Senior Manager, People Experience Middle East and Africa

Edelman is a voice synonymous with trust, reimagining a future where the currency of communication is action. Our culture thrives on three promises: boldness is possibility, empathy is progress, and curiosity is momentum. 

At Edelman, we understand diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) transform our colleagues, our company, our clients, and our communities. We are in relentless pursuit of an equitable and inspiring workplace that is respectful of all, reflects and represents the world in which we live, and fosters trust, collaboration and belonging.

Job Description

Core Accountability Areas:

Integrated People Experience Delivery:

The role is accountable for bringing together three core pillars into a single, cohesive service model:

• People Operations → efficient, accurate, scalable delivery

• Employee Relations → consistent, compliant, risk-managed case handling

• Enablement / Transformation → tools, processes and new ways of working

People Operations Leadership

• Own end-to-end delivery of People Operations across assigned markets

• Ensure excellence across the employee lifecycle (joiners, movers, leavers, documentation, Workday)

• Drive standardization and scalability aligned to global processes

• Maintain high data integrity and effective use of systems (e.g. Workday)

• Act as escalation point for operational challenges

• Continuously improve processes to enhance efficiency and employee experience

Employee Relations Leadership

• Continuously improve processes to enhance efficiency and employe experience

• Triage and escalate complex, sensitive and high-risk cases

• Ensure consistency and alignment with EMEA & Global ER standards

• Partner closely with SVP Employee Relations on:

• Escalations and risk mitigation

• Policy interpretation, development, and implementation

• Governance and consistency

• Building ER capability within the hub team

• Training and coaching local leadership on ER best practice

• Ensuring compliance with local labour laws across all markets

Enablement and Transformation Delivery

• Partner with Enablement Lead to deliver transformation initiatives

• Support rollout and adoption of:

  • Systems (e.g. Workday, People Portal)

  • New processes and service models

• Translate global change into practical and effective regional implementation

• Identify opportunities for simplification, automation and continuous improvement

• Drive engagement and adoption of new ways of working

Global Alignment and Local Delivery

• Ensure strong alignment with EMEA and global People strategy

• Act as a bridge between global design and local execution

• Adapt delivery to reflect:

  • Local legislation

  • Cultural nuances

  • Market-specific operational needs

  • Balance consistency vs flexibility to achieve both compliance and efficiency

ServiceNow/ Data Insight

• Drive adoption and consistent use of ServiceNow across the hub

• Use data to proactively identify trends, risks and improvement opportunities  

• Enable effective case management, workflow tracking and service visibility

• Ensure accurate and timely data capture to support reporting and decision making

 Leadership, Team Management and Cross-Hub Collaboration

• Act as a key partner to:

  • People Partners

  • Regional and market leads

  • Legal and compliance teams

• Operate as part of a connected EMEA Hub network to:

  • Share insights, align on standards and identify cross-regional risks

  • Drive consistent application of policies, processes and tools

  • Support cross-hub collaboration and resource flexibility

• Escalate systemic issues, multi-market risks and gaps in process, policy or tooling to EMEA

• Maintain strong, visible connection with EMEA functional leaders undefined

• Quality, consistency and risk management of ER cases

• Operational efficiency, accuracy and SLA performance

• Adoption and effectiveness of transformation initiatives

• Stakeholder satisfaction (HR and business leaders)

• Alignment between global strategy and local execution

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field; Master’s degree or HR certification (SHRM/PHR) preferred.

• 8–10 years of progressive HR experience, ideally in professional services, PR, or communications sectors.

• Strong knowledge of employment laws and HR best practices.

• Proven ability to influence stakeholders and build trusted partnerships.

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution

• Fluency in English and Arabic required

We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t perfectly align with every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.