Head of Human Resources

Our Client is a dynamic and innovative oil and gas firm serving the energy needs of the Nigerian market with a renewed focus on downstream excellence, customer-centricity, and operational efficiency. Since its inception, the company has established itself as a leader in the trading, supply, and distribution of petroleum products, leveraging a massive retail network and strategic logistics infrastructure.

As they deepen their commitment to organizational growth, talent optimization, and cultural transformation, we seek an outstanding Human Resources leader to foster a high-performance workforce, drive employee engagement, and ensure alignment with Nigerian labor laws and international industry standards.

Head of Human Resources is a critical executive leadership role accountable for enterprise-wide talent strategy, organizational development, and people-based governance. The incumbent will act as a trusted advisor to the CEO and senior leadership, fostering a high-performance culture, talent integrity, and alignment with Nigerian labor laws and international best practices. This is a transformational role aimed at driving a forward-looking, agile, and digitally enabled HR function that supports the company’s innovation and growth agenda within the energy sector.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a key advisor to the CEO and senior leadership on human capital strategy, succession planning, and organizational design.

• Monitor labor trends, emerging workforce risks, and new legislation to ensure the organization is always compliant with Nigerian Labor Laws, and other industrial regulations.

• Establish and maintain a comprehensive HR framework, including performance management systems, total rewards structures, and learning and development initiatives.

• Lead the development and enforcement of a strong ethical culture, employee value proposition (EVP), and corporate values across the enterprise.

• Collaborate with the Executive team to ensure robust manpower planning and talent acquisition strategies are embedded in business expansion activities.

• Proactively identify talent gaps, cultural threats, and areas for operational improvement within the employee lifecycle.

• Develop effective monitoring and HR metric systems to track organizational health, employee engagement levels, and workforce productivity.

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management, Business Administration, Psychology, Law, or a related field. An MBA or a relevant Master’s degree (e.g., MSc in Strategic HR) is highly preferred.

• Professional certifications such as CIPM (Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria) are mandatory. Additional international certifications like SPHRi, SHRM-SCP, or CIPD are strongly required.

• Minimum of 12–15 years of progressive experience in Human Resources management, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership capacity—preferably within the oil and gas, energy, or large-scale industrial sectors.

• Deep knowledge of the Nigerian labor and regulatory environment, including the Nigerian Labor Act, Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 provisions regarding human capital, and NUPRC/NMDPRA guidelines for personnel in the energy sector.

• Strong experience in strategic workforce planning, collective bargaining/industrial relations, organizational design, and high-level talent acquisition.

Leadership Attributes

• Strategic and critical thinker with deep business insight into the energy value chain and the future of work in a transitioning industry.

• High ethical standards and a proven track record in building organizational trust and fostering an inclusive workplace.

• Exceptional communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at the Board and Executive levels.

• Ability to lead change and drive enterprise-wide culture shifts toward higher productivity and agility.

• Digitally aware, with a strong understanding of Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), people analytics, and automated payroll/performance platforms.