Talent Management & Succession Planning

Samurai Japanese Restaurant in Abu Dhabi; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Performance incentives

Comprehensive benefits package

Job summary

Samurai Japanese Restaurant in Abu Dhabi is seeking a strategic Talent Management & Succession Planning expert to lead identification of high-potential talent, succession frameworks, and leadership development across the organization.

You will partner with HR leadership and business leaders to design pipelines, development plans, and competency models, while ensuring fair, data-driven talent decisions and robust workforce planning. This is a full-time role with exposure to senior leadership.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in Talent Management, Succession Planning, Learning & Development, Organizational Development, HR Business Partnering, or related HR function.
• Strong understanding of talent management frameworks, succession planning methodologies, leadership development, and career management.
• Experience conducting talent reviews, identifying high-potential employees, and developing succession pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement talent management strategies aligned with business objectives and priorities.
• Design and maintain succession planning frameworks for critical positions and leadership roles.
• Identify high-potential employees through structured talent reviews and assessments.
• Conduct regular talent reviews with business leaders and HR stakeholders.
• Develop succession pipelines and short-/long-term succession plans.
• Create individual development plans for high-potential and succession candidates.
• Design leadership development programs, mentoring, and coaching frameworks.

Skills

Talent management

Succession planning

Learning & development

Organizational development

HR business partnering

Analytical thinking

HR analytics tools

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, Management, Organizational Development, or related discipline

Tools

HRIS

Power BI

Learning Management Systems

Job description

We’re Hiring: Talent Management & Succession Planning

Employment Type: Full-Time

Level: Mid-Level to Senior

We are seeking a strategic, people-focused, and analytical Talent Management & Succession Planning professional to lead talent identification, succession planning, leadership development, career management, and organizational capability initiatives. This role will work closely with HR leadership and business stakeholders to ensure the organization has the right talent, leadership pipeline, and workforce capabilities to support long-term business growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement talent management strategies aligned with business objectives and organizational priorities.
• Design and maintain comprehensive succession planning frameworks for critical positions and key leadership roles.
• Identify high-potential employees and critical talent through structured talent reviews and assessment processes.
• Conduct regular talent reviews with business leaders and HR stakeholders to assess performance, potential, readiness, and development needs.
• Develop succession pipelines for critical positions and establish short-term and long-term succession plans.
• Assess talent gaps, leadership capabilities, critical skills, and future workforce requirements.
• Develop individual development plans (IDPs) for high-potential and succession candidates.
• Design and implement leadership development programs, career development initiatives, mentoring, and coaching frameworks.
• Partner with business leaders to identify critical roles, key capabilities, and future leadership requirements.
• Develop talent pools and career pathways to support internal mobility and employee retention.
• Establish competency frameworks, career architecture, job families, and capability models where required.
• Monitor employee performance, potential, readiness, career aspirations, and development progress.
• Use talent analytics and workforce data to identify trends, risks, capability gaps, and succession priorities.
• Develop talent dashboards, reports, metrics, and management presentations for senior leadership.
• Track succession coverage, talent readiness, critical-role vacancies, retention risks, and development outcomes.
• Coordinate assessment centers, talent assessments, psychometric assessments, and leadership evaluations where appropriate.
• Work closely with Learning & Development teams to align development programs with identified talent and succession needs.
• Partner with Recruitment teams to develop external talent pipelines for positions where internal successors are unavailable.
• Support internal mobility, promotions, rotations, secondments, and career progression initiatives.
• Develop strategies to retain high-potential employees and critical talent.
• Identify organizational capability gaps and recommend targeted development, hiring, or restructuring solutions.
• Ensure talent-management practices are fair, consistent, transparent, and aligned with company policies.
• Maintain accurate and confidential talent, succession, competency, and development records.
• Support HR transformation initiatives involving talent technology, HR analytics, digital assessments, and workforce planning.
• Benchmark talent-management practices against industry standards and emerging HR trends.
• Provide strategic advice to senior leaders on talent risks, leadership pipelines, succession readiness, and workforce capability.
• Continuously improve talent management and succession planning processes based on business needs and organizational feedback.

Requirements

• Proven experience in Talent Management, Succession Planning, Learning & Development, Organizational Development, HR Business Partnering, or a related HR function.
• Strong understanding of talent management frameworks, succession planning methodologies, leadership development, and career management.
• Experience conducting talent reviews, identifying high-potential employees, and developing succession pipelines.
• Strong experience working with senior leaders and business stakeholders on people and organizational strategies.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret talent and workforce data.
• Experience developing talent dashboards, succession matrices, competency frameworks, career pathways, and talent-development plans.
• Strong understanding of performance management, potential assessment, competency models, and employee development.
• Experience designing or managing leadership development, mentoring, coaching, and high-potential programs.
• Strong stakeholder-management, communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Ability to handle confidential employee and organizational information with professionalism and discretion.
• Strong project management skills and ability to manage multiple talent initiatives simultaneously.
• Experience with HRIS, Talent Management Systems, Learning Management Systems, Excel, Power BI, or other HR analytics tools is an advantage.
• Strong understanding of workforce planning, organizational design, employee engagement, and retention strategies.
• Experience supporting regional, multinational, or large-scale organizations is an advantage.
• Knowledge of psychometric assessments, assessment centers, competency-based interviews, and talent assessment methodologies is preferred.
• Ability to translate business strategy into practical talent and leadership-development initiatives.
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, Management, Organizational Development, or a related discipline is preferred.
• Professional certifications such as CIPD, SHRM, HCI, Korn Ferry, Hogan, or other talent-management and HR qualifications are an advantage.
• Strong written and spoken English communication skills.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to shape talent strategy, succession planning, leadership development, and organizational capability.
• Direct exposure to senior leadership and business stakeholders across multiple functions.
• Opportunity to build high-potential talent programs, leadership pipelines, career frameworks, and succession strategies.
• Exposure to workforce analytics, organizational transformation, HR technology, and strategic workforce planning.
• Opportunity to influence employee retention, internal mobility, leadership readiness, and long-term organizational performance.
• Career progression into Senior Talent Management Manager, Head of Talent Management, Head of Succession Planning, Head of Organizational Development, HR Director, or Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) roles.
• A strategic, people-focused, and collaborative working environment.
• Professional training, HR certifications, leadership-development programs, mentorship, and continuous career development opportunities.

• Competitive compensation, performance incentives, and comprehensive benefits package.