Assistant Manager - People & Culture

Note: This role is to be based in Al Nahda, Sharjah.

Job Purpose:

The P&C plays a key role in enabling a high-performing, agile, and future-ready workforce across Americana Restaurants.

Working closely with business leaders and P&C COEs, the role focuses on translating people priorities into practical, business-relevant actions, ensuring that talent, performance, and engagement initiatives drive measurable impact on leadership effectiveness and organizational outcomes.

The role combines strong execution discipline with a forward-looking approach, leveraging data, digital tools, and AI-enabled solutions to enhance decision-making, improve efficiency, and strengthen the overall people and manager experience.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Business Partnership & Manager Effectiveness

• Partner with business leaders to translate people priorities into practical, on-the-ground actions.
• Enable managers to effectively lead teams through goal setting, feedback, and performance conversations.
• Support real-time decision-making on people matters, balancing business needs with governance and fairness.
• Reinforce a culture of ownership, accountability, and performance excellence.

2. Talent & Performance Execution

• Drive execution of talent and performance processes including OPR, performance cycles, IDPs, and succession planning.
• Ensure quality of talent discussions and meaningful development planning, not just process completion.
• Support managers in embedding development actions within day-to-day work.
• Provide insights on capability gaps, performance trends, and leadership readiness.

3. Workforce Planning & Talent Flow

• Support workforce planning aligned to business priorities, organizational structure, and cost considerations.
• Enable effective hiring and internal mobility in partnership with Talent Acquisition.
• Monitor talent pipeline strength and movement across roles and markets.

4. People Experience & Engagement

• Support creation of a positive and high-performing work environment through strong manager practices.
• Ensure engagement initiatives translate into visible actions and measurable outcomes.
• Act as a point of contact for people relations matters, ensuring fair and timely resolution.
• Reinforce organizational values through consistent behaviors and decisions.

5. Operational Excellence & Process Improvement

• Ensure smooth execution of core people processes (onboarding, transfers, promotions, exits)
• Focus on simplifying processes and improving people and manager experience.
• Maintain accuracy and integrity of data within HR systems.
• Identify opportunities to streamline workflows and reduce friction points.

6. Data, Insights & AI Enablement

• Use people data to identify trends and provide actionable insights to business leaders.
• Leverage AI-enabled tools to enhance reporting, identify patterns, and improve speed of decision-making.
• Support a shift from reactive reporting to forward-looking insights (e.g., attrition risk, talent gaps)
• Ensure data quality and responsible use of analytics.
• Drive adoption of digital tools, automation, and AI solutions across P&C processes.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce manual effort, and enhance turnaround time.
• Support implementation of scalable, tech-enabled people solutions across markets.
• Promote a mindset of continuous improvement and innovation.

8. Change & Adoption

• Support rollout of enterprise initiatives and transformation programs.
• Drive adoption through clear communication, manager alignment, and follow-through.
• Ensure initiatives are embedded into day-to-day ways of working.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration.
• 6–8 years of experience in HR Business Partnering.
• Experience working with multi-unit, frontline, or operational environments such as retail, hospitality, or restaurants is preferred .
• Familiarity with HR systems (preferably Oracle HCM) is desirable.
• Experience working in multi-market or large operational organizations is an advantage.

Key Skills:

• Business partnering and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to translate strategy into practical execution.
• Data-driven thinking and analytical capability.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Process improvement and operational excellence mindset.
• Ability to leverage digital tools and AI-enabled solutions.
• Strong planning, organization, and execution discipline.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

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