Director of Human Resources

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Posted on 28/08/2026

Iris Executives is a leading executive search firm specializing in Emiratisation and senior-level recruitment since 2010. We partner with government entities and strategic organisations across the UAE to identify exceptional leadership and advisory talent.

We are currently supporting a leading UAE federal government entity in the search for an experienced Director of Human Resources
.

This is a strategic HR leadership role at the heart of a major national institution. Reporting to senior executive leadership
, you will lead the Human Resources strategy of a large, complex organisation through a team of specialised section heads. This is a planning and strategy position —
not a day-to-day HR operations role
.

Your focus will be the future shape of the workforce. You will own workforce planning and budgeting — analysing the workforce, forecasting the skills needed, and building the position budget alongside the finance team until it is approved. You will lead organisational structuring
, designing and reshaping organisation charts across many departments and locations. And you will oversee internal movement of people — transfers and rotations governed by detailed rules and approved by formal committees at the highest level.

Beyond the organisation itself, your work feeds directly into national priorities
: growing UAE National talent into critical roles through succession planning
, raising employee happiness, and modernising how HR works — including a major push towards AI-enabled HR practices
.

We are looking for a UAE National HR strategist who has operated at group level inside a large, multi-entity organisation — someone who builds plans and budgets with finance, shapes structures, and moves people through formal approvals with confidence.

• Lead the organisation's workforce planning
  : analyse the current workforce and forecast future skills needs.
• Build and defend the annual position budget with the finance team, securing approval before hiring begins.
• Drive succession planning so national talent grows into critical roles.

• Own the design and upkeep of organisation structures across a complex, multi-department entity.
• Lead organisational reviews and restructuring initiatives that improve clarity, efficiency and performance.

• Oversee internal transfer and rotation programmes across many departments and locations, governed by detailed rules.
• Present movement decisions to formal committees and senior leadership for approval.

• Develop HR policies, career paths and job architecture aligned with federal HR frameworks.
• Advise senior leadership on workforce structure, performance philosophy and employee happiness.
• Lead and develop a team of section heads
  , building strong national HR capability.

Experience:

• This role is open to UAE Nationals (Emiratisation role).
• Minimum 10 years of relevant HR experience with a Bachelor's degree (7 years with a Master's, 4 years with a PhD).
• Proven experience building workforce plans and position budgets with finance teams in a large, multi-entity organisation.
• Track record of designing organisation structures — and ideally leading a real restructuring — across many departments or locations.
• Experience running internal transfer or rotation programmes approved through formal committees and senior leadership.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration or a related field.
• Master's degree or PhD is an advantage.

Professional Background (examples may include):

• UAE federal government entities — HR strategy,…