Associate Director - Talent

Role Overview

Associate Director – Talent at ALDAR EDUCATION. This is a strategic leadership role reporting directly to the Chief People Officer, serving as a trusted advisor to the HQ Leadership Team, Principals and School Senior Leaders.

Company Overview

Aldar Education is a highly sought-after education provider supporting over 38,000 students across 28 schools with a growing network of almost 5,000 educators representing over 100 nationalities. The organization offers a wide range of curricula and ancillary services including a Teacher Training Academy. Starting with one school and 250 students in 2007, Aldar Education has grown to directly support the educational goals of Abu Dhabi's government, guided by the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 plan to build a sustainable knowledge-based economy through premium education.

Role Purpose

Define, drive and continuously enhance Aldar Education's talent agenda across Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, Leadership Development, Succession Planning and Talent Technology. Ensure Aldar Education attracts, develops and retains high-performing talent through innovative talent strategies, data-driven decision-making, exceptional stakeholder partnership and best-in-class talent systems. Lead the implementation and optimization of talent technologies, including the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), Learning Management System (LMS) and Performance Enablement platforms, ensuring an outstanding employee and candidate experience.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Talent Development

• Develop and execute a multi-year Talent Strategy aligned to Aldar Education's growth plans, organizational priorities and workforce requirements
• Provide regular talent insights and recommendations to the Executive Leadership Team and stakeholders where required
• Collaborate with the Executive Team to align talent strategies with overall business objectives
• Represent People & Culture in strategic business initiatives, school integrations, acquisitions and organizational transformation projects
• Lead strategical talent-related activities during any school integration process

Leadership & Succession Planning

• Develop and execute an effective leadership assessment process for talent selection of Executive, Senior Management, and Management positions
• Lead Leadership Assessments such as 360 in line with direction from CEO/CPO and ensure follow-up through coaching sessions, development plan establishment and KPI setup
• Establish and manage succession planning processes to support the organization having a pipeline of leadership-ready talent

Team Leadership & Management

• Lead and manage a highly skilled team of talent acquisition and development professionals, providing guidance and mentorship
• Serve as backup to other teammates, assist with their workload or substitute for them as appropriate
• Provide excellent coaching, consultation, and facilitation skills to quickly establish and build effective communication channels

Talent Acquisition & Recruitment

• Own the end-to-end recruitment strategy and governance framework for both School and Corporate functions
• Lead recruitment efforts for executive-level positions
• Establish recruitment governance, service levels and recruitment performance metrics across HQ and Schools
• Lead the continuous enhancement and optimization of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Careers Platform to improve efficiency, candidate experience, compliance and reporting capabilities
• Drive the adoption of automation, AI-enabled recruitment tools and recruitment analytics to improve quality of hire, reduce time-to-fill and enhance recruitment effectiveness
• Build and manage relationships with recruitment agencies, universities, and other external partners to enhance the talent pipeline for HQ and school roles
• Oversee the recruitment progress of school-based roles and drive/guide where required
• Drive high-volume recruitment for new schools in line with set timelines
• Participate in growth initiatives and manpower planning for new schools
• Review and enhance the onboarding process for all new hires including orientation and training of new hires
• Benchmark talent practices against leading education and service-sector organizations to ensure continuous improvement

Employer Branding & Talent Pipeline

• Oversee employer branding initiatives to promote the company as an employer of choice
• Lead the design, implementation and continuous enhancement of Aldar Education's flagship talent pipeline programs, including Graduate Teacher Programs, National Development Programs and leadership pathways
• Drive creation of inspiring Teaching and Non-Teaching graduate and internship programs
• Drive the company's national agenda and emiratisation in line with government or Group targets and support creation of programs to attract, develop and retain nationals

Learning & Development

• Lead the design, implementation and continuous enhancement of Aldar Education's Learning Management System (LMS) and learning ecosystem for Non-Academics
• Oversee process to identify skill gaps and create learning paths to address development needs

Assessment & Psychometric Tools

• Oversee all psychometric assessment tools, systems and processes related to talent

Retention & Analytics

• Monitor and report on staff turnover rates and analyze/address with P&C team areas and potential for employee retention
• Utilize HR analytics to measure the effectiveness of talent initiatives and recruitment efforts
• Evaluate the effectiveness of spend areas and talent strategies with data analysis and effectively communicate results and findings back to leadership

Project Management & Execution

• Lead scalable talent management initiatives, from conception and design through project planning, implementation, documentation, measurement and continuous improvement
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously, working both collaboratively and independently to balance and successfully execute on project objectives and related tasks with internal and external resources as necessary

Policy & Process Development

• Create and enhance policies and processes on all talent management and development functions, in consultation with the Chief People Officer
• Provide support and guidance on organization-related decisions when required

Budget & Financial Management

• Set up the HQ Talent budgets and support schools during the budget process in relation to Recruitment & Mobilization related spend areas

Organizational Development

• Create and maintain an environment of equal employment opportunity, diversity and competitive advantage in support of the company's diversity and inclusion strategic plan
• Ensure that organization-wide talent management initiatives are focused and aligned on improving operational and program efficiencies and effectiveness
• Participate in the development and achievement of the P&C Scorecard and CEO People Index scorecard KPIs

General Duties

• Execute any other duties as reasonably expected

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in HR or related field, or minimum of an HR module within a non-HR degree
• Recognized HR Qualification and/or professional subscription (e.g., CIPD Level 5 or equivalent SHRM level) desirable
• Minimum 10 years progressive HR/Talent experience with at least 5 years in a senior Talent leadership role
• Demonstrated experience leading both Talent Acquisition and Learning & Development functions
• Experience implementing and optimizing HR technology platforms, including ATS, LMS and Talent Management systems
• Experience partnering with Executive Leadership Teams and leading large-scale organizational transformation initiatives
• Management experience within P&C including leading and coaching non-direct reports and senior colleagues through talent programs
• Education industry experience is highly preferred; otherwise, experience within hospitality, healthcare or other service-intensive sectors is essential

Skills & Competencies

• Strong presentation and executive communication skills
• Strong business acumen including budget ownership and financial planning
• Strong organizational and project management skills to meet multiple priorities and deadlines
• Good Executive stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Experience in HR technology transformation and digital enablement
• Good skills in talent analytics and data storytelling
• Very good Microsoft Office skills
• Ability to roll up sleeves and get things done through taking calculated risks and experimenting with new solutions
• Strong analytics and problem-solving skills
• Successful track record in helping build, implement, and sustain key talent management initiatives
• Establish trust by maintaining a high level of credibility, integrity, confidentiality and skilled communications with all levels of employees
• Work in a highly collaborative and effective manner, both independently and in cross-functional teams
• Proficiency in HR technologies and data-driven decision-making
• Outstanding organizational and analytic skills to drive implementation of initiatives and evaluate and report on results
• Flexibility and a history of delivering results in a changing and highly ambiguous work environment

Additional Information

• Medical and life insurance provided
• Flight benefits provided
• Education benefits provided
• Access to a wide network of professionals and opportunities to lead and contribute to training others as well as developing yourself
• Equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment
• Mindful of national development strategy and encourages UAE Nationals to join the company
• Committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people; all staff expected to share this commitment
• Offers of appointment subject to satisfactory references and police clearance