Talent & Performance Manager

Cognita Schools; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 300,000 - 540,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognita Schools in Dubai seeks a Talent & Performance Manager to lead the global performance cycle and shape how leaders assess and develop talent across regions. You will partner with the Heads of Talent & Performance and HR to drive consistency, fairness, and high-quality conversations.

Based in Dubai, you will oversee data analytics, platform adoption of Cognita People, and cross-functional collaboration to continuously improve talent practices across Cognita’s schools.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field.
• 5–8 years of progressive experience in Talent Management, Performance Management, or HR Business Partnering.
• Experience designing or running performance cycles and talent/succession review processes.
• Track record of driving performance conversations with managers and heads of function.
• Hands-on experience with an HRIS or performance platform, including adoption tracking and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Own the global performance cycle end-to-end, from objective-setting through check-ins to final reviews.
• Drive consistency in goal-setting and competency assessment, aligned to priorities and values.
• Partner on talent reviews, succession planning, and leadership assessments.
• Coach managers and leaders to have developmental performance conversations.
• Work with senior leaders on calibration to ensure fairness across teams and regions.
• Track cycle milestones, drive on-time closure, and build manager-friendly playbooks.
• Champion Cognita People and drive platform adoption.
• Turn platform data into insights on trends, risks and opportunities.
• Collaborate with HR systems/IT on platform readiness and issue resolution.

Skills

Design knowledge

Data analysis

Project management

Communication

Collaborative mindset

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in HR/Organisational Psychology/Business Administration

Tools

HRIS / performance platform

Job description

About Cognita: Cognita is one of the world's leading global schools groups, supporting 86 schools across five regions to thrive. Across Cognita, we are focused on creating long-term, valuable impact through how we operate, the experiences we create for students and colleagues, and the contributions we make beyond our own schools.

Our schools are passionate about making a positive difference in the world, and we are here to support and empower schools to continue with the great work they do. At Cognita, we believe every school and student is unique. Our ambition is to create the conditions for schools to thrive and for students to build inspiring futures.

About the Role:

Performance and talent practices shape the experience of every colleague across Cognita's 86 schools; and as Talent & Performance Manager, you'll be right at the centre of making that experience a great one. This role brings our global talent and performance philosophy, Thrive, to life; both in how people work day-to-day and through the systems that support them (Cognita People).

Based in Dubai and reporting to the Head of Talent & Performance, you'll work across two closely connected areas: the quality of our performance practices on the ground, and the data and systems that give leaders the insight to act on them. It's a Group-wide role, partnering across multiple regions to help make high performance a routine part of how Cognita works, giving leaders the confidence to grow great people, so our schools can thrive and our students can build inspiring futures.

What You'll Be Doing

• Owning the performance cycle: Run the global performance cycle end-to-end, from objective-setting through check-ins to final reviews.
• Raising the bar on quality: Drive consistency in goal-setting and competency assessment, keeping everything aligned to strategic priorities and values.
• Supporting talent decisions: Partner with the Head of Talent & Performance on talent reviews, succession planning, and high-potential/high-performance assessments for leadership and critical roles.
• Coaching for better conversations: Help managers, function heads and People & Culture colleagues have genuinely developmental performance conversations.
• Driving fair outcomes: Work with senior leaders on calibration, ensuring consistency and fairness across teams and regions.
• Keeping things moving: Track cycle milestones, drive on-time closure at every stage, and build playbooks that make the process easier for managers and employees alike.
• Championing the platform: Drive adoption of Cognita People, our global performance management platform, across the organisation.
• Turning data into insight: Own reporting and analytics for the cycle, translating platform data into insight on trends, risks and opportunities.
• Partnering on systems: Work with HR systems/IT teams on platform readiness and issue resolution, and support the digitisation of talent processes like probation and PIPs.
• Protecting data integrity: Maintain accuracy across systems, using the data to measure engagement and drive continuous improvement.

Who We Are Looking For

You're someone who genuinely believes performance conversations can be more than a box-ticking exercise and you know how to make that happen in practice. You're equally comfortable coaching a manager through a tricky conversation and digging into platform data to spot a trend. You bring structure and consistency to complex, multi-region processes, and you know how to bring people along with you, even through change.

What You'll Bring

• Strong design knowledge: You understand performance and talent management design: objective-setting, competency frameworks, calibration.
• A head for data: You're comfortable extracting, analysing and presenting people insights to stakeholders at every level to drive decision-making.
• Sharp project management: You can juggle multiple priorities and stakeholders without losing momentum or quality.
• Confident communication: You translate philosophy into practical, usable guidance for managers and employees.
• A collaborative, people-first approach: You build trust easily and bring others through change rather than pushing it on them.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human Resources, Organisational Psychology, Business Administration, or a related field
• 5–8 years progressive experience in Talent Management, Performance Management, or HR Business Partnering, ideally within a large, multi-country organisation
• Experience designing or running performance cycles and talent/succession review processes
• A track record of driving performance conversations with managers and heads of function, coaching them toward high-quality outcomes
• Hands-on experience with an HRIS or performance platform, including adoption tracking and reporting

Cognita Schools is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to safer recruitment checks, including an enhanced DBS check. Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is available on the school website. Details on Recruitment of Ex-Offenders is included within the Application Guidance.

We are an equal opportunities employer committed to diversity and treating all employees with dignity and respect regardless of background.