Head - HR Operations / Talent Management

Role

Ascentium is looking for a strategic, tech-savvy and hands-on HR leader to lead HR Operations and Talent across India.

The role will lead the India HR team across HR Operations, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management and HR Business Partnering, while driving HR transformation, automation, AI adoption and Post-Merger Integration across multiple entities, business units and locations.

The role will partner closely with the Chief Culture Officer, CEO, business leaders, Finance and regional HR to deliver a consistent, efficient and future-ready people function.

Key Responsibilities

• HR Leadership: Lead and develop the India HR team across HR Operations, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management and HR Business Partnering.
• HR Operations & Governance: Oversee the complete employee lifecycle, HR operations, payroll coordination, employee relations, statutory compliance, POSH and HR governance.
• Talent Acquisition: Drive hiring strategy across leadership, specialist and business roles; manage the TA team, recruitment partners and hiring delivery.
• Talent Management & Development: Drive performance management, capability building, career development, succession planning and leadership development.
• HR Business Partnership: Partner with business leaders on workforce planning, organisation structure, retention, manpower costs and people decisions.
• Post-Merger Integration: Lead the HR workstream for acquisitions, business transfers and integrations, including employee data, documentation, policies, benefits, communication and people-related risks.
• HR Transformation & Automation: Drive simplification, digitisation and automation of HR processes and leverage AI and HR technology to improve efficiency, employee experience and decision-making.
• HR Technology & Analytics: Own HR systems, HR data quality, dashboards and reporting; drive adoption and effective use of HR technology.
• Rewards & Employee Experience: Lead performance and compensation cycles, benefits, recognition and key employee experience initiatives.
• Stakeholder Management: Build strong relationships with senior leadership, Finance, Legal, IT and regional/global HR teams and effectively manage multiple stakeholders and entities.

What Were Looking For

• 15+ years of progressive HR experience, including significant experience in a broad-based HR leadership role.
• Proven experience managing HR for an organisation with 750+ employees/headcount.
• Strong Generalist HR experience across HR Operations, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Employee Relations, Compliance, Performance and Rewards.
• Proven experience leading and developing HR teams across multiple HR disciplines.
• Strong experience in HR transformation, automation, HR technology, analytics and AI-enabled HR practices.
• Experience in Post-Merger Integration, business transfers or organisational change.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively with senior leadership.
• Tech-savvy, data-oriented and comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Hands-on leader with strong execution capability, commercial orientation and sound judgement.

Advantage

Experience in a CA/Accounting firm, Professional Services, Consulting or other multi-entity / partnership-led organisation would be an advantage.

Experience with HiBob or other modern HRMS platforms, shared services, articleship hiring or global/regional HR environments would be an added advantage.