HR Director, Asia

The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (Global Energy Alliance) The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (Global Energy Alliance) works for a world where everyone has access to affordable, reliable, clean electricity and the means to use it to improve their lives. Our Alliance builds transformative public, private, philanthropic partnerships to end energy poverty and accelerate green economic opportunity. Founded in 2021 by The Rockefeller Foundation, IKEA Foundation, and Bezos Earth Fund, we design innovative projects/programs, unlock finance, strengthen institutions and transform markets, delivering progress anchored in deep community engagement. By uniting actors across the value chain, from households to heads of state, we go beyond individual projects to drive lasting systems change. With work in more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, our Alliance aims to reach 1 billion people with clean electricity, prevent 4 billion tons of carbon emissions and create or improve 150 million jobs.

Role Summary

The HR Director, Asia, is a first-of-its-kind role and will play a critical part in shaping the next phase of GEA’s growth throughout India and Southeast Asia, ensuring the organization has the people, capabilities and workforce model needed to deliver its ambitious programmatic agenda. Reporting to the Global Head of HR, with a dotted line to the VP, India, the HR Director will work closely with leadership to translate organizational priorities into effective people strategies and take ownership of HR operations at a crucial stage in the region’s scale-up. As part of a dynamic global HR team, the role will also drive global initiatives locally whilst leading compensation for the organization as a whole.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and highly motivated HR leader who thrives in fast-moving, complex, global organizations and can effectively balance local and global priorities. The successful candidate will bring exceptional stakeholder management, sound judgment and strategic thinking, alongside strong analytical and reporting capabilities. They will have deep compensation expertise, including experience developing and managing sophisticated compensation frameworks across multiple markets, and the ability to translate data and analysis into clear, practical insights that support senior leadership with decision making.

Accountabilities

Strategic HR Partnership & Workforce Lifecycle

- Serve as a trusted advisor to the VP, India and other Southeast Asia leaders, providing strategic and practical counsel on workforce planning, organizational effectiveness and complex people matters.

- Partner with program and functional leaders to translate evolving priorities into resource plans, determining the capabilities and appropriate mix of core and flexible talent required.

- Own talent acquisition outcomes for colleagues across Asia, partnering with hiring managers on role definition and selection while managing any external recruitment agencies for quality, pace and candidate experience.

- Oversee the employee lifecycle for core and flexible talent, including offers, onboarding and offboarding, ensuring a consistent and high-quality experience as the organization scales.

- Anticipate workforce needs and organizational risks, developing pragmatic solutions that balance local priorities with GEA’s global people strategy and ways of working.

HR Operations, Employee Relations & Compliance

- Own the effective delivery of HR operations across Asia, partnering with GEA’s global HR infrastructure and external providers across payroll, benefits, contracts and other employee processes.

- Serve as the primary HR point of contact for the region, advising employees and managers on policies, employee relations, performance concerns and other sensitive people matters.

- Ensure HR practices comply with applicable regional employment legislation and statutory requirements, managing complex employee relations matters and engaging external counsel where appropriate.

- Maintain accurate HR data, documentation and reporting, providing leadership with visibility into key workforce trends, risks and priorities.

- Structure and support local office initiatives that enhance the employee experience and strengthen morale, while providing coaching and development, where appropriate, to help employees grow and succeed.

Global HR Programs & Initiatives

- Act as an active member of GEA’s global HR team, contributing to the development and delivery of organization-wide people priorities and initiatives.

- Lead the effective implementation of global HR programs in Asia, including performance management, talent, learning and development, and employee engagement.

- Bring regional perspectives into the development of global HR approaches, adapting delivery to local requirements while maintaining appropriate global consistency.

- Lead and contribute to global HR projects as priorities evolve, supporting the development of scalable and effective people practices across GEA.

Compensation

- Lead the management and continued development of GEA’s global compensation framework, ensuring it remains competitive, equitable and appropriate across the organization’s global markets.

- Lead compensation benchmarking and market analysis globally, including vendor selection, maintaining salary structures and providing recommendations that balance external competitiveness with internal equity.

- Lead the annual compensation review forecasting/budgeting process to consider relevant inflationary factors in country.

- Manage the annual compensation review process and provide expert advice on compensation decisions for new hires, promotions and other employee changes.

- Develop compensation reporting and analytics, translating data and market insights into clear recommendations for the Global Head of HR, the Board and senior leadership.

Skills & Experience

- 12+ years of progressive HR experience, including significant experience as a senior HR business partner or HR leader in India, ideally complemented by broader experience across Asia.

- Strong compensation expertise, with experience managing compensation frameworks, benchmarking, salary structures and annual compensation processes across multiple markets.

- Demonstrated experience operating in a complex, global and matrixed organization, with the ability to navigate and balance local and global priorities.

- Strong strategic workforce planning and talent acquisition experience, ideally gained in an organization with evolving, project-based or flexible workforce requirements.

- Experience managing external recruitment agencies or partners and driving high-quality recruitment outcomes through third parties.

- Strong knowledge of regional employment practices and labor laws, with experience managing complex employee relations matters.

- Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the credibility and judgment to advise, challenge and build trusted relationships with senior leaders.

- Strong analytical capability and comfort working with compensation, workforce and HR data to develop insights and inform decision-making.

- High degree of proficiency working within HR information systems and other technology platforms that may intersect with HR data.

- Highly adaptable and comfortable operating both strategically and hands-on in a lean, fast-moving environment without a large supporting HR team.

- Experience in a mission-driven, international development, foundation or similarly programmatic organization is advantageous but not essential.

Behavioral Competencies

- Strategic Thinking & Judgment: Able to quickly understand organizational and programmatic priorities, distil complex information and translate it into clear people strategies and decisions. Exercises sound judgment, evaluates risks and trade-offs, and is comfortable making recommendations in ambiguous situations.

- Influence & Stakeholder Management: Builds credibility and trusted relationships with senior stakeholders across functions, cultures and geographies. Able to influence without formal authority, constructively challenge when required, and navigate competing local and global priorities.

- Execution & Ownership: Takes initiative and drives work through to completion with a strong sense of accountability. Comfortable moving between strategic priorities and hands-on execution, managing multiple demands while maintaining high standards and attention to detail.

- Analytical & Commercial Acumen: Brings a strong analytical mindset and is comfortable working with complex data, particularly compensation and workforce information. Connects data and insights to the wider organizational context and translates them into practical, business intelligent recommendations.

- Values & Role Modelling: Consistently demonstrates GEA’s values of collaboration, integrity and growth in both decisions and day-to-day interactions. Brings a relatable, empathetic and engaging approach, builds trust across different cultures, functions and levels of the organization.

- Mission Orientated: Motivated by GEA’s mission and brings a strong understanding of how effective people strategies, organizational capability and culture enable programmatic impact. Balances organizational effectiveness with a genuine commitment to the people behind the work.

- Adaptability & Collaboration: Thrives in a fast-moving, evolving environment and remains effective as priorities and workforce needs change. Works collaboratively as part of a global team while bringing an independent perspective and adapting approaches appropriately to the local context.

This is a full-time posting with an annualized starting salary of 7,600,000 - 9,500,000 INR commensurate with experience. Please submit your application on or before 11 October, 2026. The Global Energy Alliance reserves the right to close the job advert early if we receive a high number of suitable applications.

We operate from a strong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in everything we do. It is not only the right thing to do – we could not make an impact without our team members' diverse perspectives and experiences. We expect all Global Energy Alliance employees to contribute by developing their unique perspectives and talent, challenging conventional wisdom through evidence and reason, and amplifying marginalized voices.

Global Energy Alliance i s committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and compliance with all federal, state, and local laws concerning employment discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. To this end, the organization ensures equal opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, lawful alien status, physical, mental, and medical disability, veteran status, or liability for service in the United States Armed Forces.

Global Energy Alliance is an Equal Opportunity Employer.