HR Business Partner - Manufacturing

Role Purpose:

As Walking Tree scales its manufacturing footprint - new factory launches, capacity expansion and transformation initiatives, the HR Business Partner (Manufacturing) will build and own the people foundation of the plant. This is a charter role covering the full HR mandate for the factory: workforce planning, capability building, industrial relations, employee engagement, compensation, HR operations, compliance and culture in close partnership with Plant and Manufacturing Leadership.

Key Responsibilities:

Business Partnership:

- Partner with Factory Leadership to deliver business and operational objectives.

- Translate business strategy into workforce and capability plans.

- Support new factory launches, capacity expansion and transformation initiatives.

- Drive organisational effectiveness and workforce productivity.

Workforce Planning:

- Lead annual manpower planning and capacity-based workforce modelling.

- Own headcount budgeting, shift planning and optimisation.

- Define and manage contract labour strategy.

- Drive productivity improvement initiatives.

- Lead succession planning for critical manufacturing roles.

Learning & Capability Development:

- Build capability across technical skills, supervisory and leadership development, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, quality systems, health & safety, behavioural skills and future manufacturing technologies.

- Set up and run the plant Training Centre.

Talent Acquisition:

- Support the TA team on key roles across plant leadership, engineers, supervisors, operators, apprentices and contract workforce.

- Build and maintain relationships with engineering colleges, skill development institutes and apprenticeship programmes.

Performance Management:

- Drive goal-setting aligned to factory KPIs.

- Lead performance reviews and calibration.

- Own Individual Development Plans for high-potential talent and leadership pipeline development.

- Track and improve productivity metrics, including output per employee, weight/gram productivity, efficiency, quality and labour utilisation.

Industrial Relations:

- Own all IR activities including disciplinary processes, grievance handling, employee communication and long-term IR strategy.

- Maintain a stable industrial climate across the plant.

Employee Engagement:

- Drive employee communication, rewards & recognition, and factory town halls.

- Lead employee wellbeing initiatives (e.g. in-chair wellness, eye yoga) and D&I efforts, including growing women's representation in supervisory and managerial roles.

- Drive community engagement and team-building initiatives, and measure engagement to implement action plans.

Compensation & Benefits:

- Lead salary benchmarking and wage structures in line with the new Wage Code.

- Design and govern incentive schemes, including productivity-linked incentives and shift allowance governance.

- Own benefits administration and the annual compensation review.

HR Operations:

- Approve payroll, attendance, time office and HRIS processes.

- Oversee the employee lifecycle, documentation, compliance and audit readiness.

- Ensure accurate HR data and reporting.

Compliance:

- Ensure compliance with Labour Codes, the Factories Act, Standing Orders, the Apprentices Act, Contract Labour regulations, Social Security and wage legislation, POSH, and health & safety requirements.

- Support internal and external audits.

Culture & Change:

- Improve supervisor and manager effectiveness.

- Embed company values to instill a sense of belonging.

- Foster a culture of accountability, quality and continuous improvement.

Key Stakeholders:

- Internal: Factory Heads; Manufacturing Leadership (COO & Director); NPD; Quality; Supply Chain; Finance; Corporate HR; Employees.

- External: Technical institutes; recruitment partners.

Success Measures:

- Labour productivity and workforce cost as % of sales.

- Attrition, critical talent retention and absenteeism.

- Training effectiveness and skill matrix coverage.

- Employee engagement scores.

- Industrial relations stability.

- Internal promotion ratio and leadership bench strength.

- Contract labour productivity.

- Diversity metrics and HR service levels.

What We're Looking For:

- 10+ years of experience in large manufacturing organisations.

- Strong exposure to industrial relations and labour law.

- Experience in high-volume manufacturing environments.

- Working knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma and shop-floor operations.

- Demonstrated experience partnering with Plant Heads and business leaders.

- Proven track record in workforce transformation and leadership development.

Leadership Competencies:

- Business Acumen, Manufacturing Mindset, Labour Relations Expertise, Strategic Workforce Planning, Change Leadership, Coaching & Influencing.

- Data-Driven Decision Making, Operational Excellence, Stakeholder Management, Conflict Resolution, Commercial Orientation, Resilience, Continuous Improvement.

Reporting Manager:

Director People & Culture

Location:

MIDC, Mumbai (with potential travel to Navsari)

Work Mode:

Work from office and Manufacturing Plant.