About the Role:

We are looking for an Associate/ Senior Associate - Program Manager with a consulting background who can drive end-to-end hiring for high-potential undergraduate talent, particularly through leading college campuses.

The ideal candidate should bring a strong understanding of consulting-style problem solving, structured assessment, stakeholder and client management, and team dynamics. The role will require the ability to identify candidates from top tier institutes (IITs, NLUs etc) who demonstrate intellectual rigour, analytical thinking, communication skills, ownership, and standards typical of top-tier strategy/governance consulting firms.

The person will work closely with hiring managers and senior stakeholders to understand talent requirements, build campus hiring strategies, assess candidates, and ensure a high-quality hiring pipeline.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Campus & Undergraduate Hiring:

- Drive end-to-end recruitment of undergraduate talent from leading colleges and universities.

- Build and maintain relationships with colleges, placement cells, faculty, student bodies, and campus representatives.

- Develop campus hiring strategies based on role requirements and talent availability.

- Develop JDs, PPTs and other outreach material for campus recruitment.

- Screen and shortlist candidates through CVs, applications, assessments, and interviews.

- Coordinate campus presentations, pre-placement engagements, assessments, interviews, and offer processes.

- Maintain a strong pipeline of high-potential candidates across campuses.

2. Candidate Assessment:

- Evaluate candidates beyond academic credentials, with a focus on structured problem solving, analytical and logical thinking, communication and articulation, ownership and initiative, ability to work in teams, client/stakeholder management, and leadership potential.

- Develop and use structured interview frameworks to assess candidates consistently.

- Identify candidates who can operate effectively in fast-paced, ambiguous, and high-pressure environments.

- Conduct competency-based and case/problem-solving interviews where required.

3. Stakeholder Management & Advisory:

- Partner closely with project directors to deeply understand talent requirements and translate them into actionable campus strategies.

- Act as a gatekeeper for quality, providing well-reasoned, objective feedback and candidate evaluations to leadership before final interview rounds.

- Track and report on campus hiring metrics, conversion rates, and pipeline health to optimize future recruitment cycles.

Required Skills & Competencies:

- Strong consulting or consulting-style recruitment experience.

- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.

- Strong understanding of structured interviews and candidate assessment.

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

- Strong stakeholder and relationship management skills.

- Ability to manage multiple hiring processes and tight deadlines.

- Strong understanding of campus recruitment and undergraduate talent.

- Ability to assess candidates objectively and identify high-potential talent.

- Strong team management and coordination capabilities.

- High ownership, attention to detail, and execution orientation.

Preferred Background:

- Candidates from the following backgrounds would be preferred:

1. Management consulting / strategy consulting

2. Executive search or consulting-focused recruitment

3. Talent acquisition roles supporting consulting or professional services firms

4. Campus recruitment teams at leading consulting firms

5. Candidates from organisations where structured problem-solving and stakeholder management are core to the role

Educational Qualification:

- Bachelor's degree from a reputed university/institution.

- MBA/PGDM or equivalent qualification would be an advantage.

- Candidates from premier undergraduate institutions with strong consulting experience may also be considered.