Head of Human Resources

About Cognita

At Cognita, we know every student is unique. We nurture their distinct personalities and strengths. We support them academically, socially, and emotionally, wherever they are in the world, wherever they’re starting from. And each and every one of our schools is unique too.

We protect what’s special about them, while offering them rich knowledge, opportunities, and best practices. And they get to be part of something bigger.

We open their classrooms to the collective wisdom of over 100 schools in 16 countries, ensuring every child gets an education that’s, quite literally, world class. It’s an individual approach that empowers every school, teacher and student to focus on what they do best. And thrive.

Purpose

At Cognita Middle East, we organise ourselves in families of schools which we call Cogs; These Cogs are each led by a Managing Director who is responsible for a cluster of schools. Each Cog has a leadership team with its own Head of HR, Finance Director, Head of Facilities, Head of Marketing & Admissions.

The Head of HR for Cog 3 will work supporting our regional schools which are located outside of the UAE in the wider GCC. Overseeing the HR activities for the Cog, working as the frontline HR business partner for schools and their employees. The role works closely with the Regional HR Director, who the role has a dotted line into, and the regional HR Centres of Excellence.

This a field-based role. Based from Dubai, with one day a week in our Middle East regional office and the remainder of time spent across the Cog schools located across the region. Given the location of the schools it supports, the Cog 3 HR lead will travel approximately 70% of their time outside the UAE.

Key Accountabilities

HR Business Partnering

• Business partner the Managing Director and the School Principals as the HR expert within the Cog leadership team.
• Act as a cultural ambassador for Cognita; support the Principals to embed the Cognita culture and mindsets across all schools within the Cog.
• Foster an environment of performance management and continuous improvement, ensuring all staff receive meaningful feedback to support and develop talent and address under performance.
• Lead the HR initiatives for the Cog; such as the appraisal cycle, succession planning, Voice of the Employee annual survey, salary and benefit reviews.
• Launch and embed new HR projects and initiatives within the Cog.
• Work with the regional HR team to shape and implement changes to policies, processes and systems that support the seamless running of our schools and make them a great place to work.

Manpower Planning

• Accountable for maintaining the manpower budget for the cog of schools; maintaining accurate financial data on manpower costs (salary and benefits) and future forecasts.
• Oversee the implementation of payroll for the cog of schools on a monthly basis; ensuring employees are paid accurately and on time.
• Highlight room for improvement within staffing budgets, and implement revisions as agreed.
• Provide accurate staffing data and reports as required.
• Implement process improvement to maximise efficiency and drive accuracy of data.

Employee Relations

• Be the front line point of contact for employees on complex employee queries or concerns.
• Offer advice and guidance on employee relations matters in line with company policy and local labour law. Seek expert advice and counsel where appropriate.
• Act as the HR lead for employee relations investigations as necessary.

Safer Recruitment

• Audit HR files and the school’s single central register to ensure schools are compliant with safer recruitment standards.
• Ensure the schools are upholding safer recruitment standards at all times. Handle any breaches with high importance and act in line with company governance procedures.
• Guide new school teams through documentation remediation exercises where necessary.

New Schools

• Lead the delivery of actions for the HR workstream for new school acquisitions or builds; the HR project plan and ensuring key milestones are delivered.
• Work with school HR teams to deliver the actionable items within the project plan in a timely manner. Offer feedback and updates to the regional team as necessary.

Safeguarding Responsibilities

• Comply with safeguarding policies, procedures and code of conduct
• Demonstrate a personal commitment to safeguarding and student/colleague wellbeing
• Ensure that any safeguarding concerns or incidents are reported appropriately in line with policy
• Engage in safeguarding training when required

Person Specification

Skills & Knowledge

• Highly passionate about developing and maintaining culture in organisations
• Growth mindset, continuously looking for ways to improve how we do things
• Exceptional leader who can identify, inspire and develop talent and teams
• Ability to influence and contribute to topics beyond the core HR function
• Expertise in HR Policies, procedures and best practice
• Strong decision maker who is comfortable to have challenging conversations

Specific Role Expectations

• Due to the nature of this role, GCC regional travel will be required 70% of the time
• Arabic speaking would be an advantage
• CIPD Accreditation would be desirable

Experience

• 10 years plus of HR experience
• Experience working across multiple countries and jurisdictions in tandum
• Working in the UAE and ideally experience of the wider Middle East region
• Strategic and tactical HR experience
• Experience within Private Education would be an advantage

Key Stakeholders

Internal

• Cog Managing Director
• Regional HR Director
• School Principals and leadership teams
• School HR Teams
• Other regional HR leaders

External

• 3rd Party Companies

If you would like to be considered for this Head of HR role, we would love to hear from you.

Thank you for your interest in Cognita ME and our family of schools in Dubai. We look forward to hearing from you.

Cognita Schools are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, volunteers and other third parties to share this commitment. Safer recruitment practice and pre-employment background checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.