About the Role
One People Team (OPT) is an HR advisory and leadership development company that partners closely with founders and leadership teams across Southeast Asia to help them build high-performing teams, strengthen people practices, and support business growth.
As part of our fractional HR advisory work, we are supporting one of our fast-growing retail clients to hire a Head of People to lead the People function across Malaysia and the Philippines.
This is a senior regional HR leadership role responsible for building the people strategy, structure, processes and capabilities needed to support continued business growth and retail expansion.
You will partner closely with the CEO, leadership team and managers across HQ, retail and operations, while leading the full spectrum of People and HR including workforce planning, talent, organisation development, performance, employee relations, HR operations, rewards, compliance, culture and employee experience.
This role requires someone who can operate at both strategic and hands-on levels.
Why This Role Matters
As the business continues to expand its retail network and regional presence, its organisation, leadership capability and people practices need to scale alongside the business.
The Head of People will play a key role in ensuring the organisation has the right talent, structure, leadership capability and scalable people processes to support growth across Malaysia and the Philippines.
You will also be a trusted partner to the leadership team, helping the business make stronger decisions around workforce, performance, retention, employee experience and people risks.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the overall People and HR strategy across Malaysia and the Philippines.
- Partner with the CEO, leadership team and managers on organisation, workforce and people priorities.
- Translate business growth and retail expansion plans into practical workforce and organisation plans.
- Lead workforce planning, organisation design, succession planning and capability building.
- Oversee talent acquisition across leadership, HQ, retail, frontline and operational roles.
- Build strong talent pipelines for critical and frequently hired positions.
- Strengthen manager capability in hiring, onboarding, performance, feedback and employee management.
- Lead performance management, talent reviews, succession planning and employee development initiatives.
- Advise leadership on compensation, benefits, incentives and reward practices.
- Provide senior guidance on employee relations, disciplinary matters, grievances, misconduct and complex employee cases.
- Ensure HR practices are compliant, consistent and appropriate across Malaysia and the Philippines.
- Oversee HR operations including employee records, contracts, payroll coordination, attendance, leave, statutory matters and employee lifecycle processes.
- Build scalable regional HR policies, processes, systems and governance.
- Work closely with Operations, Area Managers and Outlet Managers on staffing, performance, attendance, turnover, engagement and employee experience.
- Support new outlet openings, business expansion and new market entry from a People perspective.
- Lead culture, engagement, communication and retention initiatives.
- Use People data and dashboards to identify workforce trends, risks and priorities.
- Lead and develop the People team, ensuring the function continues to evolve with the business.
Key Requirements
- Minimum 10–12 years of progressive HR experience, with strong exposure to broad HR leadership responsibilities.
- Experience operating at Head of HR, Head of People, HR Director, Senior HR Business Partner or equivalent level.
- Strong experience partnering directly with CEOs, senior leaders and business heads.
- Regional or multi-country HR experience, ideally within Southeast Asia.
- Experience supporting Malaysia and/or the Philippines will be an advantage.
- Strong experience across workforce planning, talent acquisition, organisation development, performance management, employee relations and HR operations.
- Experience inretail, multi-store retail operations, consumer services or another fast-growing frontline-heavy environment is highly relevant.
- Experience supporting rapid growth, retail expansion, new market entry or organisational transformation.
- Strong understanding of Malaysian employment practices and the ability to manage local compliance requirements across different markets.
- Commercially minded, practical and comfortable balancing business needs with people considerations.
- Strong judgement, stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Able to operate independently and move comfortably between strategy and execution.
- Willing to travel within Malaysia and regionally when required.
Expected Outcomes From This Role
- The organisation has a clear and scalable People strategy supporting regional growth.
- Workforce and organisation plans are aligned with business and retail expansion needs.
- Leadership has stronger visibility of talent, performance, retention and people risks.
- Critical roles have stronger talent pipelines and succession coverage.
- Managers are better equipped to manage hiring, performance and employee matters.
- HR practices across Malaysia and the Philippines are consistent, compliant and effective.
- People processes, systems and policies are more structured and scalable.
- Retail and operational teams receive stronger People support as the business grows.
- The People team is capable, credible and ready to support the organisation's next stage of growth.
