Director, Human Resources in Bengaluru, Karnātaka at Kobie Marketing

About the Team and What We'll Build Together

Kobie's Human Resources function in India is being built from the ground up as a strategic hub that will drive the teammate experience, culture, and operational excellence of our India Tech Hub. As Director, Human Resources, you are joining at a pivotal moment where you will establish the foundation for building a Top Workplace in India, one that mirrors Kobie's award-winning culture in the US while honoring the unique needs and context of the Indian talent market and regulatory environment.

You will report directly to the AVP, Human Resources (US-based) and will own all people operations, compliance, and talent strategy for the India site. While you will work closely with the India Site Lead to operationalize their vision and priorities, your primary accountability is ensuring the India team experiences world-class HR practices, clear career pathways, and a culture of belonging. You will partner with the India leadership team to bring forward their talent and organizational health concerns, and you will translate Kobie's US HR strategy into India-specific initiatives that drive retention, engagement, and employer brand strength.

This is a hands-on role that requires strategic thinking paired with operational rigor. You will build HR policies and processes from the ground up, navigate Indian labor law and compliance, design competitive compensation and benefits, execute talent acquisition in the India market, and create the teammate experiences that make Kobie a destination employer. You will have one direct report, a Manager, Human Resources, and the opportunity to grow this team as India expands.

• Lead design and launch of compliant, scalable HR policies, processes, and systems aligned with Kobie's global standards. Oversee implementation and ongoing refinement.
• Own the complete teammate experience from recruitment through offboarding, ensuring every touchpoint reflects Kobie's values across onboarding, performance management, development, relations, and engagement.
• Establish and drive India's talent strategy and recruitment roadmap in partnership with the India Site Lead and US HR leadership. Design a world-class candidate experience that drives measurable satisfaction. Build and maintain strong pipeline and make final-round hiring decisions.
• Design and oversee India's compensation and benefits strategy, including market benchmarking, salary bands, incentives, and benefits packages that attract and retain top talent competitively and compliantly.
• Build a cohesive organizational culture that instills purpose and belonging. Drive engagement initiatives, win celebrations, and recognition programs aligned with Kobie's core values.
• Partner with the India Site Lead to operationalize strategic priorities: employer branding and communications, office operations and teammate programs, culture and organizational health, talent development, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Collaborate with India's leadership team to identify and address organizational health concerns (morale, retention, engagement, conflict). Provide guidance, coaching, and resources to help leaders develop their teams and navigate people challenges.
• Establish and maintain HR compliance across all India operations: payroll, benefits, statutory requirements, leave management, and labor relations in adherence with Indian employment law and company policies.
• Develop direct reports and build HR team capability. Identify learning and development opportunities, provide feedback and coaching, and foster a growth culture as India expands.
• Partner with US HR functions to align India initiatives with global strategy while reflecting local needs. Collaborate on tools and processes implementation. Escalate decisions to the AVP, Human Resources.
• Track HR metrics including headcount growth, retention rate, time-to-fill, quality of hire, offer acceptance rate, offer-to-join conversion rate, engagement survey results, and compliance status. Provide regular updates to US leadership and use data to inform continuous improvement.
• Anticipate India site needs as the team grows and organization evolves. Identify gaps in processes, tools, or resources and propose solutions proactively. Demonstrate agility in response to changing business priorities.
• Serve as the primary HR voice in US-India leadership forums, communicating site health, opportunities, and challenges while maintaining global HR alignment.

Required

• 10-12 years of HR experience, with a minimum of 5-6 years in an HR leadership or senior management role overseeing multiple functions (HR Operations, Talent, Compliance, or equivalent scope).
• Deep expertise in Indian labor law, employment regulations, statutory compliance, and payroll/benefits administration. Demonstrated ability to navigate India's complex and evolving regulatory environment.
• Proven track record designing and implementing HR policies, processes, and systems. Experience building HR infrastructure from the ground up in a scaling organization preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise in compensation and benefits strategy, including market research, salary benchmarking, benefits design, and total rewards planning.
• Strong talent acquisition and talent strategy expertise. Experience sourcing, recruiting, and retaining talent in competitive markets. Familiarity with India's tech and talent landscape a strong plus.
• Excellent stakeholder communication and collaboration skills. Ability to influence leaders at multiple levels, manage up effectively, and build cross-functional alignment. Comfort with frequent check-ins and asynchronous communication across time zones.
• Strong people leadership and coaching skills. Ability to attract, develop, and retain HR talent. Experience building high-performing teams in early-stage or rapidly scaling environments.
• Forward-thinking and AI-savvy. Comfort with emerging HR technologies and AI-enabled tools. Ability to drive AI-informed thinking and innovation in people practices.

Strongly Preferred

• Experience in a startup or scale-up environment where HR infrastructure was built or significantly expanded. Comfort with ambiguity and changing priorities.
• Experience with US reporting relationship and global HR alignment. Experience supporting international operations or managing cultural bridges between regions.
• Proficiency with ADP and Lever.
• Strong spreadsheet and data analysis skills.