Group Head of Total Rewards

Required Skills

The successful candidate will have 12-15 years of experience in Total Rewards/Compensation & Benefits, including significant leadership in multinational environments. A minimum of 3-5 years of UAE experience is required, and candidates must be based in or willing to relocate to Abu Dhabi. Essential expertise includes executive compensation, job evaluation, salary benchmarking, incentive design, and experience with Board or Remuneration Committee stakeholders.

Job description / Role Job Type Full Time Job Location Abu Dhabi, UAE Nationality Any Nationality Salary Not Specified Gender Not Specified Arabic Fluency Not Specified Job Function HR, Recruitment & Training Company Industry FMCG / Consumer Goods Irwin & Dow is partnering with a highly respected international organisation to appoint a Group Head of Total Rewards, based in Abu Dhabi. This is a senior leadership role responsible for defining and delivering a global rewards strategy across a complex, multi-country workforce. Reporting to the Group CHRO, you will shape and lead the organisation’s Total Rewards philosophy, ensuring all compensation, benefits, and incentive frameworks are commercially aligned, externally competitive, internally equitable, and fully compliant across diverse international markets. A key strategic partner to the CHRO, CFO, senior leadership team, and the Board Nomination & Remuneration Committee, you will provide expert guidance on executive compensation, reward governance, workforce cost optimisation, and pay-related risk. The role requires strong executive presence, commercial acumen, and the ability to influence at the highest level of a global organisation. You will oversee the full rewards agenda, including compensation design, job architecture and grading frameworks, executive remuneration, global benefits strategy, incentive structures (STI/LTIP), payroll governance, and advanced reward analytics. A central focus will be the harmonisation of reward practices across multiple geographies, balancing global consistency with local market and regulatory requirements. Requirements: The successful candidate will bring 12–15 years’ experience in Total Rewards / Compensation & Benefits, including significant leadership within multinational environments. You must have a minimum of 3–5 years’ UAE experience and currently be based in, or willing to relocate to Abu Dhabi. Deep expertise in executive compensation, job evaluation methodologies, salary benchmarking, and incentive design is essential, alongside experience engaging with Board or Remuneration Committee stakeholders. This is a rare opportunity to join a global organisation undergoing continued growth and transformation, offering a highly competitive executive package and the opportunity to significantly shape enterprise-wide reward strategy. About the Company Irwin & Dow was established in 2013 to provide clients with a unique and highly personalised recruitment service, providing the very top calibre of candidates across the business support and secretarial function. We provide a refreshing approach, working in close partnership with clients and candidates across diverse industry sectors; large MNC’s, government & semi -government entities, SME’s, local businesses and in the start-up and UHNWI support framework. Great people equal great success: all our candidates are interviewed personally by a member of the team, and we develop longstanding and in-depth relationships with our clients, understanding their corporate culture and goals to ensure a successful outcome for both parties. Our values of discretion and diplomacy are paramount, and we are pleased to be a partner of choice for clients and candidates. Easy Apply