Head Human Resource(People and Culture)

Kotak Education Foundation; Mumbai; On-site; INR 2,500,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Kotak Education Foundation is seeking a senior leader to run People & Culture, transforming HR from administration to a strategic capability. You will shape people strategy, organisation design, workforce planning, and governance across programmes, geographies and partnerships.

Role requires 15+ years in HR leadership, stakeholder engagement with CXOs and Boards, and a data-driven approach to talent, learning and culture. This is a full-time on-site role supporting KEF's mission.

Qualifications

• 15+ years progressive experience in HR / People & Culture, with senior HR leadership.
• Experience in Indian social development sector is a plus.
• Ability to partner with CXOs, boards and senior management.

Responsibilities

• Lead People Strategy, Organisation Design & Workforce Planning aligned to KEF priorities.
• Oversee Talent Acquisition, onboarding and retention, with structured processes.
• Redesign Performance, Talent Management & Learning & Development agenda.
• Shape Culture, Engagement and Employee Relations strategies with leadership.
• Oversee HR Operations, Compensation, Systems & Compliance frameworks.
• Lead HR Technology, Data & Automation initiatives and data governance.
• Act as trusted advisor to CEO and SLT on people, culture and change.

Skills

People strategy

Organisation design

Workforce planning

Talent acquisition

Performance management

HR analytics

Leadership development

Employee relations

Education

Master's in HRM/OD

MBA/PGDM in HR

Tools

Keka HRMS

Job description

Role & responsibilities

This role will lead KEFs People & Culture function and is responsible for shifting it from HR administration to a strategic capability that enables the organisation to attract, develop, engage and retain the talent required to deliver its mission.

1. People Strategy, Organisation Design & Workforce Planning

1. Develop and execute an organisation-wide People Strategy aligned to KEFs strategic priorities, programme growth, geographic expansion and culture aspirations.
2. Review organisation structure periodically so that structure follows strategy clarifying roles, reporting relationships, spans of control and career bands.
3. Lead workforce planning and manpower forecasting, including for new programmes, partnerships and geographies.
4. Identify organisational capability gaps and translate them into hiring, development and deployment plans.
5. Engage early in programme design so that people strategy keeps pace with programme strategy.

2. Talent Acquisition, Onboarding & Retention

1. Build a differentiated talent acquisition strategy covering pipelines for critical and specialist roles, employer branding and institutional partnerships.
2. Strengthen selection quality through competency-based interviewing, structured assessment and robust verification; monitor time, cost and quality of hire.
3. Establish structured onboarding and integration covering role clarity, 30-60-90 day objectives, manager expectations and probation review.
4. Move the function from reacting to resignations to anticipating talent risk, with retention plans for critical talent and scarce skills.

3. Performance, Talent Management & Capability Building

1. Redesign performance management to be simple, fair, transparent, outcome-focused and development-oriented.
2. Strengthen goal-setting, KRAs and competency frameworks, and equip managers to hold quality performance conversations and address concerns early.
3. Institutionalise talent reviews, high-potential and critical-role identification, succession plans and individual development plans.
4. Lead the organisation-wide Learning & Development agenda, anchored in training needs analysis and linked to actual capability gaps rather than a catalogue of programmes.
5. Build leadership capability from first-time managers to functional heads, with emphasis on people management, coaching, delegation, decision-making and leading change.

4. Culture, Engagement & Employee Relations

1. Work with the CEO and Senior Leadership Team(SLT) to build a culture of trust, respect, accountability, inclusion and constructive challenge.
2. Establish employee listening mechanisms such as pulse and engagement surveys, stay and exit interviews and focus groups, and close the loop from feedback to action.
3. Provide fair, mature and confidential handling of grievances, workplace conflict and disciplinary matters, ensuring procedural fairness throughout.
4. Strengthen internal communication so that employees understand strategy, priorities, changes and expectations.

5. HR Operations, Compensation, Systems & Compliance

1. Lead the development and periodic review of KEFs compensation framework benchmarking, internal equity, role evaluation, bands, increments and benefits.
2. Ensure HR policies are current, understood and consistently applied across recruitment, employment, conduct, grievance redressal, POSH, separation and consultant engagement.
3. Strengthen HRIS and HR processes to reduce manual effort and improve employee experience, keeping people data accurate, secure and appropriately accessed.
4. Build a data-driven function, with dashboards covering headcount, attrition and regrettable attrition, hiring, diversity, performance distribution, learning and succession readiness.
5. Ensure statutory and labour law compliance, working with Finance, Legal, Administration and external advisors as required.

6. HR Technology, Data & Automation

1. Lead the effective use of HR technology, including Keka HRMS, to digitise and streamline the employee lifecycle and reduce manual, fragmented processes.
2. Build a reliable people-data architecture and dashboards that enable timely insights on workforce, hiring, attrition, performance, attendance, compensation, learning and employee engagement.
3. Identify opportunities to automate routine HR processes, approvals, reporting and employee queries, while maintaining appropriate controls and human oversight.
4. Explore responsible use of AI in HR, including recruitment, employee support, learning, workforce analytics and HR reporting, with appropriate safeguards around bias, privacy and confidentiality.
5. Use people's data and analytics proactively to identify trends, risks and opportunities and support evidence-based decisions by the CEO and leadership team.

7. Leadership, Advisory & Team Building

1. Act as trusted advisor to the CEO and SLT on people, organisation and culture decisions, including senior appointments, structure, talent risk and organisational change.
2. Challenge leadership constructively where decisions may adversely affect people, culture or organisational effectiveness.
3. Build a capable and responsive HR team with clear structure, service standards, SOPs and professional development.
4. Deliver an annual People & Culture plan with clearly prioritised initiatives, and report progress to leadership and the Board as required.

Preferred candidate profile

Educational Qualification

Masters degree in Human Resource Management, Organisational Development, Industrial / Organisational Psychology, Business Management, or a related field required. An MBA / PGDM in HR from a reputed institution is preferred.

Years of Experience & other requirements

Seeking candidates with 15+ years progressive experience in HR / People & Culture, including time in a senior HR leadership or HR business partnering role. Experience within the Indian social development sector is a plus.

• Ownership of the full people agenda organisation design, talent acquisition, performance, L&D, compensation, employee relations and culture
• Experience of building or transforming an HR function in a growing, multi-programme or multi-location organisation
• Exposure to organisation design and workforce planning exercises – either as a lead or as a key member of the driving team
• Experience with having worked with CXOs / senior management stakeholders and Boards
• Experience of handling sensitive employee relations, POSH and disciplinary matters with fairness and confidentiality
• Working knowledge of Indian employment and labour regulations, HRIS and people analytics
• Experience of having built and managed a small but high functioning team(s) to drive outcomes

Hours of work

8 hours 6 days a week (2 week offs in a Month and all the Sundays will be holidays)

Working conditions

This role will also involve working in challenging community areas with infrastructural and other disadvantages.