Head of HR (Ketua Sumber Manusia)

The successful candidate will own the whole people function ensuring that payroll and compliance stay accurate andon time, performance and pay decisions are made on a defensible basis, and theMD has someone in the room who can turn a headcount or org question into aplan. 

It is aworking leadership role, not a purely strategic one. At this size the Head ofHR still reviews payroll, still sits in on difficult employee conversations,and still manages a small team  of 2 - 3 directly, while also being the person the MDturns to on pay bands, performance calibration, and whether the org structurestill fits the business.

1. Performance Management 

• Design and run the performance review cycle— goal-setting, mid-year check-ins, year-end ratings — and make sure itproduces real differentiation, not   a formality everyone rates the same.
  
• Train and coach line managers (most of whomhave never formally managed performance before) on setting goals, givingfeedback, and handling underperformance.   
  
• Own the process for managing chronicunderperformance or misconduct through to resolution, including documentationand, where necessary, exit.
  

• Maintain a pay structure that's simpleenough for a 100-person company to administer but defensible against the market— bands, not a spreadsheet of one-off decisions.
  
• Run or commission periodic salarybenchmarking and bring a clear recommendation to the MD for annual incrementsand bonus pool allocation.
  
• Own benefits administration (statutorycontributions, insurance, leave) and renew/benchmark the benefits package on aregular cycle.
  
• Manage the HR budget, including headcountcost planning.
  

•  Lead the HR team (2–3 people), coveringpayroll coordination, employee records, onboarding/offboarding, and day-to-dayqueries.
  
• Personally review payroll and statutorysubmissions before they go out — at this size, one error is a same-weekproblem, not a next-quarter one.
  
• Keep policies, contracts and the employeehandbook current with Malaysian employment law, and make sure the businessactually follows them.
  
• Be the point of escalation for employeerelations issues line managers can't resolve themselves.
  

• Own the annual headcount plan with the MDand department heads, translating business plans into hiring, restructuring orredeployment decisions.
  
• Run or oversee recruitment for the business(directly for smaller/junior roles; alongside external search partners forsenior or specialist ones).
  
• Keep the org chart honest — flag when a teamhas outgrown its structure or a role needs splitting, rather than waiting to beasked.
  

• Act as the MD's sounding board on peopledecisions: promotions, pay exceptions, restructuring, difficult exits. 
  
• Flag people risk early — a flight-risk in acritical role, a pay structure falling behind market, a manager who shouldn'tbe managing.
  
• Bring outside perspective on what HRpractice actually looks like at the next stage of growth, so decisions aren'tmade purely on instinct.
  
  

Requirements

•    Has actually run performance management andcomp & ben before — not just supported someone else running them.

•    Comfortable being hands-on: this role stilltouches payroll, policy detail and individual employee cases, it isn't purelyadvisory.

•    Sound, practical judgement — picks the rightbattles and doesn't turn every issue into a policy.

•    Confident enough to disagree with the MD ona people decision, and to do so with a clear rationale.

•    Organised and detail-tolerant; comfortableowning something as unglamorous as payroll accuracy.

•    Has managed a small team directly and candevelop people, not just supervise tasks.

Must-have:

•    Minimum 8–10 years of progressive HRexperience, including direct, hands-on ownership of performance management andcompensation & benefits.

•    At least 2–3 years managing a team, withdirect reports of their own.

•    Working knowledge of Malaysian employmentlaw, statutory contributions and payroll compliance.

•    Degree in Human Resources, BusinessAdministration, or a related field.

•    Experience in a company of about 50–200 employees where HR is a small team rather than a largefunction with specialist sub-teams.

•    HR certification (e.g. CIPD, SHRM) anadvantage but not required in place of demonstrated experience.