People & Talent Head Founding HR Builder

Weekday AI (YC W21); Gurugram District; On-site; INR 1,000,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Weekday AI, Gurugram, India, is seeking a founding Talent & People Builder to shape and lead the HR function from the ground up. The role starts hands-on with ownership of talent acquisition, people systems, performance management, employee development, and HR operations.

As the org grows, you will build processes, develop the People function, and hire a team to support the evolving business. The ideal candidate will partner with founders and leaders to define hiring criteria, craft compelling

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in Talent Acquisition, HR, People Operations, HRBP, or a similar people-focused function
• Strong hands-on experience managing end-to-end recruitment independently
• Experience building or improving recruitment processes, hiring frameworks, or HR systems from the ground up
• Strong understanding of performance management, employee engagement, retention, and career development

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end recruitment across leadership, mid-level, and high-impact entry-level positions
• Develop sourcing strategies across campuses, referrals, professional networks, and lateral talent pools
• Create structured hiring playbooks and evaluation frameworks focused on ownership, judgment, adaptability, and execution
• Partner closely with founders and hiring managers to understand requirements and define effective hiring criteria
• Write compelling job descriptions, screen candidates, conduct initial conversations, coordinate interviews, and manage offer closures
• Continuously raise hiring standards as the organization scales
• Translate leadership expectations and organizational values into clear hiring practices
• Help protect and strengthen company culture during rapid growth
• Build performance-management frameworks focused on measurable outcomes and accountability
• Develop career paths and growth frameworks that reward contribution, ownership, and impact

Skills

End-to-end recruitment

Hiring strategies

People operations

Talent sourcing

Stakeholder management

Performance management

HR systems

Onboarding

Job description

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀

𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲: 𝗥𝘀 𝟭𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬 - 𝗥𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬𝟬 (𝗶𝗲 𝗜𝗡𝗥 𝟭𝟬-𝟮𝟬 𝗟𝗣𝗔)

Experience: 3+ yrs

Location: Gurugram, Haryana, India, Delhi, India

Job Type: Full-time

We are looking for a highly proactive and entrepreneurial Founding Talent & People Builder to build the organization's talent and people function from the ground up. This is a unique opportunity for an HR professional who wants to move beyond traditional HR administration and directly influence the quality, culture, performance, and growth of a rapidly scaling organization.

The role begins as a hands-on individual contributor position, with significant ownership of talent acquisition, people systems, performance management, employee development, and HR operations. As the organization grows, you will have the opportunity to build processes, develop the People function, and hire a team to support the evolving business.

Key Responsibilities

Talent Acquisition & Hiring

• Own end-to-end recruitment across leadership, mid-level, and high-impact entry-level positions
• Develop sourcing strategies across campuses, referrals, professional networks, and lateral talent pools
• Create structured hiring playbooks and evaluation frameworks focused on ownership, judgment, adaptability, and execution
• Partner closely with founders and hiring managers to understand requirements and define effective hiring criteria
• Write compelling job descriptions, screen candidates, conduct initial conversations, coordinate interviews, and manage offer closures
• Continuously raise hiring standards as the organization scales

Culture & People Development

• Translate leadership expectations and organizational values into clear hiring and people practices
• Help protect and strengthen the company culture during periods of rapid growth
• Build performance-management frameworks focused on measurable outcomes and accountability
• Develop career paths and growth frameworks that reward contribution, ownership, and impact
• Identify high-potential employees and create opportunities for accelerated development
• Develop initiatives to improve employee engagement and reduce regretted attrition

HR Operations & Infrastructure

• Establish efficient and scalable HR processes, policies, and documentation
• Oversee payroll, compliance, EPF, ESIC, employment contracts, and other essential HR operations
• Build simple, effective HR systems without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy
• Identify opportunities to automate and streamline repetitive HR processes
• Build and manage HR/administrative support as the organization reaches the appropriate scale

Leadership Enablement

• Coach managers and leaders on hiring, performance feedback, employee development, and people-related decisions
• Act as a trusted thought partner on sensitive and complex people matters
• Provide leadership with insights into talent availability, compensation expectations, retention risks, and organizational needs
• Help the organization scale its people practices while maintaining an entrepreneurial and high-performance culture

What's Makes You a Great Fit

• 3+ years of experience in Talent Acquisition, HR, People Operations, HRBP, or a similar people-focused function
• Strong hands-on experience managing end-to-end recruitment independently
• Demonstrated ability to source, assess, interview, and close high-quality candidates
• Experience building or improving recruitment processes, hiring frameworks, or HR systems from the ground up
• Strong understanding of performance management, employee engagement, retention, and career development
• Comfortable working directly with founders, senior leaders, and hiring managers
• Strong judgment and the confidence to challenge hiring decisions when necessary
• Excellent communication, stakeholder-management, negotiation, and interpersonal skills
• Highly analytical and comfortable using data to understand hiring performance, attrition, and people trends
• Comfortable operating in an early-stage or high-growth environment with ambiguity and evolving priorities
• A genuine builder's mindset: willing to do the work personally first and delegate as the function scales
• Strong ownership mentality with the ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution
• Passionate about building high-performing teams and creating a workplace where talented people can grow
• Proactive, resilient, highly organized, and comfortable taking responsibility for outcomes rather than simply following established processes