Executive Director - Organisation Effectiveness

About Dubai Holding

Founded in 2004, Dubai Holding is a global investment company operating in over 34 countries, employing nearly 45,000 people. The company supports Dubai’s leadership vision and economic diversification by developing sectors that have reshaped the socio-economic environment, making Dubai a diversified and globally connected economy. With a portfolio valued over AED 284 billion across ten sectors such as real estate, hospitality, ICT, education, and science, Dubai Holding drives the growth of Dubai's non-oil economy.

Role Overview

The Executive Director – Organisation Effectiveness will lead the organisation effectiveness function for the entire Group. This role ensures that organisation structures, workforce planning, job architecture, and people governance are aligned to effectively and sustainably execute business strategies. Acting as the main advisor to the Group Chief People Officer and senior leaders, the Executive Director formulates the group’s policies on organisation design, workforce planning, job evaluation, and leveraging people analytics.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead group-wide transformation, restructuring initiatives, and establish new entities and locations by translating strategic intentions into actionable structures, role definitions, staffing plans, and implementation strategies.
• Own governance frameworks for people decisions, including hiring controls, performance metrics, and formalising the People Strategy.
• Ensure accuracy and consistency of organisational frameworks and data across all Group entities, supporting evidence-based decisions for long-term organisational success.
• Oversee documentation, alignment, and periodic review of the People Strategy to sync with Group goals.
• Manage budget planning, monitoring, and expenditure aligned with priorities within the People Department.
• Approve organisation effectiveness matters within authority and escalate any significant financial, legal, or reputational issues to senior leadership and governance.
• Set and implement organisation design principles across all corporate functions and portfolio companies.
• Manage large-scale restructuring and activity analysis to design both current and future-state organisational structures.
• Lead workforce impact assessments related to AI and automation within transformation programs.
• Maintain the Group’s job architecture, including competency frameworks, grading structures, and job evaluation consistency.
• Govern workforce planning, headcount alignment with budgets, and hiring controls ensuring compliance and strategic adherence.
• Drive people data quality, analytics, HR systems utilization, and reporting efforts including insight-driven leadership recommendations.
• Serve as principal consultant for senior leadership on workforce and organisational matters.
• Develop and lead a high-performing Organisation Effectiveness team fostering continuous improvement, innovation, and collaboration.

Qualifications and Experience

• 12-15 years in organisation design, workforce planning, or HR strategy with extensive senior leadership exposure.
• Proven capability leading complex restructuring and transformation in multi-entity or diversified group environments.
• Experience advising executive leadership and governance bodies on structural and workforce decisions.
• Prior work in management consulting or professional services is advantageous.

Education and Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Organisational Psychology, or related discipline required. A Master's degree is preferred.
• Professional HR or organisation design certifications like CIPD Level 7, SHRM-SCP, or job evaluation certifications (e.g., Aon, Mercer) are advantageous.

Technical Expertise

• Mastery of organisation design methodologies, operating model creation, and activity analysis.
• Expertise in job evaluation frameworks, job architecture, competency frameworks, and grading.
• Strong knowledge of workforce planning techniques, headcount budgeting, and people cost modelling.
• Advanced proficiency in HR analytics, data integrity, HR systems, and AI-supported tools.

Behavioral Competencies

• Customer-focused with proactive solution development balancing business and Group needs.
• Result-driven, setting high standards and accountability for personal and team performance.
• Business savvy, integrating strategic, financial, and operational awareness into decisions.
• Innovative thinker, embracing new ideas and AI technologies in organisation effectiveness.
• Decisive with a sense of urgency in addressing critical workforce and structure issues.
• Adaptable, effectively navigating ambiguity and organizational change.
• Skilled at relationship building, influencing executives without formal authority.
• Empowering leader, delegating, building capabilities, and promoting ownership within teams.
• Analytical problem solver making objective, evidence-based recommendations.
• Excellent planner and organizer managing multiple priorities and projects.
• Clear and persuasive communicator tailored for senior executive audiences.
• Collaborative team player promoting shared goals across departments and the Group.

Additional Information

Applicants will be contacted only if shortlisted within 14 business days. Dubai Holding reserves the right to amend the job description as necessary. The company is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to diversity and inclusion.