Kajal Shah

HR/Talent Acquisition Officer - Nov 2024 - Present
Ayedh Dejem Group (ADG) | Real Estate, Construction & Investment | UAE, KSA & International
• Lead strategic talent acquisition and workforce planning across multi-business operations in UAE, KSA, and
international markets — managing end-to-end hiring from blue-collar to C-suite and Board-level.
• Hired 35+ employees within the first year; received formal recognition for outstanding contribution to HR and
recruitment excellence.
• Partner with CEO, Chairman, and BOD to align people strategy, manpower planning, and HR budget with business
growth priorities and operational objectives.
• Designed and executed comprehensive recruitment strategies for real estate, project management, design, finance,
legal, and commercial roles; built talent pipelines for Project Directors, Development Managers, Quantity
Surveyors, Asset Managers, and Leasing Managers.
• Screened, shortlisted, and presented structured candidate reports to HODs, CEO, Chairman, and BOD within agreed
SLAs — ensuring informed, timely hiring decisions.
• Developed and updated job descriptions aligned with KPIs and competency frameworks, achieving 90% HRMS role
coverage.
• Monitored and reported on recruitment KPIs: hiring cycle time, budget vs. actual spend, turnover trends, and
workforce analytics dashboards.
• Ensured full compliance of HR processes, employment documentation, and onboarding activities with UAE Labor
Law, internal governance standards, and best practices.
• Led employee lifecycle management including visa coordination, medical insurance, contracts, system access, and
seamless new-hire integration.
• Drove employer brand positioning via LinkedIn Recruiter, real estate networks, industry events, and referral
programs to attract top-tier regional and global talent.
• Advised senior leadership on compensation benchmarking, salary market data, talent availability, and GCC hiring
trends.
• Supported employee retention initiatives, turnover analysis, and engagement programs — maintaining attrition
below 20%.

Presently working with REDEAST Recruitment Agency DMCC in Dubai, UAE from January 2016 till date as Recruitment Specialist for Construction& Properties, Engineering, Oil & Gas, Power & Other Non IT Sectors.
• Responsible for the recruitment life cycle includes sourcing, screening, head hunting, interview coordination and salary negotiation.
• Interviewing and assessing prospective applicants and matching them with vacancies at client companies .
• Determines applicant qualifications by screening applicants; analyzing responses; and comparing qualifi cations to job requirements and drawing up short-lists.
Organizing interviews and helping applicants to prepare for interviews.
• Using a variety of software packages such as Microsoft Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, etc to produc e certain documents and maintain records, spreadsheets and databases
• Formatting candidates CVs & Preparing Coversheet of Candidate Application by highlighting his professional experience, projects & achievements.
• Responsible for the monitoring and improvement of the recruitment process in the organization.
• Act as a point of contact and build influential candidate relationships during the selection process.
Regularly provide guidance and assistance to job applicants with job application and selection Process.
• Determines clients requirements by studying job description and job qualifications.
• Identifies and source passive and active candidates by leveraging a variety of recruitment resources su ch as job boards, social media, resume databases & networks.
• Analyzes the recruitment process performance and recommends changes to the recruitment process an d implements changes
• Identifies difficult job vacancies and investigates the best recruitment approach for them.
• Advise candidates on interview schedules, providing them with relevant information related to the job (such as job profile, job compensation, organizational structure etc.) and attend to any queries they may have related to the position applied for.
• Attracts applicants by placing job advertisements in different job boards; Linked-in and social media.
• Develop and update job descriptions and job specifications
• Develop, maintain as well as present various recruitment reports such as (candidate application status, positions vacant/filled Vs Manpower plan, Monthly Reports etc.)
• Developing and Maintaining a good relationship with the candidates while onboarding process & even after candidates joining with the client.
Achievements-

Achieved targets by placing potential & qualified candidates on various levels like Contract Manager,
Contract Engineer, Construction Manager, Engineering Manager, Telecommunication Engineer, Planning Engineer, QA/QC Manager, Investment & Finance Manager, HSE Manager, Quantity Surveryor and others across Middle east.

• Lead strategic talent acquisition and workforce planning across multi-business operations in UAE, KSA, and international
markets — managing end-to-end hiring from operational to C-suite and Board-level roles.
• Hired 35+ employees within the first year; received formal recognition for outstanding contribution to HR and recruitment
excellence.
• Partner with CEO, Chairman, and Board of Directors to align people strategy, manpower planning, and HR budget with
business growth priorities.
• Designed and executed recruitment strategies for real estate, project management, design, finance, legal, and commercial
roles; built pipelines for Project Directors, Development Managers, Quantity Surveyors, and Property consultant,
Intelligent Automation Engineer, Business System Analyst, AI consultant and Asset Managers etc.
• Developed job descriptions aligned with KPIs and competency frameworks, achieving 90% HRMS role coverage.
• Ensured full compliance of HR processes, documentation, and onboarding with UAE Labor Law and internal governance
standards.
• Advised senior leadership on compensation benchmarking, talent availability, and GCC hiring trends; maintained attrition
below 20%.

• Managed end-to-end HR operations for a 200+ employee workforce across UAE and KSA, ensuring full compliance with UAE
& KSA labor law, WPS, and internal HR policies.
• Implemented HRMS (Akrivia HCM) and ERP (Odoo) from scratch — covering payroll, attendance, recruitment, onboarding,
performance management, and L&D — reducing manual HR workload by 40%.
• Reviewed and redesigned HR policies, procedures, and the employee handbook in line with UAE and KSA regulations.
• Managed full-cycle recruitment, payroll via WPS, leave administration, gratuity provisioning, and HR compliance reporting
for senior management.
• Served as primary liaison with PROs for visa processing, renewals, and government compliance (MOHRE, MOL,
Immigration).
• Drove employee engagement initiatives and pulse surveys to enhance workforce morale, satisfaction, and retention.

Group Talent Acquisition Specialist- Apr 2018 - Apr 2021
Al Dhaheri Capital Investment Group (ADCI) | Investment & Group Holding | Dubai, UAE
• Served as central recruitment business partner for multiple subsidiaries and business units — managing full-cycle
hiring from C-suite to junior levels across UAE and international markets.
• Strengthened employer brand, driving a 40% increase in qualified applicant flow and positioning the group as
preferred employer in the GCC market.
• Redesigned the onboarding program, improving new hire retention by 20% and significantly enhancing the new
employee integration experience.
• Conducted salary benchmarking, compensation analysis, and offer management to support competitive hiring
decisions and leadership approvals.
• Built talent pipelines through LinkedIn Recruiter, job portals, networking, and academic partnerships; executed
targeted headhunting for senior and niche roles.
• Tracked and presented recruitment KPIs and analytics to senior management; drove data-informed decisions on
hiring timelines and talent strategy.
• Fostered diverse and inclusive hiring practices, contributing to improved workforce representation across business
units.
• Awarded Star Employee - HR Department (2019) for exceptional contribution to talent acquisition and HR
operations.

• Served as central recruitment business partner for multiple subsidiaries, managing full-cycle hiring from C-suite to junior
levels across UAE and international markets.
• Strengthened employer brand, driving a 50% increase in qualified applicant flow and positioning the group as a preferred
GCC employer.
• Redesigned the onboarding program, improving new hire retention by 20%.
• Conducted salary benchmarking, compensation analysis, and offer management to support competitive hiring decisions.
• Tracked and presented recruitment KPIs and analytics to senior management to drive data-informed hiring strategy. for

• Filled mid-to-senior-level positions across Oil & Gas, Construction, Petrochemicals, and Power sectors in GCC and China
markets using proactive headhunting techniques.
• Reduced time-to-fill by 30% through streamlined sourcing strategies and structured interview processes.
• Improved candidate quality by 40% through competency-based screening and rigorous assessment methodologies.
• Achieved a 95% offer acceptance rate through expert compensation negotiation and proactive candidate engagement.

Randstad India (Formerly known as Mafoi) is Global fortune 500 MNC with having presence across the world). It is an Indias market leading HR services provider offering the broadest portfolio ranging from Permanent recruitment, Contract staffing to recruitment process outsourcing.

Key Responsibilities: -

• Manage end to end life cycle of recruitment as requirement analysis, client needs, sourcing, screening, interview-coordination, salary/benefits negotiation.
• Manage Assignments like Perm Recruitment, RPO & Volume Hiring.
• Generate new business leads to develop business through cold calling & referral. Discuss about with potential client about Randstad permanent recruitment services and finalize the contract.

• Accountable to nurture & interface the Key Accounts clients for Private and Public Sector as Manufacturing, Engineering, Oil & Gas, Auto & Ancillaries, Petrochemicals, Dairy and other industries across Western Region of India.

• Hands on experience in recruitments across all levels in specialisation in executive, middle level and senior level for different sectors like Manufacturing, Engineering, Auto ancillary, Dairy, Power, E&I etc.

• Sourcing candidates through Head Hunting/ Mapping / Existing database & Job portals referencing/networking, mapping, head hunting for active & passive candidates for all levels.

• Coordinate with colleges for Campus Interviews and conduct Walk in Interviews for blue collars workers.

• Facilitates the process of candidate selection; interviewing; salary negotiation; job offer; background check; candidate on-boarding process for the clients.

• Maintain up-to-date & accurate candidate data on recruitment database.

• Handle internal compliance and internal audits within the regional business centre.

• Prepare and finalize the monthly and quarterly reports and forward to Regional Business Head.

• Coach, mentor and lead the junior recruiters within the team.

• Managed permanent recruitment, RPO mandates, and high-volume hiring across FMCG, Construction & Engineering, Oil &
Gas, Automotive, IT, Retail and Manufacturing industries.
• Consistently achieved 70-80% of annual revenue targets; built and managed key accounts across private and public sector
organizations.
• Awarded Star Consultant (2012 & 2013) and Selection Champion (2014) for excellence in recruitment delivery.

• Delivered end-to-end recruitment mandates across diverse industry verticals; developed sourcing strategies and client
account management expertise.

• Delivered end-to-end recruitment mandates across diverse industry verticals in early career.

Co-ordinating with the clients regarding their requirements Co-ordinating with the Clients and the Candidates together
• Arranging Interviews between the Clients and the Candidates.
• Scheduling, calling the candidates and coordinate the Interviews of the Candidates as per the best convenience of organization and the Interviewee
• Accessing various job portals & sourcing, scrutinizing the resumes as per the Client’s Requirements