VentureOne is building AD Robotics — a next-generation service robotics venture deploying intelligent robots in human environments across high-impact industries. This foundational HR Manager role in Abu Dhabi is responsible for building and running the entire core HR function as the company scales — owning the employee lifecycle end-to-end, managing UAE labour law, MOHRE, WPS payroll, Emiratisation, and HRIS, and shaping the people culture of a fast-moving, technical organisation. Ideal for an experienced start-up or high-growth HR leader with UAE experience.
About AD Robotics & VentureOne — Next-Generation Robotics in Abu Dhabi
Venture: AD Robotics — a new, purpose-built robotics venture developing intelligent service robots for human environments
Mission: Improve productivity, safety, and efficiency across high-impact industries through versatile robotic systems
Stage: Early-stage to full operational maturity — a genuine ground-floor HR leadership opportunity in Abu Dhabi’s emerging robotics sector
Parent: VentureOne — a builder of next-generation technology ventures in the UAE
Culture: Fast-moving, technical, multicultural — a dynamic start-up environment where HR leadership has direct, visible impact on organisational success
HR Scope — Build It From the Ground Up
HR Infrastructure: Design and implement HRIS, employee records, and workflow systems for a scaling robotics organisation
Employee Lifecycle: Onboarding → contracts → probation → performance → promotions → transfers → offboarding
UAE Compliance: MOHRE regulations, UAE labour law, WPS payroll, visa/work permit, Emiratisation requirements
Culture & Engagement: Build and sustain employee engagement, culture initiatives, and manager capability in a fast-paced technical team
HR Reporting: Accurate headcount, attrition, and workforce cost metrics for leadership and C-suite reporting
Position Overview
This HR Manager role at AD Robotics in Abu Dhabi is one of the most genuinely exciting HR leadership opportunities in the UAE’s rapidly growing technology and robotics sector right now. As the foundational HR leader, you will build the entire people function from the ground up — designing and implementing HRIS infrastructure, creating HR policies and employee handbooks, managing UAE labour law and MOHRE compliance, administering WPS payroll, leading employee relations, building compensation and benefits frameworks, running performance management cycles, and championing a strong organisational culture that attracts and retains world-class technical talent. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role for an experienced HR professional who is genuinely energised by the challenge of building something new — and who has the UAE-specific HR expertise to navigate the regulatory, cultural, and operational demands of a fast-scaling technology start-up.
Why This Role Matters: As HR Manager at AD Robotics — Abu Dhabi’s next-generation intelligent service robotics company — you will build the HR foundation that enables a pioneering robotics venture to hire, develop, and retain the world-class technical and operational talent it needs to scale, manage UAE labour law, MOHRE, WPS, and Emiratisation compliance from day one with confidence and expertise, partner directly with founders and C-suite leadership to shape organisational design and people strategy, and leave a lasting mark on the culture and structure of an Abu Dhabi technology venture that is working to define the future of robotics in the UAE and beyond.
Key Responsibilities
HR Infrastructure Design & HRIS Implementation
- Design and implement the core HR infrastructure for AD Robotics from the ground up — including HRIS selection and configuration, employee records systems, HR workflow automation, and documentation management frameworks appropriate for a rapidly scaling technology organisation
- Evaluate, select, and implement an HRIS platform suited to the company’s current scale and future growth requirements — integrating it with ATS platforms and Finance systems to create a seamless, data-accurate people operations foundation
- Develop and maintain HR policies, comprehensive employee handbooks, and standard operating procedures that are fully aligned with UAE labour law, MOHRE requirements, and AD Robotics’ organisational values and technical culture
- Build scalable HR processes and workflow systems that can grow with the organisation — ensuring the people function remains efficient, compliant, and capable as AD Robotics expands across functions and geographies
Full Employee Lifecycle Management
- Own the complete employee lifecycle end-to-end — from onboarding and contract issuance through probation management, performance reviews, promotions, internal transfers, and full offboarding — ensuring every stage is handled professionally, compliantly, and with a positive employee experience
- Partner closely with hiring managers and the Talent Acquisition function to support headcount planning, offer structuring, and new joiner integration — ensuring every new AD Robotics employee has a structured, welcoming, and effective first experience with the organisation
- Design and administer a comprehensive compensation and benefits framework — including competitive salary benchmarking, health insurance management, leave policies, end-of-service benefit calculations, and all other compensation elements relevant to AD Robotics’ technical workforce
- Drive performance management cycles and goal-setting processes — building manager capability across the organisation and ensuring performance conversations are consistent, development-focused, and aligned with AD Robotics’ organisational objectives
UAE Labour Law, MOHRE & WPS Compliance
- Manage full UAE labour law compliance across all employment relationships — including MOHRE regulatory requirements, employee contract standards, probation period management, disciplinary procedure compliance, and end-of-service entitlement calculations
- Own and administer all UAE visa and work permit processes — managing applications, renewals, cancellations, and medical requirements for AD Robotics’ international and national workforce in coordination with relevant government authorities
- Administer WPS (Wage Protection System) payroll processing — coordinating with Finance to ensure accurate, timely, and fully compliant monthly salary disbursement for all AD Robotics employees in accordance with UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation requirements
- Manage Emiratisation compliance — understanding and implementing applicable Emiratisation requirements relevant to AD Robotics’ business activity, supporting national talent identification, and maintaining accurate reporting for relevant UAE government authorities
Employee Relations & HR Leadership
- Lead all employee relations matters — including grievance handling, disciplinary processes, performance improvement plans, and conflict resolution — ensuring fair, consistent, and legally sound application of policy across the organisation at all times
- Build and sustain a strong, inclusive employee engagement and organisational culture suited to a fast-paced, highly technical, multicultural workforce — championing the values and behaviours that will define AD Robotics as an employer of choice in Abu Dhabi’s competitive technology talent market
- Partner directly with founders and C-suite leadership on organisational design, workforce planning, and change management — providing strategic HR insight that supports the company’s growth decisions as it scales from early-stage venture to operational maturity
- Manage medical insurance and all other employee benefits administration — ensuring all benefits are correctly enrolled, accurately maintained, and communicated clearly to employees across the organisation
HR Reporting, Metrics & Organisational Intelligence
- Ensure accurate, timely HR reporting and metrics for leadership — including headcount data, attrition analysis, workforce cost summaries, and hiring pipeline status — providing the people analytics insights that support evidence-based business decisions at the C-suite level
- Build and maintain KPI dashboards that give leadership full visibility of the organisation’s people health — covering hiring performance, retention rates, engagement indicators, and compliance status across all HR functional areas
- Support organisational design and workforce planning as AD Robotics grows — analysing headcount requirements, identifying structural gaps, and recommending people strategy solutions that align with the company’s operational and commercial growth trajectory
Qualifications & Requirements
Education & Certification
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a closely related field — mandatory educational foundation for this senior HR leadership role at AD Robotics
- Master’s degree in HR, Business Administration, or Organisational Psychology is preferred for senior-level candidates applying to this foundational HR Manager position
- Professional HR certification — CIPD (Level 7), SHRM-SCP, or equivalent internationally recognised HR qualification — is a clear and significant advantage for this role
Experience Requirements
- 8+ years of progressive HR experience, with at least 3 years in a senior, standalone, or Head of HR leadership role — preferably in a UAE-based organisation
- Proven, demonstrable experience building or scaling an HR function within a start-up, scale-up, or high-growth organisation — comfortable working with limited existing infrastructure and building processes from scratch
- Strong, practical working knowledge of UAE labour law, MOHRE regulatory processes, UAE visa and immigration procedures, WPS payroll requirements, and Emiratisation obligations
- Hands-on experience with HRIS platforms — including system selection, configuration, and ongoing management in a growing organisation — and experience integrating HRIS with ATS and Finance platforms
- Experience in a technology, robotics, engineering, or advanced manufacturing environment is preferred — familiarity with the talent profiles and organisational culture of technical start-ups is a significant advantage
Personal Competencies
- Comfortable operating with ambiguity and building people processes from the ground up — a genuine builder’s mindset combined with the professional maturity to make sound HR decisions independently in a fast-moving start-up context
- Strong stakeholder management skills — with demonstrated experience partnering directly with founders, C-suite executives, or senior leadership to influence people strategy and organisational design decisions
- Demonstrated ability to manage employee relations matters with sound judgement, cultural sensitivity, and the professional discretion essential in a high-trust HR leadership role
- Energised by complexity, ambiguity, and the opportunity to create — the ideal candidate finds genuine satisfaction in building systems, shaping culture, and solving people challenges in a dynamic, ambitious technology organisation
About AD Robotics & the Abu Dhabi Technology Opportunity
Abu Dhabi is rapidly positioning itself as a global hub for advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and next-generation manufacturing — with significant government investment, a thriving start-up ecosystem, and an ambition to diversify the UAE’s economy through world-class technology ventures. AD Robotics, built by VentureOne, is one of the most exciting new ventures in this landscape — developing intelligent service robots designed to operate safely and effectively in human environments across industries where productivity, safety, and efficiency gains are most needed and most impactful.
For experienced HR leaders, this foundational role represents a genuinely rare career opportunity — the chance to be the person who builds the people function of a pioneering technology company from the very beginning. There are very few moments in an HR career where the canvas is truly blank, the mandate is genuinely broad, and the impact of your work is so directly visible in the organisation that emerges. If you have the UAE HR expertise, the start-up experience, and the ambition to build something exceptional in Abu Dhabi’s technology sector, this is the role designed for you.
Career Excellence: Join AD Robotics as HR Manager in Abu Dhabi — where your UAE labour law expertise, start-up HR experience, and people leadership skills will build the human foundation of a next-generation robotics company and shape the careers and culture of the team that powers its remarkable growth journey.
Who Should Apply?
- UAE-Experienced Senior HR Managers: With 8+ years of progressive HR leadership and proven UAE labour law, MOHRE, and WPS compliance expertise — ready to build an HR function from the ground up in an Abu Dhabi robotics start-up
- Start-Up & Scale-Up HR Leaders: With a demonstrated track record of building or scaling HR operations in a technology, engineering, or advanced manufacturing environment with limited initial infrastructure
- CIPD / SHRM-SCP Certified HR Professionals: Holding internationally recognised professional HR qualifications and strong UAE employment law knowledge — seeking a high-ownership, foundational HR leadership role in Abu Dhabi’s exciting robotics sector
- HR Business Partners with Start-Up DNA: Experienced in partnering directly with founders and C-suite leadership, designing people strategy, managing organisational design, and championing culture in a fast-moving, technical company
- HRIS Implementation Specialists with UAE HR Expertise: With hands-on HRIS selection and implementation experience and deep knowledge of UAE WPS payroll, Emiratisation requirements, and MOHRE processes — ready to build a world-class people operations function for a next-generation robotics company
Recently opened JOBS 👇🏻
HR Specialist Jobs Dubai 2026
Human Resources Coordinator Jobs Abu Dhabi 2026
Human Resources Assistant Jobs Indiana 2026