Head - Talent Acquisition

Responsibilities & Key Deliverables

Role Overview

This role leads Talent Acquisition for Mahindra’s Auto sector, driving recruitment operations, governance, sourcing strategy, leadership hiring, and digitization. The incumbent will enhance hiring effectiveness through AI-enabled practices, talent pipeline development, quality-of-hire measures, and partner management, while ensuring efficient, high-quality talent delivery and an improved candidate experience.

Key Responsibilities

Talent Acquisition & Sourcing Strategy

• Partner with business leaders and HRBPs to deliver leadership, niche, and critical hiring needs.
• Drive sourcing strategies for leadership, lateral, diversity, and specialist talent pipelines.
• Utilize market intelligence, competitor insights, and sourcing analytics to improve hiring outcomes and conversions.
• Improve quality of hire through effective assessments, talent calibration, and data-driven selection

TA Operations, Governance & Effectiveness 

• Own TA operations, including requisition management, SLA/TAT tracking, stakeholder reviews, and reporting.
• Track recruitment metrics including Time to Offer, open roles, source mix, diversity, and quality of hire.
• Govern RPO/vendor performance across SLA adherence, cost per hire, conversions, and hiring manager satisfaction.
• Monitor hiring effectiveness through quality of hire, retention, stakeholder feedback, and assessment improvements. 

Digitization & AI Intervention 

• Identify and implement AI/automation interventions across sourcing, screening, scheduling, and candidate experience (e.g. ATS workflows, AI screening tools, chatbots, resume parsing).
• Lead digitization of TA processes end-to-end — requisition approvals, interview workflows, offer management  — reducing manual touchpoints.
• Evaluate and pilot TA tech stack upgrades (ATS, assessment platforms, AI sourcing tools) in partnership with HR Tech/IT.

COE & Role Approval Governance 

• Act as the TA Center of Excellence (COE) custodian — define hiring policies, role/grade approval workflows, and organizational structure alignment with HR.
• Standardize JD frameworks, interview competency matrices, and grade-wise hiring guardrails across functions.
• Drive governance on new role creation, replacement vs. fresh-hire approvals, and org structure alignment.

Graduate Trainee Program 

• Own the Graduate Trainee Program end-to-end: campus strategy, partner institute selection, hiring targets, and onboarding handoff to L&D.
• Build a structured pipeline and assessment framework for entry-level/graduate hiring aligned to future leadership needs.

Experience

Candidate Experience

• 15–20 years of progressive TA experience, with strong overall knowledge of the HR function.
• Prior exposure to Automotive/Manufacturing or large matrixed organizations strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience driving recruitment digitization or AI tool implementation (ATS, AI screening, chatbots, analytics platforms).
• Strong stakeholder management skills with experience presenting to VP/CXO-level HR and business leadership.
• Proven track record of having managed large-scale RPO engagements through their tenure, with strong knowledge of RPO governance and vendor management.
• Experience managing large-scale campus/Graduate Trainee hiring is a plus.

Key Skills

• TA Process Design & Governance
• HR Function Knowledge • Recruitment Analytics & Dashboarding
• AI/HR Tech Tools (ATS, AI Screening, Automation Platforms)
• COE Policy & Role Approval Workflow Management
• Campus/Graduate Trainee Program Management
• Stakeholder & Large-Scale RPO/Vendor Management

Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We believe diversity fuels innovation and strive to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and included. Mahindra is an Equal Opportunity Employer, welcoming applicants from all backgrounds and ensuring fair consideration regardless of personal characteristics protected by law. We encourage diverse talent to apply and are committed to providing an accessible, inclusive experience for all candidates.