Staff Planning Specialist | Retail | IKEA Jebel Ali

Job Requisition ID: 174910 

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United A”rab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organisation to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate. 

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day.

Overview Of The Role:
The Staff Planner plays a crucial role in navigating the growth of the IKEA business by steering it towards sustained profitability through strategic staff planning. This role involves planning coworker schedules using optimized rostering strategies that balance work-life considerations with IKEA's business needs, ensuring high productivity and compliance with labor laws across multiple markets. The role requires a focus on maintaining efficient store capacity and aligning manpower with business demands while adhering to the company's financial frameworks.

What You Will Do:

• Responsible for the store's complete staff planning process from forecasting to schedule execution, ensuring planned absences are included and liaising with department managers to respond to co-worker, customer, and business needs.
• Plan, collect, analyze, and review schedules, vacation trends, and planned trainings to ensure efficient capacity in the store while ensuring compliance with company policies and local labor laws.
• Ensure schedules are published timely to meet store requirements and register all changes on the system promptly.
• Oversee the daily time acceptance process, adjusting in cases of hour shortages or excesses.
• Support department managers in developing, adapting, and improving schedules within forecasted hours, considering co-worker availability and skill levels.
• Monitor staff planning KPIs and produce schedule-related reports to improve planning processes.
• Provide reports and alert HRBP when scheduled or actual hours exceed the financial framework.
• Prepare monthly payroll reports, capturing any overtime, hours shortages, or unregularized absences.
• Uphold AF Group Policies & Procedures in monthly staff planning, ensuring a work-life balance for all co-workers.

Required Skills To Be Successful:

• Advanced proficiency in scheduling and rostering techniques.
• Strong skills in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
• Excellent command of English; Arabic is an advantage.
• Thorough understanding of retail operations and labor laws.

What Qualifies You For The Role:

• Bachelor's degree or its equivalent.
• 2-3 years of experience in staff scheduling within a retail environment.
• Knowledge of scheduling and rostering techniques.
• Advanced proficiency in MS Office, with strong skills in Excel, PowerPoint, and data management tools.
• Very good command of the English language; proficiency in Arabic is advantageous.
• Good understanding of IKEA store operations and legal requirements for staff planning.
• Behavioral competencies include being driven to deliver, upholding standards, continuous improvement orientation, taking responsibility, and cost consciousness.

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Before you click “apply”: Please read the job description carefully to ensure you can confidently demonstrate why this opportunity is right for you and take the time to put together a well-crafted and personalised CV to further boost your visibility. Our global Talent Acquisition team members are all assigned to specific businesses to ensure that we make the best matches between talent and opportunities. We not only consider the requisite compatibility of skills and behaviours, but also how candidates align with our Values of Respect, Integrity, Collaboration, and Excellence.

As part of our candidate experience promise, we also want to make ourselves available to you throughout the application process. We make every effort to review and respond to every application.