Human Resources Director

Role Purpose

Lead the People strategy for a fast-growing international school, aligning culture, capability, and capacity with the school's mission, values, and growth plans. Build high-performing, values-driven teams through safer recruitment, great onboarding, fair policies, meaningful development, and data-led decision making.

Key Responsibilities

People Strategy & Leadership

• Own the People strategy aligned to mission, values, and growth (incl. programme launches and boarding).
• Advise the Head of School/Leadership Team on workforce planning, organisation design, and change management.
• Lead annual headcount planning with Principals and department leads.

Talent Acquisition & Safer Recruitment

• Oversee Safer Recruitment: role design, adverts, screening, structured interviews, child-protection checks, references, offers, relocations/visas.
• Maintain an international talent pipeline and the Employee Referral Programme.

Onboarding, Induction & Retention

• Design and deliver a consistent onboarding journey (pre-arrival to term-end check-ins), including relocation support.
• Coordinate induction weeks, mentor/buddy schemes, and probation reviews.
• Monitor retention risks; conduct stay/exit interviews and drive follow-up actions.

Culture, Engagement & Wellbeing

• Champion school values; design recognition, inclusion, and wellbeing initiatives.
• Oversee engagement surveys and action plans development.
• Support restorative practices and positive staff relations across campuses/programmes.
• Oversee issuing a weekly Employees' Newsletter with team updates, policy notes, and essential information.

Performance & Development

• Own the performance framework: goal-setting, observations/feedback, reviews, and improvement plans.
• Build the Professional Development calendar & policy (IB/Waldorf/Montessori/leadership), track participation and impact.
• Lead succession planning for critical posts; run talent reviews with the leadership team.

Employee Relations, Policies & Compliance

• Handle ER matters promptly and fairly (informal resolution → formal processes).
• Partner with Safeguarding Leads to ensure Safer Recruitment, mandatory training, and reporting protocols.
• Own People policies (time off, conduct, grievance, whistleblowing, pay) and version control.
• Ensure compliance with
  Cyprus labour law
  ,
  Ministry of Education
  requirements, visas/migration,
  GDPR
  , and accreditation expectations (
  CIS/BSA/IB
  , as relevant).
• Manage investigations and liaise with legal counsel when required.

Compensation, Benefits & Time Off

• Benchmark roles; recommend annual pay/allowance adjustments to Finance/CEO.
• Plan and oversee benefits (health/life insurance, other) and vendor tenders.
• Govern time-off rules and workflows (BambooHR), approvals, and payroll cut-off alignment.

Data, Systems & Continuous Improvement

• Own HRIS (
  BambooHR
  ) data accuracy, workflows, and access rights.
• Produce monthly dashboards (headcount, vacancies, time-to-hire, absence, ER cases, PD hours, retention/turnover).
• Drive process automation and continuous improvement across all People operations.

Partnership & Communication

• Be a visible "go-to" partner for Principals, Faculty Leads, and Operations; provide clear, timely staff communications.

Candidate Profile

Qualifications & Experience

• Degree in HR/Business/Education (master's preferred) and recognised HR qualification an advantage.
• 7+ years in progressive HR roles, incl. leadership; experience in international/education settings preferred.
• Demonstrated success with recruitment, ER, policy governance, and HRIS (BambooHR desirable).
• English B2+

Skills & Attributes

• Strategic, hands-on leader; excellent judgement and integrity.
• Strong stakeholder management; clear written and verbal communication.
• Data-literate; comfortable with dashboards and evidence-based decisions.
• Inclusive, values-driven, and solution-focused; able to navigate growth and change.

Recruitment Process

• Screening interview with HR
• Interview with the Head of School
• Interview with CEO & Finance Director