About the Role:

People Business Partnering includes strategic People partnering roles that focus on aligning people strategies with business goals and objectives. PBPs work closely with senior leaders and create team-oriented & consultative relationships with them. They work independently within a broad framework, with a clear level of authority and solves complex challenges based on accurate identification of underlying factors/causes.

They have awareness of the potential impact a proposed solution might have outside their own immediate area and will work cross functional to mitigate as needed.

The Head of People Partnering - IBS is responsible for driving the people agenda and employee relations strategy across the India business. The role partners closely with business leaders to build a high performing, engaged, and compliant organization while ensuring effective management of employee and industrial relations, talent outcomes, organizational change, and workforce effectiveness.

The incumbent acts as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, influencing business decisions through people insights, risk management, labor relations expertise, and strategic workforce planning. The role is accountable for creating an inclusive and performance-driven culture that enables sustainable business growth.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Business Partnership

- Partner with business and functional leaders to translate business strategy into people priorities and action plans.
- Provide strategic counsel and solutions on organization design, workforce planning, talent development, succession planning, performance management, and culture transformation.
- Support leadership teams in driving business growth, operational excellence, employee engagement, and organizational effectiveness.
- Influence business decisions through data-driven people insights and analytics.
- Lead and support enterprise-wide transformation and change management initiatives.

Employee Relations & Industrial Relations

- Develop and execute a comprehensive Employee and Industrial Relations strategy aligned with organizational objectives.
- Serve as the lead advisor to senior management on all labor relations, employee relations, and compliance matters.
- Build constructive relationships with employees, contractors, unions, employee representatives, regulatory authorities, and external stakeholders.




- Lead collective bargaining negotiations and long-term labor settlements while ensuring business continuity and positive employee relations.
- Manage complex workplace investigations, disciplinary matters, grievance handling, conflict resolution, and critical employee cases.
- Anticipate and mitigate industrial relations risks through proactive engagement and stakeholder management.
- Drive harmonious labor-management relations while fostering a culture of trust, fairness, and transparency.

Labor Law Compliance & Governance

- Ensure compliance with all applicable labor legislations and regulatory requirements.
- Develop, implement, and continuously improve ER policies, procedures, and governance frameworks.
- Monitor compliance risks and implement appropriate mitigation measures.
- Liaise with government agencies, labor authorities, legal counsel, industry bodies, and regulators as required.
- Prepare and present compliance, labor relations, and risk reports to leadership teams.
- Drive ethical practices and reinforce organizational values across all people processes.

Talent Management & Organizational Capability

- Lead implementation of talent management frameworks including succession planning, leadership development, and capability building.
- Partner with leaders to identify critical talent gaps and develop robust talent pipelines.
- Drive performance management processes, including goal setting, performance reviews, coaching, and development planning.
- Enable a culture of continuous learning through development strategies, capability-building interventions, and leadership programs.
- Coach people managers on talent decisions, employee development, and team effectiveness.

Employee Engagement & Culture

- Champion employee engagement initiatives that strengthen organizational culture and employee experience.
- Lead initiatives focus on diversity, inclusion, wellbeing, recognition, and retention.




- Build a high-performance culture through effective rewards and recognition practices.
- Utilize employee feedback and engagement insights to develop action-oriented improvement plans.
- Serve as a visible and credible ambassador of company values and leadership behaviors.

Change Management & Transformation

- Lead people aspects of large-scale organizational transformation, restructuring, and business change initiatives.
- Develop change management strategies and stakeholder engagement plans.
- Drive adoption and sustainability of organizational changes through communication, leadership alignment, and capability building.
- Assess organizational readiness and implement interventions to support successful transitions.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

- Build strong partnerships with business leaders, functional teams, employees, labor representatives, and external stakeholders.
- Influence decision-making through credibility, commercial acumen, and strategic thinking.
- Coach and mentor leaders on employee relations, leadership effectiveness, and people management practices.
- Foster collaboration across functions to achieve business and people objectives.

Key Success Measures

- Employee engagement and retention outcomes.
- Labor relations climate and industrial harmony.
- Successful completion of collective bargaining agreements and long-term settlements.
- Compliance and risk management effectiveness.
- Talent pipeline strength and succession readiness.
- Leadership capability development.
- Organizational change adoption and sustainability.
- Performance and productivity improvements.
- Employee experience and culture indicators.

Qualifications & Experience Education

- Master’s degree in human resources, Industrial Relations, Labor Studies, Business Administration, or related discipline.
- Experience 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, including significant exposure to Employee Relations and Industrial Relations.
- Proven experience in collective bargaining, labor negotiations, industrial relations strategy, and compliance management.
- Demonstrated success partnering with senior business leaders in large, complex, and geographically dispersed organizations.
- Experience leading organizational transformation and culture change initiatives.
- Strong understanding of Indian labor laws and regulatory frameworks.

📌 Head of People Partnering- MCL and Depot, IBS (Mumbai)
🏢 A.P. Moller - Maersk
📍 Mumbai