Group Chief Human Resource Officer - Retail/Lifestyle Firm

Group CHRO - Retail / Lifestyle Sector company (Tamil Nadu)

Description:

The CHRO will be a strategic partner in the companys transformation into a diversified consumer retail and lifestyle brand. This role will lead talent strategy, culture-building, and organizational design to support growth in retail, sneakers, and apparel, while strengthening people practices for long-term scalability.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic HR Leadership:

- Partner with CEO and leadership team to design and execute the people strategy aligned with the companys transformation journey.

- Build organizational capability for consumer retail, digital-first, and fashion-driven businesses while sustaining strengths in Manufacturing, Distribution and wholesale operations.

- Lead change management and cultural transformation to foster innovation, agility, and customer-centricity.

- Sustain harmony and operational excellence across 10+ manufacturing plants (spread geographically across India and abroad) and supply chain assets while scaling modern workforce capabilities.

Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning:

- Build a future-ready workforce with expertise in retail, fashion, merchandising, supply chain, and digital marketing.

- Develop succession planning, leadership development, and capability- building programs for key roles.

- Attract top industry talent while upskilling existing employees to adapt to new business models.

- Establish robust people processes across the organisation

Organization Design & Transformation:

- Redesign org structure to balance wholesale operations with emerging retail & apparel verticals.

Strengthen HR processes across the Organization:

- Define HR policies, governance, and performance frameworks to support a multi-channel business.

- Foster collaboration between existing teams and new business units.

Culture & Engagement:

- Shape a high-performance, entrepreneurial, and consumer-obsessed culture.

- Drive employee engagement programs tailored to a young, creative workforce

- Champion Employee Value proposition, diversity, equity, and inclusion as business priorities.

HR Operations & People Practices:

- Oversee compensation & benefits, performance management, and compliance across all units.

- Implement digital HR systems for scalability and workforce analytics.

- Strengthen compliance, workforce governance, and global audit readiness covering internal and external stakeholders

- Standardize HR processes to improve efficiency and employee experience.

Learning & Development:

- Establish learning academies for Operations, digital commerce, and leadership.

- Partner with external institutions to build talent pipelines in design, Channel & Retail management & emerging business models and routes to market

Employer Branding & Social Impact:

- Transform the company as an employer of choice in retail and lifestyle categories.

- Drive CSR initiatives focused on youth, community development, and sustainability in fashion.

Key Attributes, Skills & Experience:

- 16+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, preferably in consumer goods, retail, lifestyle, or apparel industries.

- Full-time Masters degree in HR / Personnel Management

- Candidates from Tamil Nadu or Kerala preferred.

- Age below 50 years

- Hands-on, high-integrity HR leader with strong people orientation and business acumen, patience, affable, self driven

- Proven track record of leading transformation in scaling organizations.

- Strong background in talent strategy, organizational culture, and large- scale HR transformations.

- Ability to work closely with entrepreneurial promoters and professional leadership teams.

- Passion for building people-driven organizations that balance scale with agility.

- Knowledge of statutory and regulatory aspects related to labour.