Director, Human Resources - India and UAE

Cognite
Bengaluru, United Arab Emirates
Workplace: HybridFull timeFunction: People, HR & TalentExperience: 15+ yearsSkills: ["Leadership","Judgment","Composure","Discretion","Risk mitigation"]

Lead HR for India and UAE as a hybrid, Bengaluru-based Director reporting into the global People Operations team. Serve as trusted advisor and hands-on operator across employee relations, compliance governance, workforce planning, and organizational effectiveness. Build and modernize employee handbooks and policies, translate complex India employment law and UAE labor requirements into pragmatic guidance, and partner with Legal and global People Business Partners to manage risk and support entity growth.

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FursaFursa
Cognite
Cognite
1 month ago

Director, Human Resources - India and UAE

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Job Summary

Lead HR for India and UAE as a hybrid, Bengaluru-based Director reporting into the global People Operations team. Serve as trusted advisor and hands-on operator across employee relations, compliance governance, workforce planning, and organizational effectiveness. Build and modernize employee handbooks and policies, translate complex India employment law and UAE labor requirements into pragmatic guidance, and partner with Legal and global People Business Partners to manage risk and support entity growth.
Location: Bengaluru, United Arab Emirates
Workplace: Hybrid
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: People, HR & Talent
Seniority: Director level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Act as the HR leader for India and UAE, integrating local market perspectives into the global People strategy to drive organizational effectiveness and compliant, scalable practices.
  • •Lead continuous improvement of employee handbooks and policies across India, translating complex regulatory requirements into pragmatic, user-friendly guidance.
  • •Partner with Legal to monitor evolving employment law, update policies and manager guidance, and mitigate risk while ensuring consistency across jurisdictions.
  • •Own the end-to-end employee relations lifecycle (investigations, performance management, and sensitive exits) aligned with local legislation in each country.
  • •Partner with Legal to design and refine risk-mitigation protocols and litigation prevention initiatives to safeguard the organization and support business goals.

Key Requirements

  • •15+ years of progressive HR experience, including 5+ years as a Director or Senior People Business Partner overseeing multi-country environments in a SaaS or high-tech sector.
  • •Deep, hands-on expertise in India’s multi-state regulatory landscape (including Gratuity, PF, ESI, and Labor Code reforms) and the ability to navigate UAE labor laws and sponsorship rules.
  • •Proven track record building HR infrastructure in hyper-growth environments, managing complex investigations and independent organizational design across a matrixed global structure.
  • •Ability to translate regulatory complexity into clear, actionable guidance and design pragmatic, locally compliant policies and frameworks.
  • •Experience serving as senior HR leader with credibility, judgment, and perspective as a practitioner close to the work.
Experience:15+ yearsSaaSHigh-tech
Skills:LeadershipJudgmentComposureDiscretionRisk mitigation
Languages:English

Company Brief

Cognite
Provides industrial data software that helps companies connect, contextualize, and use operational data for analytics, AI, and digital transformation. Its platform is used by heavy-industry customers to improve asset performance and operations.
Industry: Data Infrastructure
Company Size: Large (251 to 1,000 employees)
Growth: Scaleup
Headquarters: Oslo, Norway
Founded: 2016
WebsiteLinkedIn