Executive Director of HR

About Us:

A dynamic and exciting startup initiative in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: a higher education institution specialized in arts and creativity, the first of its kind in the region. This initiative aims to significantly expand opportunities across all artistic and creative sectors. The institution will offer a comprehensive range of creative academic programs, from vocational courses to doctoral degrees, through various modes of learning.

With an innovative outlook and entrepreneurial spirit, the institution will play a central role in nurturing the next generation of creative leaders and practitioners who will join a dynamic and growing hub for arts and creativity. It will also focus on fostering values, social responsibility, and cultural enrichment, playing an important role in celebrating the Kingdom’s rich heritage and contributing to shaping its future.

We are currently seeking an outstanding, enthusiastic, and committed individual to join us and contribute to the transformation of arts and creative education across the Kingdom. We invite you to be part of this exciting journey toward an exceptional beginning.

Job Roles and Key Responsibilities:

General Responsibilities

• Develop and ensure that the manpower plans, budgets and targets are aligned with the guidance from the President and Board of Trustees (BoT)
• Represent the higher educational institution to external stakeholders (private and public stakeholders) as needed
• Contribute to the development of the institution as a place of international repute

Strategic Responsibilities

• Responsible for strategic leadership and management of the human resources department, ensuring service excellence and operational efficiency
• Collaborate with Deans of Schools, Provost and President to build and foster an inclusive, high-performance environment
• Ensure effective management of manpower budgets and business plans
• Institute and implement agile people policies & processes to meet growing and changing needs of the institution , Schools & Academies
• Position the institution as a regional and international employer of choice for faculty & staff
• Actively promote structures and systems across Academies to encourage collaboration and interdisciplinarity

Operational Responsibilities

• Lead the implementation and delivery of the human capital strategy for the institution Lead the human resource office including talent acquisition and retention, performance management, compensation & benefits, salary administration, training & development, employee relations, succession planning, and human resource information systems & records management
• Ensure regulatory compliance of all human resource related legislations & operating procedures and have oversight of relevant frameworks
• Lead and deliver goals of talent acquisition & retention to enable high quality program delivery at the institution .
• Establish processes and strong response mechanisms to minimize incidents that may cause reputational risk to the institution .

Ideal Experience, Capabilities and Skills:

Industry Experience

• 10+ years of experience in a senior leadership human capital role, with preferably 8+ years in a reputed institute of higher education
• Extensive knowledge and exposure to various HR departments such as organizational design & development, talent acquisition, talent development, compensation & benefits, HR operations and employee relations
• Master’s degree is highly preferred
• Affinity for the local, regional and international cultural industry

Management capabilities

• Proven strategic mindset combined with a track record of execution & delivery excellence
• Proven ability in managing and delivering outcomes at scale and complexity
• Inclusive approach to leadership, along with strong domain knowledge across varied HR functions
• Proven organizational capabilities along with a data-driven, digital-first mindset

Interpersonal skills

• Strong interpersonal, persuasion and networking skills
• Proven ability to adapt communication and working styles to suit a diverse internal and external audience

Reporting Lines:

• Reports to and is appointed by: Director- Operations & Support
• Reports from: Manager- Business Partnering, Manager- Talent Acquisition, Manager- HR Operations & Administration, Manager- Talent Development