HR Director - India (Country HR Lead)

HR Director, India

Let’s be unstoppable together!

Circana is a leading provider of technology, AI, and data solutions for consumer packaged goods companies, manufacturers, and retailers. Our predictive analytics and Liquid Data® platform help clients measure market share, uncover consumer behavior, and drive growth—powered by six decades of expertise and an expansive, high-quality data set.

At Circana, we are fueled by our passion for continuous learning and growth, we seek and share feedback freely, and we celebrate victories both big and small in an environment that is flexible and accommodating to our work and personal lives.  We’re a global company dedicated to fostering inclusivity and belonging. We value and celebrate the unique experiences, cultures, and viewpoints that each individual brings. By embracing a wide range of backgrounds, skills, expertise, and beyond, we create a stronger, more innovative environment for our employees, clients, and communities. With us, you can always bring your full self to work.  Join our inclusive, committed team to be a challenger, own outcomes, and stay curious together. Circana is proud to be Certified™ by Great Place To Work®. This prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at Circana. Learn more at www.circana.com.

Role Overview

The HR Director is a strategic business partner responsible for aligning global people strategies with local business priorities and organisational objectives. The role provides trusted HR leadership to senior business leaders and drives initiatives across talent management, organisational effectiveness, workforce planning, employee relations, culture, engagement, change management, reward, and compliance.

As a senior HR leader, the HR Director partners closely with business leaders and HR Centres of Excellence to enhance organisational performance, build leadership capability, strengthen employee engagement, and deliver business outcomes. The role will also lead an in-country HRBP team and serve as a member of the local leadership team.

Job Responsibilities

Your main responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Strategic Business Partnership

- Serving as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on people-related matters.

- Developing and executing people strategies aligned with business priorities and growth objectives.

- Providing insight and recommendations on organisational design, workforce planning, succession planning, and talent strategies.

- Driving data-informed decision-making through workforce analytics and business insights.

- Influencing business decisions through thought leadership, coaching and strategic HR partners.

Talent and Performance Management

- Partnering with leaders to identify critical talent needs, capability gaps, and talent risks.

- Supporting performance management, succession planning, talent reviews, and career development processes.

- Partnering with Talent Acquisition teams to develop effective recruitment and talent acquisition strategies to attract and retain top talent in India

Organisational Effectiveness and Change

- Leading organisational redesign, restructuring, transformation, and business change initiatives.

- Supporting mergers, acquisitions, integrations, and workforce transitions as required.

- Facilitating change management activities that enhance employee adoption and business outcomes.

- Identifying opportunities to improve organisational effectiveness, productivity, and ways of working.

Employee Experience and Culture

- Partnering with leaders to foster a high-performance, inclusive, and engaging culture.

- Driving initiatives that enhance employee engagement, wellbeing, and overall employee experience.

- Supporting organisation-wide efforts to strengthen collaboration, accountability and leadership effectiveness.

Employee Relations and Compliance

- Providing expert guidance on employee relations matters and employment legislation.

- Managing complex employee issues, investigations, and workplace concerns.

- Ensuring compliance with company policies, regulatory requirements, ethical standards, and employment laws.

- Building and maintaining effective relationships with employee representative bodies where applicable.

- Mitigating people-related risks while promoting a positive employee experience.

- Acting as an escalation point for complex people matters.

Rewards, Learning & Development and HR Programs

- Partnering with HR Centres of Excellence to deliver talent, rewards, learning, employee relations, and organisational effectiveness programs

- Supporting compensation, benefits, and annual reward review processes.

- Enabling implementation of global learning and development initiatives to strengthen organisational capability.

- Ensuring consistent execution of HR programs and employee lifecycle activities.

HR Leadership and Team Management

- Leading developing and inspiring HRBP team members, fostering a collaborative, customer-focused and high-performing culture.

- Providing coaching, mentoring and ongoing development to build capability and succession strength.

- Setting clear priorities, performance expectations and accountability measures.

- Championing consistency, collaboration and HR best practices across the organisation.

Requirements

- Bachelor degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology or a related field; advanced qualifications preferred.

- Experience in HR leadership roles, within a multinational and matrixed organization, with a focus on India

- Demonstrated success influencing senior leaders and leading organisational change.

- Strong knowledge of employment legislation, employee relations, talent management and organisational development.

- Strong knowledge of the new Indian Labour Codes

- Strong communication, influencing, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.

- Proven ability to use data and analytics to drive business decisions.

- Experience leading HR initiatives across multiple functions, countries or business units.

- Demonstrated experience in strategic HR planning and execution.

- Proven track record of developing and implementing HR policies, programs, and initiatives.

Circana Behaviors

Beyond technical skills, experience, and role-specific attributes, these shared behaviors are fundamental to our culture and success. We seek individuals who consistently demonstrate and champion these behaviors in their daily work:

- Stay Curious: Being hungry to learn and grow, always asking the big questions.

- Seek Clarity: Embracing complexity to create clarity and inspire action.

- Own the Outcome: Being accountable for decisions and taking ownership of our choices.

- Center on the Client: Relentlessly adding value for our customers.

- Be a Challenger: Never complacent, always striving for continuous improvement.

- Champion Inclusivity: Fostering trust in relationships engaging with empathy, respect, and integrity.

- Commit to each other: Contributing to making Circana a great place to work for everyone.

Location This position can be located in the following areas(s): Pune or Bangalore