Head of Human Resources

Location: Mumbai

Experience: 12+ years

Reports to: Founders

Employment type: Full-time

The company is an R&D-led cosmetics and personal-care product development and contract manufacturing company serving beauty and personal-care brands across skincare, haircare, fragrance, colour cosmetics and related categories. The company is expanding its manufacturing, R&D and operating footprint, creating an opportunity to build a scalable corporate HR function.

Role overview:

We are looking for an experienced Head of Human Resources to lead and strengthen the corporate HR function. The role will own the employee lifecycle across the organisation, including workforce planning, ongoing recruitment, onboarding, HR policies, employee engagement and coordination across multiple sites. This position will work closely with the founders and functional leaders to build a structured, high-performance and people-oriented organisation. The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating in a growing, entrepreneurial environment and balancing strategic HR leadership with hands-on execution.

Key responsibilities:

Corporate HR leadership:

- Develop and execute the HR strategy in line with the company growth plans and business priorities.

- Act as the primary HR partner to the founders and leadership team.

- Establish clear HR processes, governance mechanisms and reporting systems across the organisation.

- Support organisation design, workforce planning, manpower budgeting and succession planning.

- Provide regular insights on headcount, attrition, hiring progress, employee costs and people-related risks.

- Build a professional, performance-oriented and values-led workplace culture.

Talent acquisition:

- Own and manage ongoing recruitment across corporate, commercial, R&D, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, finance and support functions.

- Partner with hiring managers to define role requirements, selection criteria and hiring timelines.

- Develop robust sourcing channels, recruitment processes and employer-branding initiatives.

- Drive senior and critical hiring mandates personally, while building the capability of the internal recruitment team.

- Establish appropriate hiring controls, including structured interviews, reference checks and background verification.

- Track recruitment metrics such as time to hire, cost per hire, offer-to-joining ratio and quality of hire.

- Ensure hiring plans are aligned with business growth, new-site requirements and operational capacity.

Onboarding and employee lifecycle:

- Design and implement a consistent onboarding and induction programme across locations.

- Ensure new employees receive clear role expectations, policies, reporting structures and performance objectives.

- Establish 30-, 60- and 90-day onboarding reviews for critical positions.

- Create a smooth employee lifecycle process covering joining formalities, transfers, confirmations, promotions, movements and exits.

- Maintain accurate employee records and ensure HR data is updated in the HRMS or central employee database.

- Improve the employee experience from offer acceptance through separation.

HR policies and processes:

- Review, formulate and implement HR policies appropriate for a growing cosmetics and manufacturing business.

- Standardise policies across corporate and site locations while accounting for operational requirements.

- Develop and maintain policies covering attendance, leave, working hours, travel, transfers, performance, promotions, disciplinary processes, employee conduct and separation.

- Ensure employees and managers understand and consistently apply company policies.

- Create a central HR policy repository and establish appropriate approval and review mechanisms.

- Identify gaps in existing processes and introduce practical, scalable solutions.

Multi-site HR management:

- Establish consistent HR practices across the corporate office, manufacturing facilities, R&D centres and other operating locations.

- Coordinate with site HR and administrative teams to ensure effective execution of corporate HR policies.

- Set up regular reporting and review mechanisms for site-level headcount, hiring, attendance, attrition, employee relations and compliance.

- Conduct periodic visits to operating sites and maintain regular engagement with site leadership.

- Ensure cross-site consistency in employee communication, onboarding, performance management and HR documentation.

- Support workforce planning and manpower mobilisation for new facilities and business expansion.

Performance and employee engagement:

- Implement a structured performance-management framework, including goal setting, review cycles and confirmation processes.

- Partner with managers to establish clear KRAs, KPIs and role expectations.

- Support managers in addressing performance issues through coaching and formal improvement plans where required.

- Design employee-engagement, recognition and retention initiatives suitable for corporate and site employees.

- Conduct employee listening exercises, engagement surveys and skip-level interactions.

- Identify trends in employee concerns, attrition and workplace culture, and recommend corrective actions.

Employee relations and compliance:

- Serve as the escalation point for employee grievances, disciplinary matters and complex employee-relations issues.

- Ensure fair, consistent and well-documented resolution of employee concerns.

- Oversee compliance with applicable employment, labour and workplace regulations in coordination with external advisers and site teams.

- Ensure appropriate implementation of POSH, standing orders, contractor-related requirements, statutory records and internal HR controls.

- Coordinate with payroll, finance, legal and administration teams on employee-related matters.

- Maintain confidentiality and sound documentation for sensitive employee cases.

Candidate profile:

- 12+ years of progressive HR experience, including substantial experience leading or managing the HR function.

- Experience in a corporate HR leadership or HR business-partnering role within a growing organisation.

- Prior experience in FMCG, cosmetics, beauty, personal care, consumer products, manufacturing or another multi-site operating environment is preferred.

- Demonstrated experience managing recruitment across multiple functions and levels.

- Strong experience in designing and implementing HR policies, processes and systems.

- Experience managing HR operations across more than one location.

- Strong understanding of employee relations, performance management and Indian employment practices.

- Experience working directly with founders, promoters or senior business leaders.

- MBA/PGDM in Human Resources, preferably from a recognised institution.

- Strong written and verbal communication skills, sound judgement and high integrity.

- Comfortable working in a hands-on, fast-paced and entrepreneurial environment.

- Willingness to travel periodically to other operating sites.

Success measures:

- Timely closure of critical and planned hiring requirements.

- Improved onboarding quality and new-joiner productivity.

- Consistent implementation of HR policies across locations.

- Reliable HR reporting, employee data and documentation.

- Improved employee engagement and retention.

- Stronger manager capability in hiring, performance and people management.

- Effective coordination between the Mumbai corporate team and other operating sites.

- Reduced dependence on informal or inconsistent HR practices.

Hiring brief:

The ideal candidate should be a hands-on corporate HR leader who can build structure while supporting rapid business growth. This is not only an HR operations role; it requires someone who can work directly with the founders, bring discipline to recruitment and employee processes, and create a consistent HR framework across corporate and manufacturing locations.