Manager, HR Business Partner

As the Manager, HR Business Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region report to IMG Executive Director HR , you will serve as a high-visibility, strategic partner to senior business leaders. In this role, you will align people strategies with regional business objectives, driving organizational growth across a diverse and dynamic market. You will have full ownership of regional talent strategies, HR budgets, team development, and change management initiatives. This is a critical leadership position requiring a balance of strategic vision, cultural intelligence, and operational excellence to foster a high-performance culture.

*(Note: This will be a localized - not an International Service Assignment position.)*

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic HR Advisory \& Business Partnership
• Trusted Advisor: Serve as a strategic consultant to senior regional leaders, translating business goals into actionable, localized people strategies.
• Workforce Planning \& Budgeting: Collaborate with business leaders on strategic workforce planning and manage the regional HR budget to optimize resource allocation and talent ROI.
• Culture \& Engagement: Partner with leadership to champion a culture of excellence, inclusion, and high performance, utilizing engagement data to drive initiatives that boost morale and productivity.
• Talent Management \& Leadership Development
• Talent Pipeline: Architect and execute robust talent acquisition, development, and retention strategies tailored to the MENA market.
• Succession Planning: Lead regional succession planning cycles to identify high-potential talent, build strong leadership pipelines, and mitigate talent risks.
• Capability Building: Align regional learning and development (L\&D) initiatives with evolving business needs to continuously elevate organizational capabilities.
• Organizational Design \& Change Management
• Organizational Effectiveness: Assess current organizational structures and lead org design initiatives to improve agility, eliminate redundancies, and optimize performance.
• Change Leadership: Act as a key driver and facilitator of change management, guiding teams through organizational transformations, mergers/acquisitions, or shifts in business strategy.
• Regional Operations, Compliance \& Governance
• Local Labor Compliance: Ensure all HR policies and practices comply with the diverse and evolving labor laws, employment regulations, and statutory requirements across the MENA region.
• Nationalization Agendas: Strategically drive and support nationalization initiatives (e.g., Saudization, Emiratization) to meet regulatory requirements and support local community growth.
• Data-Driven HR: Establish and leverage HR analytics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and dashboards to drive data-backed decision-making and continuous improvement in HR service delivery.

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s Degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field.

Experience

• Minimum of 7 years of progressive Human Resources experience, with at least 3–5 years in a strategic HR Business Partner (HRBP) or advisory leadership role.
• Regional Expertise: Proven track record of managing HR operations or business partnering across multiple countries within the MENA region.
• Strategic Impact: Demonstrated success in designing and implementing talent management, succession planning, and leadership development programs.
• Change Management: Proven experience leading complex organizational design and change management initiatives.

Key Competencies \& Skills

• Stakeholder Management: Exceptional communication, negotiation, and influencing skills, with a proven ability to build credibility and navigate complex, matrixed stakeholder environments.
• Cultural Intelligence: Deep understanding of the cultural nuances, business practices, and labor markets across the Middle East and North Africa.
• Resilience \& Agility: Highly comfortable guiding teams through ambiguity and driving results in a fast-paced, evolving, and highly regulated business environment
• Analytical Acumen: Ability to translate complex HR metrics and data into actionable business insights.