Senior Specialist – Total Rewards

About the role

The Senior Specialist – Total Rewards partners with HR, Finance and university leaders to design, implement and continuously improve MBZUAI’s total rewards and workforce planning frameworks. The role ensures that compensation, benefits and reward programs are competitive, equitable and financially sustainable, supporting the institution’s strategic priorities.

Key responsibilities

• Design, review and administer salary structures, incentives, benefits and other reward programs, conducting market benchmarking across higher‑education and technology sectors.
• Lead annual salary and bonus cycles, including eligibility validation, modelling, calibration and implementation.
• Conduct job evaluations, maintain job architecture, and ensure grading decisions are documented and compliant with policy.
• Translate institutional priorities into workforce plans, headcount forecasts and cost models, monitoring variances and risks.
• Develop and maintain dashboards and analytics on compensation, benefits, workforce cost and composition to support leadership decisions.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Economics or related field; postgraduate degree preferred.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in total rewards, compensation, benefits, job evaluation or workforce planning.
• Proven experience in compensation benchmarking, salary structure analysis and reward programme administration.
• Strong analytical and financial modelling capability with advanced Excel proficiency.
• Excellent stakeholder‑management and communication skills.

Required skills

• Advanced Excel
• Financial modelling
• HR data analysis
• Compensation benchmarking tools
• Scenario modelling