HR Manager, Asia (1 year contract)

COGNITA ASIA HOLDINGS PTE. LTD.; Singapore; Hybrid; SGD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

An international education organization is seeking an HR Manager to oversee talent acquisition and strengthen recruitment processes. The role includes managing end-to-end recruitment, ensuring compliance, and working closely with school leaders. Ideal candidates will have 5-7 years of HR experience, with a strong focus on recruitment in diverse environments. The position offers a hybrid working model based in Singapore, competitive annual leave, and medical insurance.

Benefits

20 days annual leave

Medical insurance cover

Hybrid work environment

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of HR generalist experience, at least 2 years in recruitment.
• Experience in managing end-to-end recruitment operations.
• Ability to navigate ambiguous situations and engage with stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead recruitment lifecycle and manage employer branding.
• Champion ATS adoption across Asia schools.
• Review and streamline recruitment policies for efficiency.

Skills

Managing recruitment operations

Strategic thinking

Understanding of recruitment legislation

Using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

Strong communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in human resources or related field

Tools

HRIS platforms

Recruitment analytics tools

Job description

About Cognita Asia

Cognita Asia currently operates 11 schools in 5 countries, with more than 16,000 students. While our schools are part of a Group, they are unique in many ways. In Cognita Asia, we have a robust regional team that supports our schools. The team is based in Singapore and provides centralized support across various functions. We are looking for dynamic individuals who thrive in a collaborative and inclusive environment.

About Cognita

Cognita is a global leader in independent education. Founded in 2004, we are a growing community of 100+ schools in 16 countries - in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East - serving more than 85,000 students. Each of our schools are proudly unique, however our collective purpose is to create an environment where everyone can, ‘Thrive in a rapidly evolving world’.

About the Role

The HR Manager will lead the planning and execution of the Cognita Asia talent acquisition portfolio, ensuring recruitment and onboarding of highly qualified and capable professionals in the Regional Office.

This role is pivotal in strengthening talent pipelines, promoting workforce diversity, and aligning recruitment outcomes with broader organizational and educational goals. It provides expert guidance and partners with school leaders and HR colleagues to build and oversee a proactive, best practice recruitment framework.

Responsibilities

Talent Acquisition

• Manage the recruitment lifecycle for all regional office hires, including employer branding, advertising, offer management, contracts, safer recruitment compliance and onboarding processes.
• Champion the Applicant Tracking System adoption across Asia schools.
• Review, analyze and streamline recruitment policies, procedures and workflows across Asia schools and the regional office to ensure efficiency, consistency and compliance.
• Support the recruitment process for senior hires, including drafting recruitment packs, screening applications, shortlisting candidates and designing/implementing robust assessment methods.
• Act as the Safer recruitment champion to lead on all safer recruitment matters for the Asia region, including regular audits and updates with school teams.
• Provide training and guidance to school and regional hiring managers to strengthen interview techniques and ensure fair, effective and inclusive hiring practices.
• Partner with regional office leaders to understand staffing challenges, improve hiring success and enhance retention and onboarding effectiveness.
• Oversee and evaluate external recruitment providers and contracts (e.g., agencies, job boards), ensuring value for money and service quality.

CognitaPeople (HRIS)

• Point person for all ATS related matters in Asia.
• Support the work on data integrity of the information in the HRIS system.
• First point of escalation for all reviews and resolution of ATS change requests.
• Provide any user training to school HR teams or leadership teams.

HR Operations

• Support the HR Director, Asia in reviewing and developing regional HR Policies, ensuring they meet the changing needs of the business and remain within current legislation to ensure their operational effectiveness and compliance in each country of operation.
• Manage and update the HR databases including HRIS, employee database and insurance database, as needed.
• Manage the HR dashboards and reporting, including but not limited to headcount and hiring reports, monthly HR summary reports, quarterly MOM surveys.
• Support in the annual insurance renewal process, including reviews, documentation, coordination for annual insurance briefings with schools.
• Any other duties or HR Projects as assigned.

Safeguarding Responsibilities

The job holder’s responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young persons for whom s/he is responsible, or with whom s/he comes into contact, will be to adhere to and ensure compliance with the relevant Cognita Safeguarding; Child Protection Policy and Procedures at all times. In the course of carrying out the duties of the role, the job holder identifies any instance that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm either at school or at home, s/he must report any concerns to the School’s Child Protection Officer/Designated Safeguarding Lead or to the Head or indeed to the Regional CEO so that a referral can be made accordingly to the relevant third party services.

Position Requirements

• Demonstrated success in managing recruitment operations end-to-end.
• Strategic thinking and ability to analyze, streamline and improve recruitment processes.
• Advanced knowledge of recruitment legislation, best practices and compliance frameworks in Asia.
• Competence in using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), HRIS platforms and recruitment analytics tools.
• Planning and organisational skills, with attention to detail.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder engagement skills, including working with senior leadership.
• Able to navigate ambiguity and cultural complexity with confidence.

Qualifications

Essential:

• Bachelor's degree in human resources or related field.
• Overall 5-7 years of HR generalist experience, of which at least 2 are in recruitment and employee experience.

Preferred:

• Experience working in international education or similarly people-intensive, values-driven sectors.

Contacts

• Regional and School HR teams.
• School leadership teams.
• Global HRIS team.

Working Conditions

• Based within the Regional Office in Singapore.
• Extended working hours to meet deadlines / regional or global meetings as required.
• 20 days annual leave.
• Medical insurance cover.
• Hybrid work environment.

For interested applicants, please submit your applications via the following link: https://cognitapeople.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/1932?c=cognitapeople&source=MyCareersFuture