Director People & Culture - Store Operations
- Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Posted 5 days ago
About the role
About the Role:
The Director People & Culture - Store Operations leads the People & Culture business partnership function for restaurant operations across all brands and markets within Americana Restaurants.
The role translates business priorities into scalable, consistent and high-impact people strategies, policies, and operational practices that support a consistent and high-performing workforce across the store network.
Working closely with brand leadership and operational teams, the role ensures that people practices across workforce planning, employee relations, performance management, and engagement are implemented consistently and aligned with Americana’s values and strategic priorities.
Through strong governance, data-driven decision making, and execution rigor the Director ensures Human Capital initiatives translate into measurable improvements in workforce stability, leadership capability, employee experience, and operational performance.
This role provides leadership and direction to the People & Culture business partnership teams supporting restaurant operations across brands and markets, ensuring consistent standards, coordination, and execution of Human Capital priorities across a large, multi-country workforce.
Key Responsibilities:
Operational People Strategy & Business Partnership
- Partner with brand and operations leadership to translate business strategy into clear, actionable workforce and people priorities across the restaurant network.
- Provide strategic HR guidance to senior operations leaders on workforce planning, leadership capability, and organizational effectiveness.
- Align Human Capital initiatives with operational goals including growth, service excellence, and operational consistency.
Human Capital Operations Governance
- Drive consistent implementation of people policies, processes, and initiatives across brands and countries.
- Ensure alignment between enterprise Human Capital strategy and local operational execution while balancing local market realities.
Operational Workforce Strategy
- Lead workforce strategies that support restaurant network growth, labor productivity, and operational stability.
- Partner with Operations and Finance to align workforce planning with expansion plans, staffing models, and labor requirements.
- Ensure strong talent pipelines and succession depth for restaurant leadership roles across markets.
Workforce Performance Management
- Monitor key workforce indicators including attrition, workforce stability, leadership readiness, and engagement across the restaurant network.
- Identify workforce trends and implement targeted, data-backed actions that strengthen operational stability and employee experience.
- Ensure people priorities are reflected in operational reviews and leadership decision making.
Employee Relations & Workplace Environment
- Oversee employee relations practices across markets to ensure fair, consistent, and values-aligned decision making.
- Ensure workplace issues are managed in line with company values, policies, and legal frameworks.
- Promote a culture of accountability, respect, and integrity across the operational workforce.
People Analytics & Workforce Insights
- Use people analytics to identify workforce trends, operational risks, and capability gaps across markets.
- Translate workforce data into actionable insights that support leadership decision making and operational planning.
- Strengthen workforce reporting and data quality to enable effective operational decision making.
Execution Discipline & Operational Coordination
- Ensure Human Capital initiatives are implemented consistently and effectively across markets.
- Coordinate the execution of enterprise people initiatives across brands and countries.
- Establish clear accountability and follow-through for operational people actions and track impact of key initiatives.
Operational Leadership Capability
- Partner with Talent and Learning teams to strengthen leadership capability across store operations.
- Identify leadership gaps that impact operational performance and employee engagement.
- Ensure development priorities for restaurant leadership roles align with business needs and future leadership pipeline requirements.
Culture & Values Alignment
- Champion the consistent application of Americana’s values across the operational workforce.
- Ensure people decisions reinforce the company’s culture and leadership expectations while strengthening a performance-driven environment.
- Promote leadership behaviors that strengthen engagement, accountability, and team performance.
Stakeholder Leadership
- Act as the senior People & Culture partner to operational leadership across brands and markets.
- Build strong relationships with brand leaders, country leadership teams, and P&C leaders.
- Influence leadership decisions through credible business insight and strong people expertise.
Qualifications & Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Psychology, or a related field.
- 15+ years of progressive HR experience with significant experience in HR business partnership within large-scale operational environments.
- Proven experience managing HR operations across high-volume, geographically dispersed workforces.
- Experience working in international or multi-country organizations.
- Strong expertise in employee relations, workforce planning, and HR governance.
- Experience using workforce data and analytics to inform people decisions and business strategy.
Key Skills:
- Strategic HR business partnership
- HR operations governance and execution
- Workforce planning and organizational effectiveness
- Employee relations and workplace management
- Data-driven decision making
- Stakeholder influence and leadership alignment
- Cross-market coordination and operational leadership
- Strong execution discipline and problem solving