Human Resources Director

ABOUT FRESH FOOD MARKET

Fresh Food Market opened in 2016 and was the first supermarket in Egypt to

bring shopping and dining together. Our five stores across Cairo and

Alexandria offer in-store dining across a range of counters serving

international cuisine.

Our central production unit, in 6th of October Industrial Area, produces

our bakery and viennoiserie, pastry, seafood, sauces, charcuterie, ready

meals and frozen range, alongside our private-label products. We work to a

clean-label standard, with no artificial preservatives.

THE ROLE

The HR Director owns the people side of the business: how we hire, how we develop people, and the culture we work in.

The role covers three areas, and each works differently: our headquarters, our stores, and our central production unit. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Strategy and partnership

Build and run the HR strategy behind the business plan. Act as the people

adviser to the Chief Executive and the leadership team, and translate

business objectives into clear talent and organisational priorities.

• Three business areas

Lead HR across headquarters, stores and the CPU, with policies applied

consistently but shaped to the realities of each: shift work, store hours,

production schedules and kitchen environments.

• Culture and change

Lead the cultural transformation. Define the culture with the leadership

team, embed it through everything from hiring to appraisal, measure

engagement honestly, and lead the people side of restructuring, growth and

change.

• Organisation and workforce planning

Design the organisational structure and run workforce planning: headcount,

manpower cost, staffing models for stores and the CPU, succession plans

for critical roles, and the talent pipelines behind them.

• Recruitment and talent

Own talent acquisition through the Head of Recruitment. Build the employer

brand, set recruitment standards and service levels, and make sure store

openings, seasonal peaks and production needs are staffed in time.

• Culinary hiring

Give the CPU dedicated HR leadership. Build sourcing networks for chefs,

sous chefs, kitchen managers and culinary specialists, and personally lead

the search for senior culinary roles. Assess chefs on leadership, food

safety and operational discipline as well as technical skill, and

understand the career paths, pay expectations and working patterns of the

profession.

• Reward

Own compensation and benefits through the Head of C&B. Keep pay

competitive and equitable across three very different labour markets,

maintain grading and incentive structures, and hold total compensation

within budget.

• Learning and development

Own learning through the Head of OD & Learning. Build onboarding,

leadership development for store managers, kitchen managers and chefs,

career frameworks, and a real measure of whether the training worked.

• Performance

Run a performance system that gives everyone clear objectives and honest

feedback, supports managers in using it, addresses underperformance

properly, and links performance to development, progression and reward.

• Employee relations

Lead on complex employee relations. Set a fair and professional approach

to grievances, discipline and conflict, and support store leaders and

kitchen managers in handling issues consistently.

• Policy and compliance

Build the HR policies, processes and governance the company does not yet

have, keep them practical for shift-based and operational teams, and

ensure compliance with Egyptian labour law and proper handling of employee

data.

• Budget and data

Own the HR budget and workforce costs, report on them to management, and

run HR on data: headcount, turnover, absence, time to hire, productivity

and labour cost by business area.

WHAT WE EXPECT

—  Critical roles filled in time, with time-to-fill on chef and CPU positions measured and improving.

—  Engagement measured properly in all three business areas, and acted on.

—  Headcount within the approved plan, and personnel cost within budget.

—  Managers across stores and kitchens who are visibly better at leading people than they are today.

—  An HR team that business leaders come to for advice, not just paperwork.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

- Twelve or more years in HR, with substantial time in senior HR

 leadership

- Experience running HR for 400 or more employees, across multiple sites

- All three disciplines: compensation and benefits, talent acquisition,

 and learning and organisational development

- Culture change and transformation, with a record of taking HR from

 administrative to strategic

- Operational environments: retail, FMCG, food, hospitality or similar

 fast-paced businesses

- Chef and culinary hiring, or direct experience supporting kitchens,

 central production, restaurants or hospitality operations

- Workforce planning, organisational design and performance management,

 and experience managing a significant HR budget

- Experience working directly with chief executives and leadership teams

- A degree in HR, business, organisational psychology or a related field

- Fluent Arabic and English

DESIRABLE

- Professional HR qualification, or a postgraduate qualification in HR or

 organisational development

- Experience of a company separating from a parent group, or building an

 HQ from scratch

- Experience opening new sites and staffing them to a schedule

- Strong command of HR systems, dashboards and workforce analytics

- Experience of Egyptian labour law in a multi-site operational business

HOW WE WORK

We work with transparency and respect as operating principles rather than

statements. Issues are raised early and resolved together, ideas are

credited, and people are supported to develop. We hold ourselves to an

ethical standard in how we source, how we produce and how we treat our

teams. This role, more than any other, is accountable for making that

true.

HOW TO APPLY

Send your CV and a short covering note outlining your relevant experience

and interest in the role.

Applications to [Confidential Information], quoting HR Director in the

subject line.