THE OPPORTUNITY

We seek an exceptional HR leader to architect and execute our people strategy during a transformational growth phase. As Head of HR, you will be a strategic business partner to the CEO and leadership team, building organizational capability to support our ambitious pipeline, attract world-class scientific talent, and establish our company as the employer of choice in India's competitive biopharma landscape.

This is a rare opportunity to shape culture, drive talent excellence, and create sustainable competitive advantage through people in one of India's fastest-growing sectors.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Leadership

- Partner with CEO and Executive Committee to translate business strategy into integrated talent strategy
- Build organizational architecture to support pipeline expansion, therapeutic area diversification, and commercial scale-up
- Lead workforce planning for critical capabilities: AI-driven drug discovery, computational biology, advanced biologics manufacturing, regulatory excellence
- Drive culture transformation balancing scientific rigor, innovation, speed, and collaboration
- Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion with measurable impact on representation and belonging

Talent Acquisition & Management

- Architect talent acquisition strategy to compete with global biopharma, tech giants, and Western opportunities for India's best scientific minds
- Build employer brand positioning our mission, scientific impact, and career opportunities
- Design career frameworks enabling dual tracks: technical expertise (Principal Scientist) and people leadership




- Establish internal mobility programs reducing reliance on external hiring and accelerating capability development
- Create succession planning and high-potential programs ensuring leadership pipeline strength

Performance & Development

- Redesign performance management from administrative process to continuous development engine
- Implement competency frameworks reflecting evolving skill needs: domain expertise + data science + cross-functional collaboration
- Build learning ecosystem combining scientific excellence, leadership development, and emerging capabilities (AI/ML, regulatory data science)
- Partner with IISc, NCBS, and global institutions for specialized talent development programs
- Drive manager effectiveness through training, coaching, and accountability for people outcomes

Employee Experience & Engagement

- Create employee voice mechanisms ensuring all levelsfrom lab scientists to senior leaders—feel heard and valued
- Design retention strategies addressing segment-specific needs: early career mentorship, mid-career growth, senior impact opportunities
- Build total rewards philosophy balancing market competitiveness with mission-driven culture
- Address unique challenges of two-tier workforce (lab-based vs. computational/regulatory roles) ensuring equitable experience




- Establish wellness programs supporting mental health in high-pressure R&D; environment

Organizational Effectiveness

- Lead organizational design initiatives supporting agility, cross-functional collaboration, and speed to market
- Drive HR analytics and metrics-based decision making: predictive attrition, skills gap analysis, performance-outcome correlation
- Implement HR technology stack enabling seamless employee experience and strategic insights
- Ensure compliance with Indian labor law, GMP requirements, and global regulatory standards
- Build HR team capability and establish centers of excellence in critical domains

QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

- 15+ years progressive HR leadership experience, including 8+ years in senior leadership roles
- Proven track record (preferably?) in biopharma, biotech, manufacturing,pharmaceutical, or life sciences industries
- Deep understanding of scientific talent markets, R&D; culture, and GMP-regulated environments
- Strategic business partnership experience with C-suite and Board-level stakeholders
- Demonstrated success in high-growth environments: scaling teams 2-3x, entering new markets, managing M&A; integration
- Expertise in talent acquisition for hard-to-fill scientific roles: computational biology, biologics manufacturing, regulatory affairs
- Robust analytical capability: workforce analytics, predictive modelling, metrics-driven decision making
- Master's degree in HR, Business, Psychology, or related field; MBA preferred
- Familiarity with Indian biotech ecosystem: academic partnerships, government initiatives, regulatory landscape
- Execution Excellence

📌 Head Human Resource (Bengaluru)
🏢 Somani Technologies
📍 Bengaluru