Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Industry: FMCG – Animal Farm & Dairy Products Manufacturing

Work Type: Full-time, On-site

Job Purpose:

The Assistant Manager – Talent Acquisition & Development is responsible for managing the end-to-end recruitment lifecycle, onboarding, and employee development initiatives across the organization. This role focuses on sourcing the right talent, driving employer branding, enhancing workforce capabilities through training & development, and supporting overall talent management strategies in alignment with the organizational goals in a high-performance production and farm-based FMCG setup.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Talent Acquisition (30%)

• Lead and manage the recruitment process for all functions including production, farm operations, QA/QC, logistics, R&D, sales & marketing, and support functions.
• Collaborate with department heads to identify manpower needs and workforce planning aligned to seasonal and business demands.
• Develop and execute talent sourcing strategies through job boards, recruitment agencies, social media, and employee referrals.
• Screen resumes, conduct initial interviews, shortlist candidates, and coordinate technical/functional interviews.
• Maintain a strong pipeline of candidates for critical and recurring roles across farm, production unit, and corporate functions.
• Ensure recruitment TAT (Turn-Around-Time) is optimized and positions are closed as per SLA.
• Design and implement onboarding and induction plans customized for plant-based roles, farm workers, and corporate staff.
• Maintain recruitment MIS including hiring funnel, cost per hire, source of hire, and time to fill.

2. Talent Development (70%)

• Work with the HR Manager to identify training needs through TNAs, performance appraisals, and skill-gap assessments across farm operations and production teams.
• Plan, organize, and evaluate training programs focused on:
• Dairy farm management
• Animal handling & health
• GMP & hygiene practices in milk production
• Food safety, quality systems, and ISO/IATF standards
• Soft skills, behavioral and leadership development
• Coordinate with external training providers and internal SMEs to deliver training modules.
• Track post-training effectiveness, employee feedback, and ROI on learning programs.
• Maintain training calendars, logs, and compliance records.
• Support talent engagement activities such as succession planning, HiPo (High-Potential) identification, and career pathing.

Key Interfaces:

• Department Heads (Production, Farm, QA/QC, Supply Chain, Sales, Admin)
• External recruitment partners and consultants
• Government and regulatory bodies (for statutory recruitments/approvals)
• Training partners and industry experts
• HR Shared Services / Payroll

Key KPIs / Success Metrics:

• Recruitment TAT, cost per hire, offer-to-join ratio
• Manpower availability vs budgeted headcount
• Training hours per employee, training effectiveness score
• Attrition rate, engagement levels in new hires
• Succession readiness for critical roles

Qualifications & Experience:

• Master’s Degree in HR / Business Administration; MBA/PGDM in HR preferred.
• 12-15 years of relevant experience in talent acquisition and L&D, preferably in FMCG or food manufacturing industry.
• CIPD 7 or SHRM-SCP certification mandatory.
• Minimum 8-10 years of experience in a progressive HR leadership role
• Prior experience with production/factory-based hiring is essential.
• Exposure to dairy/farm-based operations is a significant advantage.

Skills & Competencies:

• Strong sourcing and interviewing skills for blue-collar and white-collar roles
• Ability to manage hiring at scale and under tight deadlines
• Good understanding of labor laws, statutory requirements, and compliance
• Knowledge of dairy/farm operations and hygiene practices is a plus
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Familiarity with ATS systems and MS Office tools (Excel, PowerPoint)
• Analytical mindset to evaluate hiring trends, training needs, and ROI

Desirable Traits:

• Passion for working in an agribusiness/dairy-centric environment
• Flexible and adaptive to farm and factory working conditions
• Culturally sensitive and capable of dealing with diverse workforces (farm labor, production staff, technical teams)