The dnata HR Business Partnerships Manager Dubai role places you at the center of people strategy and delivery across a global aviation and travel powerhouse. You’ll partner with HRBPs and business leaders to coach managers, resolve complex employee relations cases, and lead investigations with objectivity and discretion. Expect to drive organisation design, job evaluation, and change projects while steering the HR calendar from merit reviews to profit share. You’ll turn data into trends, improve attendance management, and lift engagement. Full-time in Dubai, it demands diplomacy, analytic rigour, and solutions-focused delivery within Emirates Group’s performance culture at pace across teams.
Table of Contents
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Job Overview
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About dnata (Emirates Group)
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Available Jobs (Related Roles)
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Job Description
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Key Responsibilities
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Why This Role?
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Requirements
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How to Apply
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FAQs
Job Overview
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Job Title: HR Business Partnerships Manager
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Company: dnata, part of Emirates Group
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Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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Employment Type: Full-time, on-site
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Closing Date: 20 Nov 2025
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Start Date: As soon as hiring formalities are completed
Summary:
The dnata HR Business Partnerships Manager Dubai opportunity places you at the heart of a global aviation and travel services leader. You will partner with HR Business Partners and senior managers to deliver solutions-focused HR, coach leaders on people decisions, and drive employee relations, investigations, and case management with objectivity and discretion. Expect to support organisation design, job evaluation, and change programs, while delivering the annual HR calendar (merit review, profit share, engagement initiatives). This role blends strategic partnering with hands-on execution, analytics, and continuous improvement—perfect for an experienced HR leader ready to operate at pace across a complex, multicultural business.
About dnata (Emirates Group)
dnata connects people with possibilities across more than 130 airports in 34 countries, spanning ground handling, cargo, travel, and catering & retail. The company’s purpose is clear: deliver on the promises our customers make. A bold vision to be the world’s most admired air and travel services provider shapes strategy, culture, and every role across teams. Core values—safety, playing to win, respect and teamwork, and future-thinking—guide day-to-day behavior. As part of the Emirates Group, dnata offers the scale, stability, and mobility of a world-class enterprise, empowering HR leaders to create measurable, people-centric impact across a truly global operation.
Available Jobs (Related Roles)
If you’re exploring options alongside the dnata HR Business Partnerships Manager Dubai role, consider these related paths to increase reach and matching opportunities:
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HR Business Partner (dnata / Emirates Group)
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Senior HR Manager – Employee Relations
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Organisation Development Manager
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Talent and Performance Lead
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HR Projects / Change Manager
Job Description
This is a high-influence, high-visibility HR leadership position that balances advisory depth with delivery excellence. You will act as a trusted coach to line managers, translating business priorities into practical HR solutions while ensuring fair, consistent practices aligned to policy and UAE labor law. A typical week blends ER casework, attendance management coaching, and guiding managers through investigations and hearings. You’ll contribute to organisation design, job role reviews, and job evaluation, shaping structures that enable performance.
Data matters here: you will identify people trends, surface insights, and recommend actions that lift engagement, performance, and compliance. You will also lead or support HR calendar milestones—merit and bonus cycles, profit share distribution processes, and communications that help leaders make informed, equitable decisions. The role is full-time and on-site in Dubai, working closely with HR Shared Services and cross-functional stakeholders to deliver a seamless, quality-led employee experience.
Key Responsibilities
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Employee Relations:
Mediate complex issues, maintain impartiality, and manage high-risk cases with care. Conduct thorough, objective investigations, escalate appropriately, and partner with employee assistance resources for sensitive matters. -
HR Partnering:
Provide practical, compliant guidance on people and organisational questions. Ensure consistency with company requirements and local employment laws. Coach managers to lead with clarity, document decisions, and uphold standards. -
Projects & HR Calendar:
Act as a point of contact for key HR projects and cyclical events such as annual pay reviews, merit allocation, and profit share. Track decisions, prepare communications, and support change adoption across teams. -
Attendance Management:
Offer targeted coaching to improve attendance outcomes. Manage complex cases related to long/short-term sickness, industrial injury, and occupational health referrals, ensuring policy alignment and empathy. -
Organisation Changes:
Support rollout of OD initiatives, structural changes, job role reviews, and job evaluation. Build stakeholder alignment and communicate rationale and implications clearly. -
Performance Culture:
Strengthen performance through goal setting, development planning, and in-cycle reviews. Share trend analysis so managers can address hotspots and recognise high performers. -
Culture & Engagement:
Gather insights from formal and informal channels. Co-create initiatives that lift engagement, inclusion, and team climate, and measure impact over time. -
Continuous Improvement:
Identify process friction points, design simplifications, and implement feedback loops that raise customer experience, quality, and efficiency in HR services. -
Talent & Capability:
Support local and overseas recruitment campaigns, applying structured selection methods. Feed training and coaching needs into the HRBP strategy for capability building. -
Quality Delivery:
Build strong networks across HR to ensure seamless service, consistent standards, and effective handoffs between specialist teams and Shared Services.
Why This Role?
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Strategic reach, practical delivery: Operate across multiple business lines, balancing big-picture partnering with hands-on case leadership.
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Global scale: Influence the people agenda in a multinational, multicultural operation with significant mobility and learning potential.
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Measurable impact: From ER cycle time to attendance improvement and engagement uplift, your work shows up in business outcomes.
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Culture that values excellence: Join a team aligned to safety, performance, respect, and innovation, where continuous improvement is expected and rewarded.
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Rewarding package: Enjoy tax-free compensation, healthcare, and travel benefits typical of Dubai-based roles within a major aviation group.
Requirements
Minimum Qualifications & Experience
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Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, or a related field.
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8+ years in Human Resources with substantial advisory/partnering experience.
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Technologically savvy, customer-oriented, and solutions-focused.
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Strong ability to coach and mentor managers; collaborate effectively across teams.
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Impartial and diplomatic, able to resolve conflict while maintaining relationships.
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Analytical, trend-aware, and comfortable turning insights into action.
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Ability to travel across Dubai and internationally when required.
You’ll Stand Out If You Have
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Knowledge of aviation, airport operations, or travel management.
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Professional accreditation such as CIPD, AHRI, or equivalent.
Eligibility Essentials
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Location: Based in Dubai (on-site).
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Work Authorisation: Valid UAE work rights per local regulations.
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Language: Fluent English; additional languages are an advantage.
How to Apply
FAQs
1) What level of seniority does the dnata HR Business Partnerships Manager Dubai role target?
Experienced HR professionals with at least 8 years of practice, capable of leading ER, advising managers, and delivering OD and change initiatives.
2) What does success look like in the first six months?
Clear improvements in ER workflow discipline, faster case resolution, consistent attendance coaching, and visible contribution to merit/profit share cycles and engagement activities.
3) How important is data in this role?
Very. Expect to identify people trends, present insights to HRBPs and leaders, and recommend targeted actions that improve performance, compliance, and culture.
4) Is sector experience in aviation required?
Not mandatory, but aviation or travel industry knowledge offers an advantage due to operational complexity and regulatory context.
5) What are the key soft skills for success?
Diplomacy, impartiality, relationship-building, and coaching—paired with structured problem-solving and a continuous improvement mindset.
Final Call
The dnata HR Business Partnerships Manager Dubai role is a rare opportunity to shape culture, performance, and change across a world-class aviation services group—while enjoying the rewards and lifestyle of Dubai. If you’re ready to pair strategic partnering with hands-on delivery, bring your data-driven mindset, coaching strength, and solutions focus, and submit your application before 20 Nov 2025.