Sr. Manager, People Operations
Narvar · Bengaluru
Narvar is Growing!
Narvar is growing! We are hiring a Senior Manager, HR Business Partner for a dual-mandate role: global HR business partner to our Research & Development organization, and HR lead for our India workforce — the site that anchors a significant share of our global R&D headcount.
You'll pair strategic HRBP judgment with hands-on ownership of local HR operations in a fast-scaling tech environment — partnering with engineering and R&D leaders across multiple countries on talent strategy, org design, and performance, while owning end-to-end HR operations, compliance, culture, and employee experience for India. Based in Bengaluru, you'll support R&D sites across multiple countries.
- Serve as the primary HR partner to R&D and engineering leadership (VP Engineering, Directors, Senior Managers) across multiple geographies, translating business and product roadmaps into people and org plans.
- Lead org design and workforce planning for R&D — team topology, span of control, leveling, and location strategy across engineering hubs.
- Drive the talent lifecycle for technical teams: performance calibration, promotion cycles (including technical career ladders), succession planning, and leadership development for engineering managers.
- Partner with Talent Acquisition on hiring plans, technical interview quality, and offer strategy for scarce engineering skill sets.
- Use people data and analytics (attrition, engagement, span/layer, DEI representation) to bring insight-led recommendations to R&D leadership, not just administrative support.
- Coach engineering managers on people-leadership fundamentals — feedback, difficult conversations, team health, and manager transitions.
- Lead or co-lead compensation planning for R&D roles, including annual comp reviews, equity refresh cycles, and market benchmarking for competitive technical talent.
- Manage complex employee relations matters within R&D, partnering with Legal and employee relations to ensure consistent, fair, and locally compliant resolution.
- Act as a change agent for organizational transformation initiatives (reorgs, restructuring) affecting R&D teams globally.
- Represent the voice of R&D employees in shaping global HR programs (engagement surveys, career frameworks, recognition, total rewards) and localize them where needed.
- Own the full India HR charter: policy, statutory compliance, employee lifecycle operations, and culture-building for the India population.
- Ensure compliance with Indian labour law and statutory requirements (Shops & Establishments Act, POSH Act, Provident Fund, ESI, Gratuity, Professional Tax, and state-specific regulations), partnering with payroll, legal, and external consultants as needed.
- Act as the India site HR leader — single point of accountability for people matters with the India leadership team, facilities, and admin functions.
- Lead India-specific talent programs, including India-market compensation benchmarking to stay competitive against local tech and GCC employers.
- Own the India onboarding and offboarding experience, background verification, and HR compliance audits.
- Design and run India employee engagement, wellbeing, and culture initiatives, adapting global programs to local context (festivals, benefits norms, employee expectations).
- Serve as an escalation point for India employee relations and workplace investigations, including POSH Internal Committee responsibilities.
- Manage relationships with India statutory bodies, auditors, and outsourced payroll/compliance vendors.
- Provide India-market intelligence (attrition trends, competitor moves, talent availability) to global HR and R&D leadership to inform location and hiring strategy.
What We’re Looking For
- 10–14 years of progressive HR experience: including at least 5–7 years as a lead HRBP supporting technology, engineering, or R&D organizations.
- End-to-end India HR ownership: demonstrated experience owning India HR compliance and operations (not just business-partnering) — ideally in a multinational tech or GCC setting.
- Indian labour law expertise: strong working knowledge of statutory compliance and POSH requirements.
- Multi-country experience: supporting distributed teams across time zones with global stakeholders.
- Executive influence: a track record of influencing senior technical leaders (VP/Director level) with data-driven recommendations.
- Org design and workforce planning: including technical career frameworks and leveling.
- Employee relations judgment: excellent judgment on investigations, with a bias for fair, timely resolution.
- Education: bachelor's degree required; MBA or PG in HR or equivalent preferred.
Bonus points
- Prior experience in a high-growth SaaS, product, or platform technology company.
- Familiarity with people analytics tools (ADP, Lattice, Pave, or equivalent).
Why Narvar?
We're on a mission to simplify the everyday lives of consumers. Post-purchase is a critical phase of the customer journey. That's why we created Narvar - a platform focused on driving customer loyalty through seamless post-purchase experiences that allow retailers to retain, engage, and delight customers. If you've ever bought something online, there's a good chance you've used our platform!
From the hottest new direct-to-consumer companies to retail’s most renowned brands, Narvar works with GameStop, Neiman Marcus, Sonos, Nike, and 1300+ other brands. With hubs in San Francisco, Atlanta, London, and Bangalore, we've served over 125 million consumers worldwide across 10+ billion interactions, 38 countries, and 55 languages.
Pioneering the post-purchase movement means navigating into the unknown. Our team thrives on this sense of adventure while nurturing a mindset of innovation. We're a home for big hearts and we leave our egos at the door. We work hard but we always make time to celebrate professional wins, baby showers, birthday parties, and everything in between.
We are an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.