Chief People Officer Job Description UAE

What a Chief People Officer does in UAE

A Chief People Officer in UAE holds the highest people leadership role in an organisation, combining the traditional CHRO responsibilities with a broader mandate for culture, employer brand, and people experience across UAE and international operations. You sit on the Executive Committee, report directly to the CEO, and own the organisation’s ability to attract and retain senior talent in one of the world’s most competitive employment markets.

Key responsibilities

• Own the full people agenda including talent, culture, DEI, compensation, HR operations, and UAE compliance
• Define the employer brand and employee value proposition for UAE and GCC talent markets
• Lead organisation design and workforce planning to support the business growth strategy
• Drive culture transformation and employee engagement at all levels of the organisation
• Govern UAE Emiratisation strategy and ensure NAFIS target compliance across all entities
• Set total rewards philosophy and oversee benchmarking against UAE and GCC market data
• Lead the people analytics function and present workforce insights to the Board
• Champion psychological safety, DEI, and inclusive leadership at Executive Committee level
• Manage all executive hiring and succession planning for top 50 roles in the organisation
• Represent the organisation at UAE HR forums and government talent development initiatives

Qualifications required

• Master’s degree in human resources, organisational psychology, or business administration
• 20 to 25 years of HR leadership experience with at least 6 years as CPO, CHRO, or VP HR in UAE or GCC
• CIPD Fellow or equivalent senior professional qualification
• Proven culture transformation leadership in UAE organisations
• Board-level communication and people risk reporting experience
• Deep knowledge of UAE employment law, Emiratisation policy, and GCC talent market dynamics
• Arabic language fluency preferred for UAE government stakeholder and community engagement
• Track record building employer brand in UAE’s competitive graduate and executive talent market

Chief People Officer salary by employer type in UAE

Employer type	Annual salary (AED)
UAE sovereign entity or government-linked group	800,000–1,400,000
Multinational corporation UAE or GCC CPO	700,000–1,200,000
UAE-listed company or large private group	600,000–1,050,000
Tech scale-up or digital company UAE HQ	500,000–900,000

Contract terms for this role in UAE

CPO roles carry 3 to 6 month notice periods. Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 governs end-of-service gratuity at 21 days basic salary per year for the first five years, rising to 30 days per year thereafter.