Role Overview :

We are looking for a People Experience & Engagement professional with 6-8 years of relevant experience to own how our people feel, connect, and thrive at ONDC.

This is not an events-and-awards role. We want someone who understands how recognition, culture, and employee experience interlock to drive performance and who can turn sentiment data into action that people actually feel. In addition to leading engagement and rewards, this person will be expected to support other HR functions as the team and organisation scale.

Key Responsibilities :

Employee Engagement :

- Design and run the engagement calendar - listening sessions, culture moments, recognition rituals, and team experiences that go beyond the routine.

- Own the engagement survey cycle end-to-end: design, deployment, analysis, and presenting insights to leadership with concrete action plans.

- Create ongoing listening mechanisms beyond surveys - stay conversations, skip-level touchpoints, and sentiment tracking.

- Partner with HRBPs and business leaders to translate engagement data into team-level and org-level interventions.

Rewards & Recognition :

- Build and manage an R&R framework that is meaningful, equitable, and scalable peer recognition, manager-led appreciation, and leadership spotlights.

- Design non-monetary recognition programmes that reinforce ONDC values and high-performance behaviours.

- Manage the R&R budget with an eye on ROI; iterate based on participation data and employee feedback.

- Coordinate milestone recognitions - anniversaries, project wins, promotions - ensuring they are timely and consistent.

Culture & People Experience :

- Serve as a custodian of ONDC's culture: articulate, embed, and activate values across the employee lifecycle.

- Lead initiatives that strengthen cross-functional collaboration, inclusion, and belonging.

- Elevate the onboarding experience in partnership with HR ops - ensuring new joiners connect to ONDC's mission from day one.

- Track and report people experience metrics (eNPS, recognition participation, attrition by cohort) to CHRO and leadership.

HR Operations Support :

- Support other HR functions as needed including HR operations, onboarding, policy implementation, and ad hoc people initiatives.

- Collaborate with the broader People & Culture team to ensure a seamless and consistent employee experience across all touchpoints.

Candidate Profile :

- 6 - 8 years of experience in HR, with meaningful exposure to employee engagement, culture, or rewards programmes.

- Demonstrated ability to build from the ground up with ownership and minimal hand-holding.

- Comfortable wearing multiple hats able to lead an engagement initiative in the morning and support an HR ops task in the afternoon.

- Analytical mindset - comfortable with surveys, dashboards, and translating data into narrative and action.

- Strong interpersonal and communication skills; able to build trust across levels and functions.

- Prior experience in a start-up, scale-up, or mission-driven organisation preferred.

- Familiarity with engagement or HRMS tools (e.g., Darwinbox, Culture Amp, Leapsome, or similar) is a plus.

- High empathy, discretion, and the ability to balance employee advocacy with organisational priorities.

What ONDC Offers :

- The opportunity to shape people experience at a high-impact national infrastructure organisation.

- A mission-driven environment with meaningful work and exceptional peers.

- Real autonomy to build, experiment, and iterate on people programmes.

- Visibility with senior leadership and influence over culture decisions.

- Compensation competitive with market benchmarks.