Director of Human Resources

Emeritus; Gurugram District; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Emeritus in Gurugram, India invites a Director of Human Resources to lead the people strategy for its India Campus from launch onwards. The role builds a high-performing, inclusive culture across faculty, academic-support, and operations in line with university standards.

Strategic and operational responsibilities include compliance with Indian labour law, POSH, immigration policies, and HR service excellence. You will manage payroll, onboarding, and development within a global context.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or equivalent directly relevant experience in Human Resources, Business Administration or related field.
• Significant senior HR leadership experience within higher education, an international organisation or similarly complex environment.
• Deep knowledge of Indian labour law, employee lifecycle management, and faculty-specific HR practices.
• Experience of strategic workforce planning, organisational design and talent management in support of organisational growth and change.
• Knowledge of equality, diversity and inclusion practices within higher education or similarly complex organisations.
• Knowledge of international employment considerations, including mobility, immigration and cross-border working arrangements.
• Experience of leading complex employee relations matters, workplace investigations and organisational change programmes.
• Experience of supporting the establishment, growth or transformation of a higher education institution, international campus or comparable organisation.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning to ensure talent, capability and leadership capacity for growth.
• Lead the academic workforce strategy including faculty planning, succession and talent development.
• Oversee end-to-end recruitment for faculty, administrative and leadership roles.
• Design onboarding and orientation programs for a diverse, multicultural workforce.
• Develop performance appraisal frameworks balancing academic and operational outcomes.
• Drive engagement, wellbeing and learning programs to foster a vibrant campus culture.
• Provide strategic HR advice to senior leaders on workforce planning and talent management.
• Collaborate on global HR alignment, mobility and cross-border hiring.

Skills

Senior HR leadership

Stakeholder management

Interpersonal skills

Negotiation skills

Crisis management

Knowledge of Indian labour law

Employee lifecycle management

People analytics

Education

Master’s degree or equivalent experience in HR/related

Tools

HRMS systems

Workforce analytics

Reporting tools

Job description

Location: Gurugram, India

Type: Full-time | On-site | Leadership Role

Role Summary

The Director – Human Resources will lead the people strategy for the University’s India Campus from its launch onwards. The role will build a high-performing, inclusive, and mission-aligned culture across faculty, academic-support, administrative, and operations teams, with local execution aligned to the University’s standards, policies and processes.

This role is both strategic and operational requiring a deep understanding of HR practices in academic environments, compliance with Indian employment laws, and alignment with global university standards. This role will lead a team focused on service excellence, communication, organisational development, employee wellbeing and culture, supporting the establishment of a high-performing and inclusive campus community.

Key Responsibilities

Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning

• L ead workforce planning and organisational design activities to ensure that the campus has the talent, capability and leadership capacity required to support sustainable growth.
• Lead the academic workforce strategy for the campus, including faculty workforce planning, academic career pathways, succession planning and talent development, in partnership with the Provost and academic leadership team.
• Lead end-to-end recruitment for faculty, administrative, and leadership roles.
• Establish a robust onboarding and orientation program for a diverse, multicultural workforce.

Performance, Engagement & Learning

• Develop and manage performance appraisal frameworks that balance academic and operational outcomes.
• Drive employee engagement initiatives, assessments, and well-being programs to foster a vibrant campus culture.
• Design and implement professional development pathways, and training modules for staff and faculty.
• Build and maintain learning and development programs that provide professional growth and skill building for all employees that align with operational and strategic goals.

Policy, Governance & Compliance

• Create, implement, and continuously improve HR policies in line with applicable Indian employment requirements, policies and systems, and the needs of an international campus.
• Ensure compliance with applicable diversity, equity, inclusion, prevention of sexual harassment (POSH), safeguarding, accessibility, workplace conduct, and other statutory and institutional frameworks.
• Ensure compliance with relevant immigration legislation and policies.
• Manage employee relations, grievance redressal, and disciplinary processes with sensitivity and fairness.

Leadership & People Operations

• Lead the delivery of HR operations, including payroll, benefits, pension, leave administration, contracts and employee lifecycle processes, ensuring an efficient, compliant and high-quality service.
• Provide strategic HR advice to the Provost and senior leadership team on workforce planning, organisational development, employee relations and talent management.
• Collaborate with stakeholders on global HR alignment, faculty appointments, visiting faculty and exchange arrangements, cross-border hiring, mobility, and employee experience.
• Oversee international mobility, immigration and employment arrangements for staff, ensuring compliance with applicable legal, regulatory and institutional requirements.

Qualifications & Experience

• Master’s degree, or equivalent directly relevant experience, in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field
• Significant senior HR leadership experience within higher education, an international organisation or similarly complex environment.
• Deep knowledge of Indian labour law, employee lifecycle management, and faculty-specific HR practices
• Experience of strategic workforce planning, organisational design and talent management in support of organisational growth and change
• Knowledge of equality, diversity and inclusion practices within higher education or similarly complex organisations.
• Knowledge of international employment considerations, including mobility, immigration and cross-border working arrangements.
• Experience of leading complex employee relations matters, workplace investigations and organisational change programmes.
• Experience of supporting the establishment, growth or transformation of a higher education institution, international campus or comparable organisation.
• Strong interpersonal, negotiation, and crisis management skills.
• Experience with HRMS systems, workforce analytics, and reporting.