Group Human Resources Director

Private Company; Kuwait City; On-site; KWD 60,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Private Company in Kuwait is seeking a seasoned Group Human Resources Director to lead the people and organizational transformation with direct access to the CEO and executive management.

The role oversees talent acquisition, HR operations, compensation and benefits, performance management and organizational development across Kuwait and GCC markets, driving HR transformation and governance of payroll and HR systems to support business growth.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive HR experience with senior leadership roles.
• Experience leading HR transformation and organizational design.
• Experience across GCC markets and Kuwait employment practices.
• Strong recruitment of senior leaders through direct sourcing, market mapping or executive search.
• Retail/consumer/FMCG/hospitality frontline workforce experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall HR strategy and function across talent acquisition, HR operations, compensation and benefits, performance management, employee relations, organizational development and learning.
• Partner with the CEO and executive leadership on organizational structure, leadership capability, workforce strategy and business growth.
• Strengthen organizational design, job architecture, grading, salary structures and compensation frameworks.
• Improve manpower planning, budgeting and workforce productivity across business units and GCC operations.
• Upgrade the performance management and appraisal process to differentiate outcomes and tie performance to business results.
• Strengthen senior leadership hiring, succession planning and internal leadership pipelines.
• Improve recruitment speed and effectiveness across the organization.
• Develop retention strategies for Kuwait and GCC markets.
• Ensure governance of multinational payroll, HR reporting and employment compliance.
• Leverage HR systems, analytics and workforce data for better decision making.

Skills

HR leadership

Organizational transformation

Executive recruitment

Stakeholder management

Job description

Group Human Resources Director | Retail & GCC

Kuwait | Full-time | On-site

A leading and fast-growing retail group is seeking an experienced Group Human Resources Director to lead the next stage of its people and organizational transformation.

The group employs 2,000+ people across multiple business units, with operations in Kuwait and other GCC markets.

This is a senior leadership role with direct access to the CEO and executive management. The successful candidate will have broad ownership of the people agenda, with the mandate to strengthen the HR operating model, improve organizational effectiveness and redefine how HR supports business performance and growth.

The Role

• Lead the overall HR strategy and function across talent acquisition, HR operations, compensation and benefits, performance management, employee relations, organizational development and learning.
• Partner with the CEO and executive leadership on organizational structure, leadership capability, workforce strategy and business growth.
• Strengthen organizational design, job architecture, grading, salary structures and compensation frameworks.
• Improve manpower planning, budgeting and workforce productivity across business units and GCC operations.
• Upgrade the performance management and appraisal process to create meaningful differentiation, accountability and stronger linkage between individual performance and business results.
• Strengthen senior leadership hiring, succession planning and internal leadership pipelines.
• Improve the quality, speed and effectiveness of recruitment across the organization.
• Develop practical retention strategies for Kuwait and GCC markets, particularly for critical and high-performing talent.
• Ensure effective governance of multinational payroll, HR reporting and employment compliance.
• Strengthen the use of HR systems, analytics and workforce data to support better management decisions.
• Build a capable HR leadership team and ensure that the function operates with appropriate accountability, service levels and business orientation.
• Lead major HR transformation and change initiatives while ensuring that processes remain practical, efficient and appropriate for a fast-moving business.

The Candidate

• 15+ years of progressive HR experience, including significant leadership responsibility at Director, Senior Director, Head of HR or equivalent level.
• Proven ownership of a broad, end-to-end HR function in a sizeable and complex organization.
• Strong experience in retail, consumer, FMCG, hospitality or another large frontline-workforce environment.
• Experience supporting or leading HR for a workforce of approximately 2,000 employees or more.
• Demonstrated success in HR transformation, organizational design, manpower planning, performance management and workforce productivity.
• Strong experience recruiting senior leaders through direct sourcing, market mapping, headhunting or executive search.
• Experience managing HR across multiple GCC markets is strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of Kuwait and GCC employment practices.
• Commercial mindset with the ability to balance HR governance with business speed and operational requirements.
• Arabic & English preferred.

Why Join

• Direct exposure to the CEO and executive leadership.
• Genuine authority to shape the people strategy and HR operating model.
• Broad GCC scope across multiple businesses.
• Opportunity to lead meaningful organizational transformation rather than simply maintain existing HR processes.
• A highly visible role where HR initiatives will directly influence growth, productivity, leadership capability and organizational performance.

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