Associate Director - HR Risk

Main Purpose

Plan and oversee HR risk and compliance management across all HR departments. Drive proactive identification, assessment, and mitigation of people-related risks to assure audit readiness and compliance with legal, ethical and regulatory standards. Build robust compliance frameworks, escalation protocols, and a risk-aware culture to protect workplace integrity and resilience.

Scope/Responsibilities

Risk and Compliance Oversight

•Plan and manage proactive risk and compliance monitoring throughout the HR value chain, enabling early detection and alignment with legal, ethical and internal standards.

•Oversee regular audits, enforce policies and test control measures to maintain audit readiness.

•Ensure HR activities comply with labor laws, data privacy regulations, ethical requirements and company governance, reducing exposure to legal violations, fraud, and systemic escalations.

•Authorize and review investigations, grievances, and disciplinary matters in coordination with internal audit, legal, and business leaders to deliver compliant resolutions.

•Monitor and report adherence to employment policies, privacy requirements, and ethical standards to promote accountability, minimize risks and uphold workplace integrity.

Risk Register and Reporting

•Develop, maintain, and optimize the central HR risk register and data repository, systematically documenting risks, controls, KRIs and remediations, ensuring effective risk management and compliance.

•Build and test control measures within the risk register, coordinating periodic reviews and scenario exercises to ensure ongoing effectiveness and relevance.

•Track and analyze KRIs, regularly sharing critical insights with Legal & Compliance for governance decision-making.

•Evaluate risk assessments, audits and gap analyses on HR processes to identify vulnerabilities and prioritize corrective actions for enhanced compliance and operational resilience.

Policies, Controls, and Escalation Frameworks

•Define escalation protocols and incident response frameworks, ensuring readiness to address legal exposure, fraud, repeated violations and high-risk events.

•Champion the collaboration with legal, audit and compliance teams to manage escalated employee relations and disciplinary matters, supporting audit and regulatory engagement.

Risk Awareness Culture Enablement

•Plan and oversee delivery of compliance and ethics training for HR employees, embedding risk awareness and responsible behaviors across the team.

•Support and advocate company-wide risk awareness programs and communications to promote vigilance and ethical decision-making.

Minimum Qualification

•Master’s degree in Human Resources, Law, Business Administration, or equivalent

Professional Certification

•SHRM-SCP, CIPD Level 7 (recommended)

Years of Relevant Experience

•12+ years in HR risk management, compliance, audit, or related strategic HR roles

Nature of Experience

•Leading risk and compliance oversight across HR in large or complex organizations