Application Open:
Full-Time
Job Purpose:
The Senior Specialist, Total Rewards supports the design,
implementation, and continuous improvement of MBZUAI’s Total
Rewards and workforce planning frameworks, ensuring competitive,
equitable, and financially sustainable people practices aligned
with the University’s strategic priorities.
The role provides specialist expertise across compensation,
benefits, job evaluation, salary benchmarking, pay structures,
reward analytics, and annual reward processes, while supporting
workforce planning, organizational design, and workforce analytics.
Through market intelligence, scenario modelling, and people
analytics, the role provides data-driven recommendations on reward
competitiveness, internal equity, workforce requirements, and
people costs.
Working closely with Human Resources, Finance, and University
stakeholders, the position supports integrated workforce and reward
decisions that enable MBZUAI to attract, retain, and optimize a
high-performing and globally competitive workforce.
Key Responsibilities:
Total Rewards, Compensation & Benefits
- Support the design, review, and administration of MBZUAI’s
Total Rewards framework, including salary structures, allowances,
incentives, benefits, and other reward programs.
Conduct compensation and benefits benchmarking and market
analysis to assess competitiveness across relevant higher
education, research, technology, and UAE labor markets.
Support the annual salary review and bonus cycles, including
eligibility validation, modelling, calibration, analysis, and
implementation.
Provide compensation recommendations for new hires, promotions,
transfers, contract renewals, and other employee movements,
considering market positioning, internal equity, approved salary
structures, and applicable policies.
Monitor the utilization, cost, competitiveness, and
effectiveness of employee benefits and provide analysis to support
program reviews and renewal decisions.
Monitor market trends and regulatory developments and provide
evidence-based recommendations to maintain competitive, equitable,
and financially sustainable reward practices.
Job Evaluation & Reward Governance
- Conduct job evaluations and provide recommendations on
appropriate job grades using the University’s approved job
evaluation methodology.
- Design and maintain job architecture frameworks, including job
families, role levels, grading structures, and titling
conventions.
- Review new and revised positions to assess job size, internal
relativity, grading implications, and alignment with established
organizational and reward structures.
- Maintain Total Rewards policies, guidelines, methodologies, and
supporting documentation to promote consistent and transparent
reward decisions.
- Ensure compensation and grading decisions are supported by
appropriate analysis, approvals, and documentation in accordance
with MBZUAI policies and Delegation of Authority requirements.
Workforce Planning & Cost Management
- Translate institutional priorities into annual workforce plans,
headcount requirements, and hiring forecasts in coordination with
Finance and departmental stakeholders.
- Develop workforce models and scenario analyses to assess
planned hiring, attrition, workforce growth, hiring sequencing, and
associated cost implications.
- Monitor actual headcount against approved workforce plans and
identify material variances, emerging requirements, and workforce
risks.
- Support workforce planning across academic, research, and
professional services populations, accounting for their distinct
workforce profiles, talent requirements, and hiring cycles.
- Support organizational design and workforce-shaping
initiatives, including structural reviews, role clarity, spans and
layers, and workforce composition.
Provide workforce analysis to support decisions on hiring
priorities, workforce composition, Emiratization, and longer-term
capability requirements.
People Analytics & Workforce Intelligence
- Develop and maintain workforce and Total Rewards dashboards
covering headcount, workforce cost, compensation, benefits, hiring
trends, attrition, and workforce composition.
- Analyze workforce and reward data to identify trends, risks,
and opportunities related to internal equity, retention, workforce
cost, and organizational effectiveness.
- Deliver workforce insights and scenario analysis to support
leadership decision-making on workforce planning, talent
investment, compensation, and resource allocation.
- Support pay equity analysis, workforce segmentation, and
workforce cost modelling.
- Maintain data integrity and consistency across relevant HR,
payroll, ERP, and reporting systems.
Stakeholder Engagement & Strategic Advisory
- Provide specialist advice to management and HR stakeholders on
compensation, benefits, job evaluation, workforce planning, and
organizational design matters.
- Partner with Talent Acquisition to provide market and internal
compensation guidance for new hires and contract
renewals.Collaborate with HR Business
- Partners, Academic Appointments, Talent Management, Employee
Services, Finance, and Financial Planning & Analysis to support
integrated workforce and reward decisions.
- Support leadership in making informed decisions on workforce
structures, hiring priorities, reward positioning, and resource
allocation.
Facilitate alignment between academic, research, and administrative
units on workforce and Total Rewards requirements.
Governance, Reporting & Compliance
- Ensure Total Rewards and workforce planning practices comply
with institutional policies, governance requirements, and
applicable UAE regulations.
- Maintain accurate workforce and reward data, documentation, and
audit-ready records.
- Support reporting on key workforce, reward, and institutional
priorities, including Emiratization.
- Identify opportunities to improve Total Rewards and workforce
planning processes through automation, analytics, and AI-enabled
solutions.
Other Duties
- Carry out all other duties as reasonably directed by the line
manager that are commensurate with these functional
objectives.
Qualifications and Criteria:
- A bachelor’s degree in human resources, Business
Administration, Economics, or related field.
- A postgraduate degree will be preferred.
- Professional certification in compensation, benefits, reward,
or HR is desirable, such as Certified Compensation Professional
(CCP), Certified Benefits Professional (CBP), Global Remuneration
Professional (GRP), Certified Compensation and Benefits
Professional (CCBP), SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, CIPD, or HRCI
certification
Essential :
- Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience in Total
Rewards, Compensation & Benefits, Reward, or a closely related
HR specialization.
- Demonstrated experience in compensation benchmarking, salary
structure analysis, and reward programme administration.
- Experience supporting annual salary review, bonus, or other
compensation cycles.
- Experience in job evaluation, grading, and job
architecture.
- Experience analysing employee benefits and supporting benefits
programmes.
- Experience in workforce planning, headcount forecasting, or
workforce cost modelling.
- Strong analytical and financial modelling capability, with
advanced proficiency in Excel and experience working with HR
data.
- Demonstrated ability to translate compensation and workforce
data into practical recommendations for management.
- Strong stakeholder-management and communication skills.
Preferred :
- Experience within higher education, research, technology,
consulting, or another complex organization.
- Familiarity with compensation survey methodologies and market
benchmarking tools.
- Familiarity with UAE labor market practices, employment
regulations, and Emiratization requirements.
- Experience supporting Total Rewards or workforce transformation
initiatives.
