Head - Human Resource & Industrial Relations - Manufacturing

Role:

Lead the Human Resources and Industrial Relations function across manufacturing plants, providing strategic direction on industrial relations, talent management, organizational development, workforce productivity, employee engagement and statutory compliance. Drive a stable and productive work environment through strong union-management relationships, effective people practices, and proactive IR strategies, ensuring industrial harmony and uninterrupted business operations.

Responsibilities:

Industrial relations:

- Develop and implement Industrial Relations strategies aligned with business objectives, ensuring industrial harmony, workforce productivity, employee engagement and uninterrupted plant operations.

- Manage trade union relationships, including multi-union and complex union environments.

- Lead Long-Term Settlements (LTS), wage negotiations and productivity settlements.

- Manage employee grievances, disciplinary matters, domestic enquiries and dispute resolution.

- Proactively identify and mitigate IR risks, strikes and work stoppages.

- Ensure compliance with applicable labour laws, Standing Orders and statutory requirements.

- Handle contract labour, manpower deployment and workforce-related IR matters.

Greenfield Plant HR Setup:

- Lead complete HR setup for greenfield automotive/manufacturing plant including policies, SOPs, wage structures, shift models, and statutory systems.

- Partner with project and plant teams during plant commissioning and production ramp-up.

Government Liaisoning & Statutory Compliance:

- Liaise with Factory Inspectorate, Labour Department, PF, ESIC, Pollution Control Board, and local authorities.

- Handle factory licenses, labor registrations, renewals, and statutory inspections.

- Ensure compliance with Factories Act, Industrial Disputes Act, CLRA, Standing Orders, and applicable state labor laws.

Plant Hiring & Workforce Planning:

- Drive large-scale plant hiring for automotive/manufacturing roles such as operators, technicians, maintenance, quality, logistics, and supervisors.

- Manage contract labor onboarding through contractors in compliance with CLRA norms.

- Align manpower planning with line balancing, takt time, and production volumes.

Skill Mapping & Capability Building:

- Implement skill mapping and competency matrices for shopfloor and staff roles.

- Identify skill gaps and coordinate training, multiskilling, and certification programs.

- Support implementation of TPM, Kaizen, 5S, Safety, and Quality systems.

Candidate profile:

- Qualification: MBA/PGDM HR, MSW, Labour & Industrial Relations or equivalent.

- 20-25+ years of experience in Industrial Relations, preferably in manufacturing sectors.

- Strong experience in unionized manufacturing plants.

- Proven track record of independently handling LTS/wage settlements and union negotiations.

- Exposure to greenfield projects, brownfield expansion, acquisitions, restructuring, integration and plant closure will be an advantage.

- Experience in driving HR transformation, organization development, culture-building and change-management initiatives.

- Strong negotiation, influencing, stakeholder management, conflict-resolution and leadership skills.