People Director – Level Shoes – Chalhoub Group

Chalhoub Group has spent decades as a partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East, working across fashion, beauty, jewellery, watches, eyewear, and art de vivre categories, and this People Director role leads the human resources function for Level Shoes, the group’s luxury footwear retail concept. This is a senior HR leadership position responsible for people strategy across a distinctive, fast-moving luxury retail business.

The role covers the full breadth of strategic HR leadership: talent acquisition and workforce planning suited to a luxury retail environment, employee experience and engagement, performance and talent development, and organizational design as the Level Shoes business evolves. Because luxury retail depends so heavily on the quality and consistency of its customer-facing staff, this role has a particularly close relationship between HR strategy and the brand’s actual customer experience on the shop floor.

It suits a senior HR professional with a strong track record leading people strategy within retail, luxury, or another customer-facing consumer business, who is comfortable operating as a genuine business partner to commercial leadership, not just an administrative HR function. Strong stakeholder management and the credibility to influence senior leadership decisions are essential at this level.

For an HR leader who wants to shape people strategy for a recognizable luxury retail brand within a well-established regional group, this role offers genuine strategic scope and visibility.

In luxury retail, the quality of the customer experience depends heavily on the people delivering it, which means the People Director's decisions on hiring, training, and retention have a remarkably direct line to how Level Shoes' customers experience the brand on the shop floor. Getting talent strategy right, hiring people with the right blend of product knowledge, service instinct, and brand fit, protects the premium experience luxury customers expect and are paying for. Because luxury retail also depends on institutional knowledge, staff who deeply understand the brands and products they sell, strong retention strategy under this role's leadership directly protects that expertise from walking out the door. Organizational design decisions made at this level also determine how efficiently the Level Shoes business can scale or adapt as it grows, whether that means new store openings, evolving digital retail capabilities, or shifts in the luxury retail market more broadly. As a senior leadership role, the People Director's influence extends to shaping company culture and employee engagement, which research across the retail sector consistently links to lower turnover and stronger customer satisfaction outcomes.

Leading HR for Level Shoes places someone at the senior leadership table of a recognizable luxury retail brand within Chalhoub Group, one of the most established names in luxury retail and distribution across the Middle East, which carries genuine weight and visibility within the regional luxury and retail HR community. The role builds advanced strategic HR skills, organizational design, workforce planning tailored to luxury retail's particular talent needs, and genuine business partnership with commercial leadership, all of which are highly valued credentials for future Chief People Officer or broader HR executive roles. Chalhoub Group's scale and portfolio across fashion, beauty, jewellery, watches, eyewear, and art de vivre categories also creates potential pathways for a strong People Director to move into broader group-level HR leadership roles over time. Specializing in luxury retail HR specifically is also a distinctive professional niche, since the sector's particular blend of brand experience, customer service excellence, and talent retention challenges requires expertise that differs meaningfully from general retail or corporate HR practice, making this experience genuinely valuable for future roles within the luxury sector specifically. For a senior HR professional, this role offers the combination of strategic scope, brand prestige, and regional relevance that defines a strong senior leadership credential.

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field; a relevant master’s degree is an advantage
• Significant senior HR leadership experience, ideally within retail, luxury, or another customer-facing consumer business
• Strong track record in talent acquisition, workforce planning, and organizational design
• Experience leading employee experience, engagement, and performance management strategy
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to act as a genuine business partner to commercial leadership
• Deep understanding of UAE labor law and regional HR practices
• Strong people leadership skills to lead and develop the HR team itself
• Genuine interest in and understanding of the luxury retail sector