Dev Parameshvan · Chief Human Resources Officer · India

I would ask whether the organisation can carry the responsibility it has assigned.

My contribution to a board

I would contribute a practical understanding of how employment arrangements influence the responsibilities a technical business can exercise. A board may approve an expansion, endorse a quality culture or support investment in expertise. The people questions are whether the operating plan has the experience it assumes, whether a technical role has a credible career and whether a manager can raise a difficult issue without an employment arrangement discouraging it. My contribution would be to help the board examine those assumptions, not to manage individual staffing decisions from the boardroom.

My experience is strongest in pharmaceutical people leadership. I am not a pharmacist, a quality certifier or an audit specialist. A collective board needs those and other perspectives through its members and advisers. I would be useful where the board wants to understand the organisational implications of technical and commercial choices, and where management can provide evidence beyond a headcount total. I would ask how a proposed people measure might affect conduct, how a role’s authority operates in practice and which dependencies remain unresolved in an investment plan.

I have presented to the nomination and remuneration committee as an executive since 2018. That is exposure to board questioning, not prior service as a director. A first appointment would require me to broaden my judgement beyond the function I know well. I would expect a structured induction, access to appropriate information and candid discussion with the chair about the contribution needed. I would not seek to recreate my executive role in another company through a board seat.

Capacity and preferences

Time available: 26 days per year
Current directorships: 0
Sectors: Pharmaceutical formulations · Life-sciences services · Technical manufacturing
Company type: An Indian promoter-led or institutionally backed company with distinct executive and board responsibilities
Company stage: Expansion or professionalisation requiring clearer technical careers and management accountability

The seat I am pursuing

I am considering a first non-executive contribution to an Indian formulations, life-sciences services or technical-manufacturing company. A business expanding its operations or professionalising its employment structures could make good use of my experience, provided the board also has the wider technical, financial and commercial capabilities it needs. I would prefer to begin with committee membership where relevant, supported by preparation, rather than claim immediate readiness to chair.

The appointment would depend on the specific mandate, eligibility and independence review, employer consent and a realistic time commitment. I have not yet registered with the IICA databank and would address the applicable preparation before presenting myself for an independent-director process. I would ask the chair what contribution is missing from the current board and how that contribution will be recognised in practice. A precise answer matters more to me than an impressive title with an uncertain expectation.

Committee contribution

Chair and member readiness
Capacity	Committees
Ready to join	Nomination and remuneration committee, subject to preparation and suitability

Judgement in practice

Putting the cost of experience beside an expansion date

The 2023 line proposal relied on twenty-four transfers from an existing unit. Our review showed that the full move would weaken the sending operation. Management chose twelve transfers and twelve external hires, funded ₹2.4 Cr of overlap and preparation, and moved the planned start by six weeks. My board-level question would be whether the investment case makes such dependencies visible before approval. I would ask for an explanation of what the organisation gives up elsewhere, rather than accept internal transfers as free capacity. I would not prescribe individual moves or determine technical authorisation. The oversight contribution is to examine whether the staffing assumptions, cost and timetable have been considered together and whether unresolved technical decisions remain visible in the project account.

Examining the consequence of a reward rule I once supported

The attendance-linked award introduced in 2014 created pressure around reporting illness. I had supported the design and initially believed clearer communication would help. Employee accounts changed my view. We removed the criterion, reviewed forty-one decisions and changed thirteen at a cost of ₹19 lakh. As a director, I would ask how management tests the possible behavioural effects of a proposed incentive, including whether it discourages information the company needs. I would also ask how an identified design error is corrected for affected people. That does not mean a board reviews individual award cases. It means the board understands the assurance behind a material remuneration approach and can challenge a reassuring measure without assuming that its simplicity makes it sound.

My first year on a board

My first months would be spent understanding the company’s products, ownership expectations, sources of earnings and the responsibilities of its technical functions. I would study how the board receives information about quality, investment and people without assuming that the arrangements mirror those of my employer. Site visits and discussions would be arranged through the chair and management, with a clear learning purpose. I would want to understand how a staffing or technical-career issue becomes material to the wider business.

I would then identify a limited area in which my experience could add value, perhaps the workforce assumptions supporting an expansion or the evidence behind a specialist-career proposal. The contribution would be questions and collective judgement, not a parallel management project. I would seek feedback from the chair on the relevance and timing of my interventions. By the end of the year, I would want a stronger understanding of the entire enterprise and a clearer sense of where my functional experience helps, and where it needs to be supplemented by the expertise of others.

Conflicts and their management

My current pharmaceutical employment would require careful examination before joining another board. Product markets, suppliers, development relationships and recruitment competition could all create relevant connections. I would disclose those circumstances and seek the necessary consents rather than assume that a different company name means there is no conflict. I would not bring confidential technical, employment or commercial information from my employer into another board’s deliberations.

The initial allowance of twenty-six days a year includes reading, meetings, travel and induction. It would need to be checked against the actual calendar and the possibility of additional work during a difficult period. If the role required more time than I could responsibly provide, the appointment should not proceed on an optimistic assumption. Where a conflict arose after appointment, I would follow the company’s agreed process and applicable requirements, including stepping out of relevant discussions when appropriate and recording the handling of the matter.

My independence statement

I would disclose my employment, commercial connections, financial interests and relevant relationships for review before any appointment. Independence is a matter for assessment under the applicable requirements and actual circumstances; my lack of existing directorships does not establish it.

Board and committee exposure

Presented to the Board or a committee

Anvethra Pharmaceuticals

Nomination and remuneration committee

2018–present

Executive presentations on senior appointments, specialist career structures and people investment; no director or committee membership.

Governance learning and readiness

IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Not yet registered

Registration in the IICA Independent Directors’ Databank remains an unfinished part of my preparation for an Indian board opportunity. My preparation for a possible Indian independent-director appointment would include examining the applicable databank, assessment and appointment requirements with qualified advice. I make no exemption or eligibility claim.

Study of collective board responsibility and the boundary with technical management
Preparation in financial reporting and pharmaceutical business economics
Structured review of remuneration decisions and workforce information used by directors