Head – Talent Acquisition

First Quadrants; Maharashtra; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

First Quadrants is seeking a Head – Talent Acquisition to lead and shape the recruitment function from our Mumbai base. The role focuses on building an scalable TA ecosystem, managing external partners, and aligning hiring with business growth across locations.

You will drive process development, metrics, dashboards and governance while partnering with business leaders to forecast manpower and close critical roles efficiently.

Qualifications

• 12–18 years of experience in Talent Acquisition / Recruitment.
• Experience leading TA in mid-sized or large organisations.
• Experience in GCC or IT/ITES or professional services environments.
• Experience setting up or transforming TA processes.
• Hands-on with external recruitment partners / Talent Partners.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement the overall talent acquisition strategy.
• Establish structured recruitment processes, policies, workflows and SOPs.
• Build scalable recruitment frameworks across functions and locations.
• Define recruitment metrics, dashboards and performance standards.
• Onboard and manage external Talent Acquisition Partners and agencies.
• Drive partner performance and maintain a strong partner network.
• Oversee end-to-end recruitment lifecycle and onboarding.
• Coordinate with stakeholders to close critical roles.

Skills

Talent Acquisition Leadership

Stakeholder Management

Recruitment Analytics

Partnership Development

Tools

ATS

Job description

Reporting To: CHRO / Head HR / Business Leadership

About the Opportunity

We are representing a leading organisation operating in a GCC-type business environment, with offices across India and its corporate headquarters in Mumbai.

The organisation is looking to appoint an experienced Head – Talent Acquisition who will be responsible for building, strengthening and managing the overall talent acquisition framework.

This role requires a professional who has experience not only in managing recruitment delivery but also in setting up talent acquisition processes, developing recruitment partner networks, onboarding and managing Talent Partners, and ensuring effective execution of the complete hiring lifecycle.

The ideal candidate should be a process-oriented recruitment leader with strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to build a scalable and efficient talent acquisition ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

1. Talent Acquisition Strategy & Process Development

• Develop and implement the overall talent acquisition strategy in alignment with business growth and manpower requirements.
• Establish structured recruitment processes, policies, workflows and standard operating procedures.
• Build scalable recruitment frameworks to support hiring across multiple business functions and locations.
• Define recruitment metrics, dashboards, turnaround times and performance standards.

2. Talent Partner Onboarding & Management

• Identify, evaluate and onboard external Talent Acquisition Partners, recruitment agencies and specialist search firms.
• Develop a structured onboarding framework for new Talent Partners, including process orientation, role briefing, documentation and service expectations.
• Ensure Talent Partners understand the organisation's hiring requirements, recruitment processes, candidate submission protocols and quality standards.
• Drive continuous engagement with Talent Partners to ensure effective delivery.
• Establish partner performance evaluation mechanisms based on quality, turnaround time, conversion ratios and hiring outcomes.
• Build and maintain a strong network of recruitment partners across relevant industries and talent segments.

3. End-to-End Recruitment Management

• Oversee the complete recruitment lifecycle, from manpower requisition and job briefing to sourcing, screening, interview coordination, offer management and joining.
• Ensure timely follow-ups at every stage of the recruitment process.
• Monitor candidate pipelines, interview feedback, offer releases, acceptance ratios and joining conversions.
• Establish mechanisms to minimise candidate dropouts and improve offer-to-joining ratios.
• Ensure effective coordination between internal stakeholders, hiring managers and external Talent Partners.

4. Stakeholder Management

• Work closely with business heads, functional leaders and HR teams to understand current and future manpower requirements.
• Conduct structured discussions with hiring managers to understand role specifications and talent expectations.
• Ensure regular communication and follow-ups with stakeholders on open positions.
• Resolve recruitment bottlenecks and ensure timely closure of critical positions.

5. Recruitment Analytics & Governance

• Develop and monitor recruitment dashboards and MIS reports.
• Track metrics such as time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, source effectiveness, interview-to-offer ratios and offer-to-joining ratios.
• Establish recruitment SLAs and accountability mechanisms.
• Ensure adherence to recruitment policies, documentation and process governance.
• Lead and mentor the internal talent acquisition team.
• Establish clear responsibilities, performance measures and delivery expectations.
• Identify opportunities for automation, technology adoption and process improvement.
• Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the recruitment ecosystem.

Desired Candidate Profile

• 12–18 years of overall experience in Talent Acquisition / Recruitment.
• Significant experience in leading the Talent Acquisition function of a mid-sized or large organisation.
• Experience in a GCC, GCC-like, IT/ITES, technology, professional services or other structured corporate environment would be preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in setting up or transforming talent acquisition processes.
• Hands‑on experience in identifying, evaluating, onboarding and managing external recruitment partners / Talent Partners.
• Experience in developing recruitment partner networks across multiple locations and functional specialisations.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end recruitment operations and hiring lifecycle management.
• Experience in managing multiple recruitment partners simultaneously and ensuring regular follow-ups and delivery.
• Strong understanding of recruitment metrics, SLAs, MIS and performance dashboards.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to build structured recruitment processes while ensuring delivery efficiency.

Location & Mobility - Mumbai is the mandatory base location for this position.

Candidates must be willing to relocate to Mumbai if they are currently based elsewhere in India. This is a non-negotiable requirement.

Confidentiality & Search Process

• The identity of the organisation will not be disclosed at the initial stage of interaction.
• We assure prospective candidates of the utmost confidentiality throughout the engagement.
• The search process is expected to take approximately 6–8 weeks or longer, considering the specific experience and competencies required.