Description:

The Opportunity:

Build client's people and culture infrastructure as we scale from ~20 to 50+ employees. You will own hiring, onboarding, retention, policy framework, and culture - ensuring merit-driven decision-making, high agency, and low attrition as we grow.

The Challenge:

We are building an AI-native, flat-hierarchy, high-agency culture in a rapidly growing company. This is hard because:

- Hiring for culture fit + raw talent: Not every smart person thrives in high-agency, decentralized teams

- Scaling without bureaucracy: As we grow, how do we maintain merit-based decision-making?

- Competitive war for talent: We're competing with FAANG, startups, and government tech for top engineers and product folks

- Retention in mission-driven culture: How do we attract nation-builders, not just mercenaries?

Key Responsibilities:

Talent Acquisition & Hiring (50%):

- Own end-to-end hiring: Define JDs, source candidates, interview strategy, negotiations

- Build talent pipelines across engineering, product, operations, and analytics

- Target metric: Fill senior roles in <6 weeks (aggressive but achievable with systems)

- Partner with hiring managers on competency frameworks (merit-driven assessments)

- Manage campus hiring and intern program (nation-building pipeline)

- Track hiring KPIs: Time-to-fill, offer acceptance rate, new hire quality metrics

People & Culture (30%):

- Design and implement people policies: compensation, equity, learning & development, time-off

- Own onboarding program (first-week to first-90-days experience)

- Drive engagement and retention initiatives (target <10% attrition)

- Facilitate culture building: team events, off-sites, internal communication

- Manage pulse surveys and culture feedback loops

- Ensure psychological safety and high-agency empowerment

People Operations & Compliance (15%):

- Manage HR systems, payroll, compliance (PF, ESI, gratuity, DPDP, etc.)

- Drive ISO certifications, data protection compliance, HR best practices

- Create robust documentation: offer letters, employment contracts, policies, SoPs

- Manage employment-related audits and statutory requirements

Strategic People Planning (5%):

- Partner with CEO on succession planning and leadership development

- Forecast hiring needs based on product roadmap and revenue growth

- Identify high-potential ICs and create growth pathways

- Contribute to annual culture and people strategy

What We're Looking For:

Core Competencies:

- 7+ years in HR/talent operations; 3+ years as HRBP or TA lead

- Hands-on hiring expertise: You personally source, interview, and close candidates

- Startup experience: You've scaled a team from 1050+ employees in a high-growth environment

- Culture design: You can articulate what culture is and deliberately build it

- Systems mindset: You design scalable HR processes and tools

- Compliance knowledge: You understand India's labor laws, PF, tax implications, data protection

- High agency: You own outcomes, make decisions independently

Proven Track Record:

- Successfully scaled hiring in a fast-growth startup (minimum 50% growth year-over-year)

- Track record of retention (meaningful reduction in attrition)

- Built strong employer brand (candidates wanting to work with you)

- Experience in tech/product companies (you understand engineering culture)

Culture Fit:

- Mission-aligned: You care about building teams for a purpose, not just hitting hiring numbers

- Transparent communicator: You're honest about compensation, trade-offs, and company challenges

- Inclusive: You build diverse teams and remove bias from hiring

- Learning mindset: You stay current on HR best practices, tools, and trends

- Scrappy: You'll not build from zero but you make things happen

What Success Looks Like (12 Months):

- <10% attrition rate (demonstrates retention and culture)

- Diverse team: 40%+ women in tech and leadership roles

- Campus hiring pipeline: 10+ strong interns, 2-3 conversions to full-time

- Robust policies in place: Offer letters, NDAs, handbooks, compensation policy

- Employee net promoter score >50 (internal engagement)