Role Purpose:

The Plant HR Head will provide end-to-end HR leadership across four manufacturing plants, including greenfield projects, ensuring 100% manning against approved manpower plans, workforce readiness, talent acquisition, employee relations, employee engagement, statutory compliance, capability development, retention and scalable HR systems. The role is accountable for maintaining workforce stability, productivity, operational continuity and compliance while supporting plant commissioning, expansion and sustainable manufacturing operations.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Multi-Plant HR Leadership, Workforce Planning & Hiring:

- Provide HR leadership across four manufacturing plants, ensuring consistent execution of people processes and governance across locations.

- Develop manpower plans aligned to production requirements, capacity expansion, automation initiatives and business growth plans.

- Ensure 100% manning against approved manpower budgets and structures through proactive workforce planning, timely recruitment, effective deployment and retention interventions.

- Own end-to-end hiring delivery for permanent employees, trainees, apprentices and contract workforce across all plant functions.

- Ensure approved vacancies are closed within agreed timelines through effective sourcing, assessment, selection and onboarding processes.

- Build talent pipelines for critical plant positions and future expansion requirements.

- Drive apprentice, trainee and early-career hiring programmes to ensure sustainable workforce availability.

- Monitor workforce availability, vacancy levels, hiring turnaround time and joining conversion to support uninterrupted plant operations.

2. Statutory Compliance & External Liaison:

- Own statutory compliance across all plants, including audits, inspections, returns, registrations and regulatory requirements.

- Ensure compliance with applicable labour laws, factory regulations and contract labour requirements.

- Manage relationships with labour departments, inspectors, statutory authorities and external agencies as required.

- Ensure timely closure of audit observations and compliance actions.

- Maintain a zero-tolerance approach towards compliance violations, penalties and business disruption arising from statutory lapses.

3. Employee Relations & Workforce Stability:

- Maintain a positive and compliant employee relations environment across all manufacturing locations.

- Manage employee grievances, disciplinary matters, investigations and corrective actions in line with company policies and statutory requirements.

- Monitor workforce sentiment and identify early indicators of employee concerns, disengagement or attrition risks.

- Drive timely resolution of employee issues through structured communication and stakeholder engagement.

- Ensure fair and compliant management of employee separations and workforce-related actions.

- Support workforce stability through proactive engagement, communication and people practices.

4. Talent, Performance & Capability Development:

- Drive performance management processes and strengthen accountability across plant teams.

- Ensure structured onboarding and assimilation of new employees to improve productivity and retention.

- Identify critical positions and facilitate succession planning discussions for key plant and supervisory roles.

- Conduct talent reviews and support development planning for technical, operational and leadership talent.

- Partner with Learning & Development teams to strengthen technical, behavioural and supervisory capabilities.

- Support internal movement and career progression opportunities across manufacturing operations.

- Build frontline supervisory capability through structured people management practices.

5. Employee Engagement, Retention & Culture:

- Drive employee engagement initiatives aimed at improving employee experience, retention and workplace culture.

- Monitor employee feedback, engagement indicators and retention trends and ensure timely action planning.

- Implement targeted retention interventions for critical skills, high performers and business-critical positions.

- Support employee communication, recognition and welfare initiatives across all plant locations.

- Promote a culture of safety, quality, accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.

6. HR Operations, Rewards & Workforce Governance:

- Oversee payroll inputs, attendance management, employee lifecycle administration and HR operations across plants.

- Ensure seamless execution of onboarding, confirmation, transfers, promotions and separation processes.

- Manage contract labour governance, vendor compliance and workforce deployment in line with business requirements.

- Ensure adequate contract workforce availability and monitor contractor performance to support operational continuity.

- Partner with Compensation & Benefits teams to ensure effective implementation of compensation, benefits and incentive programmes.

- Analyse workforce trends relating to manpower, attrition, absenteeism, productivity and engagement and recommend improvement actions.

- Maintain accurate HR MIS, workforce analytics and statutory records to support business decision-making.

7. Leadership Partnering & Change Management:

- Partner with Plant Heads and Functional Leaders on workforce planning, organisation effectiveness and people priorities.

- Provide practical recommendations on manpower utilisation, workforce productivity, employee engagement and retention.

- Identify workforce and compliance risks proactively and implement mitigation plans.

- Support organisational change initiatives including plant expansion, automation, restructuring and productivity improvement programmes.

- Drive implementation of organisation-wide HR initiatives and ensure effective adoption across locations.

8. Greenfield Project HR Execution:

- Lead end-to-end HR setup for greenfield plants, including manpower planning, recruitment, onboarding, policies, statutory registrations and governance frameworks.

- Support plant commissioning through timely workforce mobilisation and readiness planning.

- Establish scalable HR processes, systems and controls capable of supporting future expansion.

- Ensure workforce integration, capability building and compliance during expansion and transition phases.

Qualifications & Experience:

- MBA / Master's Degree in Human Resources, Labour Management or related discipline.

- 12-18 years of HR experience in manufacturing-intensive environments.

- Proven experience in workforce planning, talent acquisition, employee relations, statutory compliance and contract labour management.

- Experience in managing multi-plant HR operations and supporting manufacturing growth.

- Demonstrated exposure to greenfield project HR setup and plant expansions.

- Strong working knowledge of labour laws, factory compliance requirements and workforce governance.

- Experience in driving employee engagement, retention and performance management initiatives.

- Practical and execution-focused leadership style with strong plant-floor credibility.

Key Competencies:

- Manufacturing HR & Workforce Management

- Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning

- Employee Relations & Conflict Resolution

- Statutory Compliance & Labour Law Knowledge

- Performance & Capability Development

- Employee Engagement & Retention

- Contract Labour Management

- Workforce Analytics & HR Governance

- Change Management & Stakeholder Management

- Multi-Plant HR Operations Leadership