Principal HR Business Partner

Horizontal Digital; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading digital transformation agency in London is seeking a Principal HR Business Partner to serve as a strategic advisor across their UAE and KSA offices. This role involves managing HR strategy, employee relations, and engagement to foster a productive team environment. The ideal candidate has over 7 years of HR experience, including 2 years as a business partner, and is knowledgeable in employment laws of the region.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of comprehensive HR experience in a dynamic environment.
• Experience as a HR Business Partner for at least 2 years.
• Strong knowledge of MEA employment law, Dubai and KSA.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily HR functions including employee relations and performance management.
• Provide strategic HR guidance to local leadership.
• Drive employee engagement and talent development.

Skills

HR strategy

Employee relations

Conflict resolution

Talent management

Diversity & inclusion

Education

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources or related field

Job description

At Horizontal Digital, we live by a simple yet powerful belief: You're only as good as your worst customer experience. This guiding principle pushes us beyond easy solutions, inspiring us to create digital experiences whether it’s websites, apps, or portals that meet the complex needs of Fortune 500 companies in ways that are both intuitive and deeply empathetic. We achieve this high standard by seamlessly blending strategy, data, design, and technology to craft solutions that elevate expectations across the board.

Our success is powered by our core values:

Lock arms

We forge relationships that make our impact 1,000x stronger. This means working across departments and engaging both our clients and our communities to deliver the greatest good.

Show hustle

We’re not ones to sit on our hands and wait. Instead, we anticipate opportunities, collectively roll up our sleeves and find ways to execute the exceptional.

Embrace change

From new technologies to workplace philosophies, we welcome the unexpected and constantly anticipate what’s next.

Elevate empathy

We listen before we take action. This means understanding a variety of perspectives and holding ourselves to a higher standard of accountability.

Never settle

We motivate each other to push past the easy answers and collectively arrive at bigger, more inspiring ideas.

But enough about us. Let’s talk about you.

As Principal HR Business Partner, you will serve as a strategic HR advisor to the local business- predominately our UAE and KSA offices. This role is open to candidates based in KSA, the UK or Dubai. Your scope includes HR strategy, providing exceptional guidance and partnership to local leaders, plus the daily hands-on practical HR operations and enablement work. Success will be measured by your ability to create an environment where our employees can do their best work.

What you’ll do:

• Perform daily functions of HR including compensation, benefits, leaves of absence, employee relations, conflict resolution, and talent/performance management.
• Provide guidance and strategic advice on HR operational issues to ensure compliance with labor laws, regulations, and industry specific HR standards.
• Provide real-time coaching and HR guidance to the regional leadership team to enhance the employee experience and drive organization performance.
• Facilitate an exceptional employee experience including onboarding, engagement, and offboarding.
• Collaborate with local leaders to drive employee engagement and talent development.
• Champion a diverse, inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace.
• Use data to identify priorities and drive initiatives.
• Represent MEA as part of our unified global HR team.

Who you are:

• Driven, articulate, and innovative strategic thinker with a white-glove, hands-on approach to HR.
• Technology empowered advanced hands-on practitioner, and strategic thinker, with specialized HR knowledge and MEA expertise.
• Creative problem solver with extensive latitude for independent judgement.
• Expert in the HR field with knowledge of full scope HR best practices including compensation, benefits and talent/performance management, with a focus on providing an exceptional employee experience.
• Ability to align with our casual culture with a focus on flexibility, transparency, honesty, and nurturing, within a flat hierarchy, and growing business.

What you bring:

• 7+ years of progressive comprehensive HR experience working in a fast-paced, dynamic, technology environment, with at least 2 years in a HR Business Partner role.
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field. Graduate degree or HR certification is preferred, but not required.
• Strong working knowledge of Dubai and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia employment law, rules, regulations, and legislation is required. Basic knowledge of UK employment law and regulations is preferred, but not required.
• English language fluency is required. Ability to effectively communicate in Arabic is desired, not required.
• Proven success in practical problem solving, stakeholder engagement and purposeful execution.
• Proven ability to build strong relationships, influence diverse stakeholders, and lead change initiatives.
• Ability and flexibility to travel to offices within the region if required.
• Last but not least, the ideal candidate brings the right combination of energy, intelligence, and fun.

The above description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.