AVP - People & Culture

The Associate Vice President – Human Resources leads the organization’s end-to-end HR function, including organization design, workforce planning, performance management, payroll, benefits, statutory compliance, HR operations, employee relations, and the full employee lifecycle.

The role builds scalable people practices and organizational structures, strengthens leadership and workforce effectiveness, maintains regulatory compliance, and improves the employee experience and operational efficiency in support of business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Organization Design and Workforce Planning
- Partner with business leaders to design organizational structures that support business strategy, growth, and operational effectiveness.
- Assess roles, reporting lines, spans of control, workforce capabilities, and resource requirements.
- Lead organization design and restructuring initiatives, including role clarification, job architecture, and change planning.
- Develop workforce plans that align headcount, skills, and talent needs with organizational priorities and budgets.
- Support leaders through organizational change, communicating impacts and helping teams transition effectively.

Performance Management
- Design and oversee an organization-wide performance management framework linked to business goals and organizational priorities.
- Establish clear goal-setting, performance review, feedback, and calibration processes.
- Coach managers to set meaningful objectives, provide ongoing feedback, and address performance issues constructively.
- Use performance insights to identify high performers, development needs, succession risks, and organizational capability gaps.
- Review the effectiveness and consistency of performance processes and recommend improvements.

Payroll Management
- Oversee accurate and timely monthly payroll processing.
- Manage payroll inputs, including attendance, leave, incentives, reimbursements, bonuses, and full-and-final settlements.
- Ensure payroll practices comply with applicable labour laws, tax requirements, and statutory deduction rules.
- Coordinate with payroll vendors, Finance, and auditors on payroll governance and reporting.
- Review payroll reconciliations and management information system (MIS) reports.

Benefits Administration
- Design and administer employee benefits, including health, personal accident, and life insurance; wellness and employee assistance programs; and retirement benefits.
- Manage employee enrolment, claims support, renewals, and vendor relationships.
- Assess the competitiveness of benefits and recommend improvements.
- Promote employee awareness and use of available benefits.

Compliance and Governance
- Ensure compliance with applicable laws and requirements, including EPF, ESIC, Shops and Establishments legislation, gratuity, maternity benefits, wages, bonuses, equal remuneration, POSH, and Labour Welfare Fund requirements.
- Lead internal and external HR and statutory compliance audits.
- Maintain statutory registers, records, and supporting documentation.
- Develop and implement HR policies aligned with business needs and regulatory requirements.
- Identify and mitigate compliance risks through effective governance and controls.

Employee Lifecycle Management
- Oversee the employee lifecycle, from workforce planning and recruitment support through onboarding, development, performance management, engagement, internal mobility, employee relations, and exit management.
- Support a consistent, positive employee experience at every HR touchpoint.
- Maintain accurate HRIS data and employee records.

Employee Relations and Culture
- Serve as a trusted advisor to leaders and employees.
- Manage grievances, disciplinary matters, and workplace investigations.
- Support conflict resolution and promote a respectful, positive work environment.
- Lead employee engagement and culture initiatives.
- Partner with business leaders on change management and workforce planning.

HR Operations and Process Excellence
- Build scalable HR processes and governance frameworks.
- Monitor HR service levels, productivity measures, and delivery standards.
- Lead HR digitization and automation initiatives.
- Develop dashboards and MIS reports to support leadership decisions.
- Maintain complete, audit-ready HR documentation.

Leadership and Strategic HR Partnership
- Partner with business leaders to align HR priorities with organizational objectives.
- Advance organizational effectiveness, workforce productivity, and talent retention.
- Develop succession-planning and talent-management frameworks.
- Lead and mentor HR team members.
- Support organizational growth through practical, people-focused strategies.

Key Performance Indicators

- Organization design effectiveness and workforce-plan delivery
- Performance management completion, quality, and alignment with business goals
- Payroll accuracy and timeliness
- Compliance audit results and statutory filing adherence
- Employee engagement scores
- Attrition and retention
- Onboarding effectiveness
- HR service-level adherence
- Employee grievance resolution times
- Benefits utilization and employee satisfaction
- HR process automation and efficiency improvements

Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
- MBA or PGDM in Human Resources preferred.
- Relevant certifications in HR, compliance, payroll, or labour law are an advantage.

Experience

- 10–15 years of progressive HR experience, with expertise in payroll, compliance, HR operations, employee relations, organization design, and performance management.
- For an AVP-level appointment, 15+ years of HR leadership experience and a demonstrated record of leading enterprise-wide HR operations, organizational change, and people strategy.

Required Competencies

- Organization design and workforce planning
- Performance management and talent development
- Payroll and compensation management
- Labour law and statutory compliance
- HR operations and service excellence
- Employee relations and benefits administration
- HR analytics and MIS reporting
- Policy development and stakeholder management
- Leadership and team management
- Change management and process improvement
- HR automation and digitization
- Strong communication and problem-solving skills

Preferred Traits

- Detail-oriented, with a strong governance mindset
- High integrity and discretion
- Business-focused and solution-oriented
- Comfortable working in fast-growing, dynamic environments
- Strong sense of ownership and ability to execute

Must-have skills

Payroll Management, Labor Law Compliance, HR Operations

Good-to-have skills

HR Analytics, Statutory Compliances, Payroll