Head - Talent Acquisition - Manufacturing

Role Objective: To lead the organization's end-to-end talent acquisition strategy across business units and locations, ensuring timely hiring of leadership, functional, technical, managerial and frontline talent. The role will drive workforce planning, recruitment effectiveness, talent pipeline development and strategic hiring aligned with business growth objectives. Key Responsibilities: 1. Talent Acquisition Strategy: - Develop and execute an organization-wide talent acquisition strategy aligned with business plans and manpower requirements. - Partner with business leaders, functional heads and HR teams to forecast workforce requirements. - Establish recruitment plans, hiring priorities, budgets and delivery timelines across locations. - Build scalable recruitment processes, governance mechanisms and hiring dashboards. 2. Leadership and Critical Hiring: - Lead senior management, leadership and business-critical hiring mandates. - Develop talent mapping, succession-linked external hiring pipelines and competitor intelligence. - Build relationships with executive search firms, recruitment consultants and industry networks. - Ensure confidentiality and quality in senior-level appointments. 3. Manufacturing and Bulk Recruitment: - Drive bulk and frontline hiring for manufacturing units, plant operations and support functions. - Manage recruitment for engineering, production, maintenance, quality, supply chain, sales, finance, HR and other corporate functions. - Develop local talent pools and partnerships with technical institutes, universities and industrial training institutions. - Ensure hiring plans meet operational manpower requirements and production timelines. 4. Campus Hiring and Employer Branding: - Lead graduate and management trainee recruitment, campus engagement and early-career hiring initiatives. - Strengthen employer branding and candidate engagement across relevant talent markets. - Build partnerships with colleges, universities and professional institutions. - Support diversity hiring and inclusive recruitment initiatives. 5. Recruitment Operations and Process Excellence: - Monitor the complete recruitment lifecycle, from requisition approval and sourcing to selection, offer management and joining. - Optimize applicant tracking systems, recruitment technology and data-driven hiring processes. - Develop recruitment agency panels, negotiate commercial terms and monitor vendor performance. - Establish standard operating procedures and ensure recruitment compliance. 6. Stakeholder and Team Management: - Lead and develop the talent acquisition team across business functions and locations. - Work closely with business heads, HR business partners and hiring managers to improve hiring outcomes. - Review recruitment performance, resolve bottlenecks and improve interview-to-offer and offer-to-joining conversion. - Build a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): - Time to fill and adherence to hiring timelines. - Quality of hire and hiring manager satisfaction. - Offer acceptance and joining ratios. - Recruitment cost per hire and agency cost optimization. - Bulk hiring delivery against approved manpower plans. - Leadership and critical-role closure rates. - Campus hiring outcomes and retention of new hires. - Recruitment team productivity and diversity hiring metrics. Desired Candidate Profile: - 15 - 20 years of progressive HR and talent acquisition experience, with substantial experience leading recruitment teams. - Strong exposure to large-scale, multi-location organizations and manufacturing or industrial environments. - Demonstrated experience in leadership hiring, technical recruitment, bulk hiring and campus recruitment. - Experience managing recruitment budgets, external agencies, workforce planning and recruitment analytics. - Strong stakeholder management, negotiation, team leadership and execution capabilities. - Ability to operate in a fast-paced, performance-driven business environment. Educational Qualification: - MBA / PGDM in Human Resources or an equivalent relevant qualification.