand, guiding solution design, delivering change, sustaining critical services, and demonstrating business value after go-live.

Key accountabilities

Strategy and business partnership

• Partner with Chief P&O leadership and HR process owners to understand strategic priorities, operational challenges, and future workforce needs.
• Own and maintain a yearly HCM technology roadmap, with transparent priorities, dependencies, investment needs, and expected outcomes.
• Advise stakeholders on process design and the effective use of standard platform capabilities, while identifying where changes or extensions are justified.
• Establish governance for demand, prioritization, design decisions, risks, and benefits realization.

Portfolio delivery and solution ownership

• Lead the HCM portfolio across programmes, projects, enhancements, integrations, and platform releases.
• Provide end-to-end oversight of solution design, configuration, testing, deployment, adoption, and transition into support.
• Ensure processes work coherently across the employee lifecycle, including core HR, payroll, time and absence, recruitment, talent, learning, and employee and manager self-service.
• Govern HCM architecture, integrations, data quality, reporting, security, access controls, and compliance requirements.
• Manage delivery capacity and dependencies across P&O, IT, Finance, implementation partners, and other enterprise platforms.

Operational excellence

• Be accountable for the health of live HCM services, including critical HR and payroll activities, service levels, incidents, problem management, and release readiness.
• Lead root-cause analysis and permanent resolution of recurring issues, with clear ownership and communication to business stakeholders.
• Use service performance, user feedback, and process measures to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure appropriate documentation, controls, knowledge transfer, and business continuity arrangements are in place.

Leadership and governance

• Lead and develop HCM technology teams and hold delivery partners accountable for quality, timelines, and outcomes.
• Provide clear, decision-focused reporting to senior leadership on portfolio progress, risks, service health, spend, and realized benefits.
• Build strong working relationships across technical and functional teams, resolving competing priorities and escalating decisions when needed.

Candidate profile

• Substantial experience leading an enterprise HCM technology portfolio or large-scale HCM transformation in a complex, multi-entity organization.
• Strong knowledge of HCM business processes and the ability to discuss process, policy, controls, and user impact confidently with senior P&O leaders.
• Deep experience with enterprise HCM or ERP platforms, including solution governance, integrations, data, security, testing, releases, and live operations.
• Proven ownership of a portfolio spanning both new delivery and ongoing service performance.
• Experience managing cross-functional teams, implementation partners, budgets, and senior stakeholder expectations.
• Strong decision-making, executive communication, and the ability to turn ambiguous business needs into a practical roadmap.

Preferred

• Hands‑on leadership experience with Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM or other leading ERP.
• Experience across payroll, time and absence, talent, recruitment, learning, analytics, and HCM integrations.
• Experience in healthcare or another large, regulated, operationally complex environment.

What success looks like

The Senior HCM Portfolio Lead will be successful when the P&O team has a trusted technology partner; HCM priorities are translated into a funded, achievable roadmap; critical processes run accurately and reliably; changes are adopted by employees, managers, and HR teams; and the portfolio delivers measurable improvements in efficiency, control, and employee experience.