Chief People Officer — Enterprise-Operations Centre

The mandate

The Gurugram enterprise-operations centre has accepted two substantial migrations in 18 months while losing experienced managers from its night and weekend operations. Customer service levels remain superficially sound, but absence, internal transfers and repeated vacancies are concentrating knowledge in too few people. New joiners are reaching independent productivity later than planned, and specialist teams are competing for the same bilingual and control-qualified talent. The executive committee needs a people leader who will treat this as an operating-system problem rather than another recruitment campaign.

The Chief People Officer will shape workforce decisions affecting approximately 1,025 employees and material partners within a wider ₹3,950 crore services perimeter. The centre handles business operations with different regulatory calendars and hours of coverage; workforce availability is therefore a customer and control issue. The role leads human resources, talent acquisition, employee relations, learning, workforce analytics and leadership succession, while partnering closely with operations heads who retain day-to-day delivery accountability.

Several uncomfortable choices await. Some work should be redesigned before vacancies are filled. Shift premiums and transport practices no longer reflect the jobs that are hardest to staff. Manager spans vary widely, and promotions have rewarded tenure more consistently than skill depth. The incoming executive must establish the facts, protect employee trust and make targeted investments without creating a permanent cost structure around a temporary backlog.

Why this seat is open

An interim people leader has covered the centre since the former Chief People Officer accepted an external appointment. The arrangement was meant to be brief, but the capability problem intensified during the transition. This is an urgent replacement: a permanent appointee is sought within six to eight weeks so workforce decisions can be made before the next migration begins. The departure is not connected to misconduct or a hidden restructuring.

What you will own

• Produce a skill-and-shift capacity map that connects vacancies, proficiency, attendance and manager coverage to actual service risk.
• Redesign recruiting around scarce role families, including realistic selection, time-to-proficiency and quality-of-hire measures by source.
• Rework the first 180 days of employment for high-attrition populations, with managers accountable for training completion and independent productivity.
• Lead employee relations for any change to shifts, transport, location, spans or role design; build consultation into the plan rather than after it.
• Establish market and internal-equity principles for premiums and specialist pay, correcting unjustified anomalies without an indiscriminate salary reset.
• Assess every senior people and operations leader jointly with the CEO, then fill pivotal gaps and name successors for critical posts.
• Replace aggregate attrition reporting with cohort analysis showing regretted loss, manager effects, skill scarcity and controllable causes.
• Create internal pathways from transaction work into controls, analytics and team leadership so the centre can grow capability without relying solely on lateral hiring.

The first 12 months

In the first 45 days, the CPO will reconcile headcount, vacancies, attendance and proficiency data and identify the ten teams at greatest continuity risk. By day 90, each will have a stabilisation plan, critical shift coverage and a named operations owner. The executive committee must also receive an honest estimate of productivity lost through churn and training, not just recruitment cost.

The middle of the year will test targeted interventions. Revised onboarding will launch in two large role families, manager spans will be corrected in the weakest units, and premium changes will follow formal employee consultation. Recruitment partners that deliver volume without retention will be removed. A workforce council will review demand assumptions before authorising exceptional hiring.

After 12 months, regretted attrition in designated critical roles should be at least seven percentage points below baseline. Median time to independent productivity should improve by 20%, unfilled critical shifts should fall by 60%, and internal fills should account for at least one-third of supervisor and specialist vacancies. These gains must coexist with stable employee-relations indicators and delivery performance.

What the board will measure

• No material service or control failure attributable to knowingly inadequate skill or shift coverage.
• A credible quarterly workforce forecast that links demand, proficiency and cost, remaining within 7% after the second cycle.
• Retention of 90% of the specifically identified pivotal employees through the first year.
• Measurable differences between managers and recruitment sources, followed by action rather than explanation.
• At least two ready-soon successors for the roles whose absence could interrupt a regulated or time-critical operation.

The person

You are a Chief People Officer, CHRO or regional HR leader who has repaired a labour-intensive, multi-shift operation under visible service pressure. You have personally handled employee consultation and difficult workforce choices; a background centred solely on talent programmes or culture campaigns is insufficient. Experience may come from global capability centres, business services, regulated operations, customer service or another environment where proficiency and attendance directly affect customers.

The expected range is 22–28 years, including leadership of a population of at least 725 and exposure to an accountable business or service perimeter of ₹2,300 crore or more. You understand cohort attrition, scheduling economics and the difference between training attendance and competence. References should confirm that you can challenge operating leaders without turning people issues into HR-owned exceptions.

The role is onsite in Gurugram because the recovery depends on direct access to teams across shifts. Relocation is required.

Compensation and terms

The fixed range is ₹2.2–3.0 crore with a performance variable linked to pivotal retention, proficiency, continuity and leadership depth. Final calibration will reflect the successful candidate’s experience and current mix. Payment for lower attrition will never override employee-relations or service safeguards. Contractual notice can be considered, although the organisation prefers the earliest responsible joining date.

Confidentiality

The employer’s name, served functions and migration calendar are withheld to protect employees during an active leadership search. Qualified candidates will receive further information only after mutual interest and a signed undertaking. The rounded workforce and budget figures describe the scale of judgement required and are not clues to a particular company.