HR & Culture Lead (HCL001)

Foreground LLC; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global events agency is seeking an HR & Culture Lead in Riyadh to drive recruitment, compliance, and performance management. This strategic role focuses on building a people-first culture and enabling creativity in a high-performance environment, requiring 8+ years of HR experience and bilingual fluency in Arabic and English.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in HR or people operations roles within creative, media, events, or agency sectors.
• Familiarity with Saudi labor law and HR systems.
• Passionate about people and culture.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the local HR function from the ground up.
• Shape the agency's internal culture and employee engagement programs.
• Oversee talent acquisition for freelance and full-time roles.

Skills

People Operations

Cultural Development

Talent Acquisition

Compliance

Performance Management

Bilingual (Arabic and English)

Job description

Foreground is supporting the Saudi expansion of a global events agency with the appointment of a people-first, structure-minded, and culture-building HR & Culture Lead, based in Riyadh. This role will be the heartbeat of the agency's people function in the Kingdom, driving recruitment, compliance, performance, and a values-aligned team culture from day one.

This is not a traditional administrative HR role. It is a strategic people-building mandate, focused on enabling creativity, collaboration, and localized excellence in a fast-moving, high-performance agency environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and lead the local HR function from the ground up, including recruitment, onboarding, contracts, labor law compliance, and performance reviews.
• Shape the agency's internal culture, values, and employee engagement programs in line with global standards and local dynamics.
• Oversee talent acquisition for freelance and full-time roles, working closely with production, creative, and operations leads.
• Manage payroll, benefits, and PRO processes in line with Saudi labor regulations and internal governance.
• Advise leadership on organizational design, team wellbeing, and talent retention strategies in a demanding creative services environment.

Ideal Profile

• 8+ years in HR or people operations roles within the creative, media, events, or agency sectors.
• Familiarity with Saudi labor law, HR systems, and visa/employment regulation.
• Bilingual fluency (Arabic and English) essential.
• Passionate about people, culture, and enabling performance through environment and process.