Senior Manager - Talent Acquisition

Role Summary

The General Manager – Talent Acquisition is a senior leadership role responsible for designing and driving the organization’s overall talent acquisition strategy across all business units and geographies. With 20+ years of experience, this role oversees leadership hiring, large-scale ramp-ups, global workforce planning, employer branding, and TA transformation initiatives. The GM-TA partners closely with CXO-level stakeholders to ensure the organization attracts, hires, and retains high-quality talent aligned with current and future business needs.

Key Responsibilities

1. Talent Acquisition Strategy & Workforce Planning

Define and own the long-term talent acquisition strategy aligned to business and growth plans.
Partner with CXOs, Business Heads, and HR leadership to forecast manpower needs and critical skill requirements.
Develop annual and quarterly hiring plans including budgets, resource allocation, and vendor strategy.
Drive strategic initiatives such as succession pipelines, leadership hiring programs, and niche skill acquisition.

2. TA Governance, Policy & Process Excellence

Establish and govern TA policies, frameworks, and SOPs across all business units and locations.
Standardize recruitment processes, SLAs, and governance models to ensure consistency and scalability.
Ensure effective use and optimization of ATS, HRIS, and analytics tools; drive automation and digitization in TA.
Monitor and improve core TA metrics (time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, quality-of-hire, offer-to-join, diversity ratios, etc.).

3. Leadership & Critical Hiring

Lead end-to-end hiring for senior leadership and business-critical roles.
Act as a strategic advisor for CXOs on talent market trends, compensation benchmarks, and candidate engagement.
Oversee robust assessment frameworks (competency-based interviews, psychometric tools, case studies, etc.) for senior roles.
Ensure confidentiality and high-touch candidate experience for executive-level hiring.

4. Employer Branding & Talent Market Positioning

Define and drive the employer branding strategy to position the organization as an employer of choice.
Collaborate with Marketing/Corporate Communications on digital campaigns, social media presence, and brand assets.
Represent the organization at industry forums, conferences, campus events, and networking platforms.
Build long-term relationships with universities, professional bodies, and talent communities.

5. TA Organization & People Leadership

Lead and manage the entire TA function, including regional / BU TA Heads, recruiters, and coordinators.
Design TA org structure, roles, capacity planning, and career paths within the function.
Provide coaching, mentorship, and leadership development for TA team members and high-potential recruiters.
Foster a culture of performance, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement in the TA function.

6. Vendor, Partner & Stakeholder Management

Develop and manage strategic partnerships with recruitment agencies, search firms, RPOs, and other vendors.
Negotiate commercial terms, SLAs, and performance metrics with external partners.
Conduct regular reviews with business stakeholders on hiring progress, challenges, and corrective actions.
Influence and coach senior stakeholders on talent strategies, interview effectiveness, and market realities.

7. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in Hiring

Integrate DEI principles into all hiring strategies and processes.
Set diversity hiring goals in collaboration with HR and business leadership.
Drive initiatives to improve representation across levels and functions (gender, geography, background, etc.).
Ensure unbiased selection practices through structured interviews and objective assessment tools.

8. Compliance, Risk & Audit

Ensure recruitment practices comply with company policies, labour laws, and regulatory requirements across regions.
Maintain robust documentation, audit trails, and reporting mechanisms for internal and external audits.
Mitigate hiring-related risks (fraud prevention, data privacy, conflict of interest, etc.).
Align TA governance with broader HR governance, ethics, and compliance frameworks.

9. Analytics, Insights & Continuous Improvement

Build and maintain TA dashboards and reporting for leadership reviews.
Use data analytics to identify bottlenecks, forecast hiring risks, and recommend corrective actions.
Benchmark TA performance against industry standards and competitors.
Champion continuous improvement projects (process re-engineering, technology upgrades, sourcing innovations).

Required Qualifications & Experience

20+ years of progressive experience in Talent Acquisition / Recruitment, with at least 8–10 years in senior leadership roles (Head TA / GM / Director level).
Proven experience leading large-scale hiring for mid-to-large organizations (preferably IT/ITES, Consulting, Technology, BFSI, or similar – customize as needed).
Strong track record in leadership hiring, global/niche skill hiring, and TA transformation initiatives.
Experience managing geographically dispersed TA teams and multi-location / multi-country hiring (if applicable).
Hands-on exposure to ATS, HRIS, advanced sourcing tools (LinkedIn Recruiter, talent marketplaces, etc.) and TA analytics.

Skills & Competencies

Strategic Leadership & Business Acumen – ability to translate business strategy into long-term talent plans.
Executive Stakeholder Management – strong presence and credibility with CXOs and senior leaders.
People Leadership – proven ability to build, scale, and develop high-performing TA teams.
Data-Driven Decision Making – comfort with metrics, dashboards, and predictive analytics.
Change Management – ability to lead TA transformation, drive adoption of new tools and processes.
Strong Communication & Negotiation – especially for leadership offers and complex stakeholder environments.
Market & Industry Awareness – deep understanding of talent landscape, competitor moves, and compensation trends.
High Integrity & Professionalism – strong ethical orientation, confidentiality, and judgment.

Education

Bachelor’s degree is mandatory (preferably in HR, Business, or related fields).
Master’s degree in Human Resources / Business Administration (MBA/PGDM in HR) strongly preferred.
Additional certifications in HR, Talent Strategy, or Organizational Development are an advantage.

Success Measures / KPIs

Achievement of annual and quarterly hiring plans (volume, seniority, and critical skills).
Improvement in key TA metrics: time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, quality-of-hire, offer-to-join ratio.
Leadership and critical role hiring success, including time-to-onboard and retention of senior hires.
Employer branding impact: application quality/volume, social media engagement, campus outcomes.
Diversity hiring outcomes and compliance adherence.
TA team engagement, performance, and retention.

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