Talent Acquisition Manager

Emirates Investment Authority; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading investment authority in the UAE seeks a Talent Acquisition Manager to develop and execute innovative recruitment strategies. The role involves driving an Emiratization agenda and leveraging AI tools to enhance the recruitment process. The ideal candidate should possess extensive experience in talent acquisition within a financial services context, demonstrating a strategic mindset and budget management skills. This is an excellent opportunity to lead modern recruitment initiatives in a prestigious organization.

Qualifications

• 8-12 years of progressive experience in Talent Acquisition with managerial experience.
• Solid recruitment experience in financial services organizations.
• Experience in-house within a Sovereign Wealth Fund or similar.

Responsibilities

• Lead a digital transformation of recruitment integrating AI tools.
• Develop Talent Acquisition Strategy aligned with organizational goals.
• Manage end-to-end recruitment lifecycle including onboarding.

Skills

Talent acquisition strategy

AI and automation in recruitment

Emiratization strategy

Workforce analytics

Stakeholder management

Budget management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources

Master’s degree or professional certifications (CIPD, SHRM, ATD)

Tools

ATS (Applicant Tracking System)

Data analytics platforms

Job description

Purpose The Talent Acquisition Manager is responsible for designing and executing a forward-looking, digitally and AI enabled talent acquisition strategy that ensures the organization attracts world-class investment and corporate talent. This role leads end-to-end hiring across the organisation. This includes driving a strong Emiratization agenda and ensuring alignment with the organization's long-term workforce strategy. This position plays a critical role in transforming the recruitment function through AI-driven sourcing tools, automation, workforce analytics, and HR chatbots, ensuring an optimized, data-rich, and candidate-centric recruitment experience suitable for a sovereign wealth fund operating in global financial markets.

Strategic Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an enterprise-wide Talent Acquisition Strategy that supports long-term capability needs with a clear strategy on sourcing qualified talent from the industry
• Lead the digital transformation of recruitment , integrating AI-enabled screening, predictive analytics, automated workflows, and talent intelligence to enhance quality of hire and reduce cycle times.
• Drive a proactive Emiratization hiring strategy , providing opportunities for UAE National talent.
• Partner with senior leadership, business heads, and the HR team to forecast workforce needs and translate them into structured hiring plans.
• Drive the Employer Branding Strategy , positioning EIA as an employer of choice locally and globally by leveraging institutional brand equity, digital content, talent communities, and industry partnerships.
• Establish governance for all talent acquisition processes, ensuring alignment with internal policies, Board governance, and regulatory requirements.
• (In conjunction with relevant corporate functions) define and maintain a governance framework for AI in Talent Acquisition, covering data usage, vendor selection, performance monitoring, and improving / phasing-out tools that no longer meet quality or risk standards.
• Ensure hiring complies with data privacy regulations, and EIA policies, including transparency, fairness, non-discrimination, and candidate due‑process standards.
• Build Human In the Loop processes to ensure recruitment related roles remain augmented (not displaced) by AI augmented as well ongoing human skill development in talent acquisition
• Lead manpower planning and workforce demand forecasting in collaboration with business leaders and Finance, ensuring alignment with investment strategy and approved headcount plans.
• Support organization design and role structuring , including job design, span of control, and headcount optimization.
• Manage and monitor the Talent Acquisition budget , ensuring cost‑effective hiring, vendor spend discipline, and alignment with approved workforce plans.

Core Responsibilities

1. End‑to‑End Recruitment Management
   • Oversee the full recruitment lifecycle: job design, sourcing, assessments, interview management, offers, onboarding, and post‑hire integration.
   • Ensure AI‑augmented candidate screening and shortlisting using ATS algorithms, skill‑based matching, and chatbot‑enabled candidate engagement.
   • Maintain strong hiring processes for senior, specialist, and investment roles including due diligence, reference checks, and assessment centre management.
   • Embed competency‑based and behaviour‑based selection methodologies aligned with organizational values and investment‑industry expectations.
2. Talent Intelligence, Analytics & Reporting
   • Build and maintain advanced Talent Acquisition dashboards covering hiring trends, pipeline analytics, time‑to‑fill, cost‑per‑hire, source effectiveness, and workforce forecasting.
   • Apply predictive analytics to analyse attrition risks, talent gaps, and long‑term hiring needs.
   • Provide market insights on compensation, investment sector mobility, and talent availability.
3. Emiratization & National Talent Development
   • Lead targeted strategies to identify, attract, assess, and onboard UAE Nationals across all business units.
   • Establish partnerships with universities, scholarship programs, and government entities to build strong national pipelines.
   • Align hiring practices with Emiratization KPIs, national reporting requirements, and relevant governance structures.
4. Employer Branding & Talent Pipelines
   • Build global and local talent communities for ongoing talent needs such as UAE National investment professionals.
   • Promote internships, analyst programs, early careers initiatives, and UAE National rotational programs.
5. Vendor & Technology Management
   • Oversee partnerships with recruitment agencies, executive search firms, assessment vendors, and technology providers.
   • Evaluate and implement AI, automation, and recruitment‑tech platforms (ATS, CRM, assessment tools) to enhance efficiency and decision quality.
   • Ensure vendor performance meets agreed‑upon SLAs and governance requirements.
6. Manpower Planning, Budgeting & Organization Design
   • Execute annual and multi‑year manpower planning cycles and translate approved plans into hiring roadmaps.
   • Partner with Finance to manage recruitment‑related budgets, track spend, and optimise cost efficiency.
   • Support organizational structure changes, role creation, and headcount approvals in line with governance requirements.
   • Provide data‑driven insights on workforce capacity, hiring prioritisation, and organisational effectiveness.
7. Governance, Compliance & Quality Assurance
   • Work with relevant internal functions such as Risk Management, Legal, IT and HR Enablement to ensure all recruitment practices comply with Emiratization requirements, audit guidelines, and internal HR policies.
   • Maintain detailed documentation for audits, risk reviews, and process transparency.
   • Reduce hiring‑related risks through strong controls, structured assessments, and data accuracy.
   • Ensure best practice management of AI tools including transparency, bias management, and accountability.
   • Monitor and validate AI and algorithmic models used in Talent Acquisition, including performance, accuracy, and fairness metrics; manage recalibration, retraining, or retirement where needed.
   • Maintain documentation of AI models and tools used in recruitment, including purpose, data sources, key assumptions, known limitations, and controls.
   • Undertake regular audits or AI‑enabled processes to monitor for bias, accuracy, privacy and acceptable use.
8. People & Leadership Responsibilities
   • Lead, mentor, and develop the Talent Acquisition team to ensure capability growth, AI literacy, and operational excellence.
   • Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, service excellence, and accountability.
   • Serve as a trusted advisor to senior management and business leaders on workforce planning, hiring decisions, and market insights.
   • Build strong cross‑functional relationships with HR, Legal, Finance, Risk, Audit, and Investment teams.

Education & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field.
• Master’s degree or professional certifications (CIPD, SHRM, ATD) preferred.

Experience Requirements

• 8‑12 years of progressive experience in Talent Acquisition, with at least 3 years in a managerial role.
• Solid experience of recruitment for indirect and direct investment professionals in a regulated environment as well as corporate functions for financial services organisations.
• Experience predominantly gained in‑house ideally in a Sovereign Wealth Fund, investment / asset management company, investment bank.
• UAE in‑house experience
• Experience using AI, automation, and data analytics in recruitment.
• Strong track record managing Emiratization programs.