Senior Specialist Manpower Planning

Role Overview

The Senior Specialist in Manpower Planning is tasked with overseeing the daily management and governance of outsourced manpower for Abu Dhabi Airports. This function centralizes responsibility previously divided among Procurement and various business units. The role ensures that outsourced workforce demand is critically evaluated, validated by sound business justifications, and managed within the operational expenditure framework to guarantee fairness, justification, and optimal cost control.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluate and challenge all outsourced manpower requests, confirming that each is genuinely necessary as opposed to optional before approval.
• Ensure that every manpower request is supported by a clear and justified business case aligning with the organization's operating plan and budget.
• Conduct thorough due diligence on every request, verifying role justification, scope, timeframe, and appropriate sourcing methods.
• Consistently implement the outsourcing policies and frameworks while preserving transparent audit records to support governance and assurance protocols.
• Act as the sole intake point for all outsourced manpower requests, preventing duplicate or unauthorized engagements.
• Maintain pay equity by uniformly applying rate cards and ensuring fair compensation across comparable roles.
• Oversee the benchmarking and management of rate cards, identifying inconsistencies and aligning internal and market pay standards.
• Monitor and reconcile contingent workforce spending against the approved operational expenditure to control costs effectively.
• Maintain precise data and generate regular reports regarding demand, headcount, expenses, and utilization for senior leadership reviews.
• Continually seek opportunities to improve efficiency, consolidate workforce demand, and minimize redundant labor.
• Collaborate with business units to plan and validate outsourced workforce needs.
• Coordinate with Procurement concerning vendor and contract issues and partner with Finance on budgets and spend reconciliations.
• Support risk assessments in cooperation with the Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) team, ensuring understanding of key risks without direct field involvement.
• Advocate for safe work practices, emphasizing prompt incident and near-miss reporting and environmental concerns to uphold organizational safety standards.
• Execute additional tasks as assigned by the manager to contribute to divisional and organizational objectives.

Essential Skills and Competencies

• Strong analytical abilities to critically assess demand and cost data and derive evidence-based conclusions.
• Commitment to governance and control through strict adherence to policies and maintaining audit trails.
• Commercial insight into cost drivers, rate structures, and operational expenditure management to inform sound decisions.
• Integrity in promoting pay equity and transparent, ethical treatment of workforce groups.
• Effective communication skills to convey complex information clearly to a variety of stakeholders.
• Proven ability in stakeholder management, building relationships across diverse internal groups to drive collaborative outcomes.
• Cross-functional collaboration experience fostering alignment among Procurement, Finance, and business units.