Strategic HR Leader: Talent, Culture & Change

Zurich Insurance; Dubai; On-site; Full time

Job description

Head of HR, ZILL Middle East

Job Summary

Zurich Middle East is part of Zurich Insurance Group, one of the world’s largest and most experienced insurers. Our mission is to help our local community understand and protect themselves from risk both locally and globally.

Reporting to the CEO, Middle East, as the Head of HR, you will be tasked with delivering the business’ strategic priorities and to support change initiatives. This includes being responsible for partnering with members of the Middle East business, providing expert advice on a full range of HR and people strategy issues and initiatives, to determine the human capital requirements to deliver the business strategy and achieve shared organisational objectives.

Job Accountabilities

As Head of HR, you will need to demonstrate seniority, independency and analytical capabilities and be able to challenge and influence the business leaders in areas such as organisational development, leadership development, talent management and acquisition, retention, performance management, employee relations, compensation, and employee engagement. You will be experienced at leading a highly skilled HR team and ensure operational execution, improve HR processes and provide a great employee experience and support continued growth, development and coaching for both them and the business leads to the highest level. In addition to that, your role will involve:

• Serve as a trusted HR partner and advisor to the business and leadership team, providing guidance on local HR strategy.
• Build strong partnerships with business leads and actively contribute as a member of the local ME leadership team.
• In alignment with ZIBIL/functional HR direction, set the vision and lead the strategy and operational execution of the HR function to drive business goals.
• Lead key talent and HR initiatives, including performance management, workforce planning, succession planning, hi‑potential development, selection, and organizational design.
• Advise leadership on employee relations, disciplinary matters, talent development, retention, compensation philosophy, benefits, restructuring, and organizational development.
• Assess emerging leaders and evaluate training and development plans to meet business needs.
• Oversee HR processes and support line management to ensure consistency and alignment across the organization.
• Lead and manage the local HR team and Centers of Excellence to ensure effective HR service delivery and support for business objectives.
• Direct the consistent application of HR strategy across the local team, avoiding siloed approaches.
• Manage local benefits and renewal processes (e.g., medical, Group Life), ensuring a competitive Employee Value Proposition.
• Embed CARE cultural values and oversee the local ACE recognition platform.
• Analyze business and people data, trends, and engagement results to identify improvement opportunities and drive action plans.
• Oversee key recruitment activity to attract and retain top talent, including supporting Emiratization targets.
• Provide strategic HR advice to senior leaders to ensure effective HR program implementation and minimize business disruption.
• Develop local governance and policies to ensure compliance with regulations and organizational standards.
• Supervise drafting and quality assurance of HR policies and onboarding of new HR suppliers in line with the Group’s Third‑Party Governance Framework.
• Represent HR on the local ME Triage committee, working with Compliance and Legal to uphold fairness, ethics, and adherence to policies.
• Be accountable for the ME HR budget.
• Align operational HR activities with local managers and ZIBIL/Middle East strategy.
• Mentor and support HR team members in their roles, responsibilities, and professional growth.
• Respond to business requests and manage ad hoc HR tasks as required.

Job Qualifications

To be successful in this role you will need to:

Skills and experience:

• Be an effective communicator and having an impact at all levels with a positive and engaging approach, with a good understanding and ability to work with different cultures, communication styles, behaviours and time zones;
• Have the ability to build, invest in, manage, and maintain strong and constructive working relationships internally and externally;
• Pay close attention to detail and have a proven ability to prioritise demonstrating true commercial thinking;
• Have a current and in depth understanding of HR policies and processes;
• Maintain expert knowledge of current Middle East legislation, market trends and best practice and strong knowledge of Employment relations processes in line with local laws (UAE Federal and DIFC employment laws);
• Experience of managing a multi‑functional and diverse HR team, influencing at all levels and be flexible, adaptable, and able to work in a fast and challenging changing environment;
• Experience of leading multiple projects and change delivery;
• Quickly learn and understand the business needs to facilitate and consult on future and long‑term organisational planning;
• Be able to maintain confidentiality at all times;
• Have prior experience working in an international company and matrix organization;
• Being an Arabic speaker would be an advantage;
• Strong stakeholder management skills and capability to partner and build credibility with management;
• Effective problem‑solving skills, communication, and presentation skills;

Qualifications:

• Have a professional certification in Human Resources, e.g., PHR, GPHR, SPHR, CIPD or similar;
• Have a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Human Resources and 6 or more years of experience in related field;