Talent Acquisition Manager Job Description UAE

What a Talent Acquisition Manager does in UAE

A Talent Acquisition Manager in UAE leads the end-to-end recruitment function for an organisation, managing job advertising, candidate sourcing, interview processes, offer management, and onboarding in compliance with UAE Labour Law and visa requirements. You manage a team of recruiters, own the ATS, and deliver against time-to-hire and quality-of-hire targets for all roles from graduate to senior management level. Your work directly determines how fast the business can scale and the quality of people who join.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the full-cycle recruitment process for all roles across UAE and GCC operations
• Manage a team of in-house recruiters and coordinate with RPO or agency partners when needed
• Own the ATS (Workday, Greenhouse, or Taleo) and maintain accurate pipeline reporting
• Design structured interview processes and assessment frameworks for key role families
• Manage job posting across LinkedIn, Bayt, Naukrigulf, and UAE-specific job boards
• Build talent pipelines for business-critical and Emiratisation target roles
• Coordinate work permit and visa sponsorship processes with PRO and MOHRE teams after offer acceptance
• Track and report weekly TA KPIs including time-to-fill, source-of-hire, and Emiratisation hiring ratio
• Manage university relations and UAE graduate recruitment programmes
• Drive employer brand initiatives including Glassdoor management, LinkedIn content, and careers page

Qualifications required

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, or equivalent
• 5 to 9 years of talent acquisition experience with at least 3 years managing a UAE recruitment function
• CIPD Level 5 or equivalent TA qualification preferred
• Proficiency in ATS platforms (Workday Recruiting, Greenhouse, SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting)
• Knowledge of UAE work permit and visa processes for expatriate hiring
• Experience managing Emiratisation hiring pipelines and UAE graduate recruitment
• Strong LinkedIn Recruiter and Boolean search skills for UAE talent market
• Arabic language skills preferred for Emiratisation candidate engagement and MOHRE interactions

Talent Acquisition Manager salary by employer type in UAE

Employer type	Annual salary (AED)
Government-linked entity or UAE SOE	200,000–340,000
Multinational corporation UAE operations	180,000–320,000
Mid-size private company (UAE)	160,000–280,000
Recruitment agency or RPO (UAE)	150,000–270,000

Contract terms for this role in UAE

Talent Acquisition Manager roles carry a 30 to 60 day notice period in UAE. Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 applies to your end-of-service gratuity at 21 days basic salary per year for the first five years.