Lead/Senior Manager - Performance & Talent

Position Title: Performance & Talent Lead

Designation & Level: Senior Manager

Reporting To: Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)

Location: Mumbai

Function: Human Resources

Experience:

8 - 10 years in HR, including 3 - 5 years in Performance Management and Talent Management

Qualification: Full-time MBA in Human Resources (mandatory)

Role Scope: Performance Management, Talent Management, Succession Planning and Competency Framework

The Opportunity:

We are seeking an accomplished and future-focused Performance and Talent professional to establish and lead enterprise-wide systems that strengthen accountability, accelerate capability building and create a robust leadership pipeline. This is a high-impact role for a professional who can combine strong conceptual depth with practical execution, technology enablement and credible business partnership.

Reporting directly to the CHRO, the incumbent will own the design, governance and effective running of the Performance Management System, Talent Management System, Succession Planning and Competency Framework. The role will work closely with senior leaders, business HR teams and managers to translate organisational priorities into clear performance expectations, differentiated talent decisions and focused development actions.

Key Responsibilities:

A. Performance Management System:

• Establish, strengthen and run an enterprise-wide Performance Management System aligned with business strategy, annual operating priorities and organisational values.
• Own the complete performance cycle, including goal setting, KRA and KPI governance, periodic check-ins, mid-year reviews, year-end assessment, calibration, finalisation and closure.
• Design clear performance guidelines, process calendars, templates, manager toolkits, communication plans and governance mechanisms to enable consistent execution.
• Partner with business and HR leaders to improve the quality of goals by promoting measurable outcomes, clear accountability and alignment across levels.
• Facilitate calibration and talent review discussions, bringing data, independent challenge and consistency to performance decisions.
• Develop dashboards and analytics covering goal quality, process completion, rating distribution, differentiation, performance trends and identified improvement areas.
• Build manager capability in goal setting, ongoing feedback and performance conversations, evidence-based evaluation and constructive performance discussions.
• Continuously review the system using stakeholder feedback, process data and organisational requirements; recommend improvements in design, technology and user experience.
• Ensure appropriate documentation, confidentiality, controls, grievance handling and audit readiness throughout the performance process.

B. Talent Management System:

• Design and institutionalise an integrated Talent Management System that enables consistent identification, assessment, development, deployment and retention of critical talent.
• Create and govern talent review processes, including talent segmentation, potential assessment, performance-potential matrices and development planning.
• Facilitate structured talent reviews with senior leadership and convert review outcomes into specific, time-bound actions with clear ownership.
• Develop objective talent assessment criteria and decision guidelines to improve quality, fairness and consistency across businesses and functions.
• Build individual development planning disciplines and connect talent insights with learning, career experiences, mentoring, coaching and internal mobility opportunities.
• Partner with HR and business leaders to identify critical roles, pivotal capabilities, emerging talent and retention risks.
• Establish talent dashboards and review mechanisms to track development actions, movement, readiness and closure of agreed interventions.
• Strengthen transparency and employee experience through clear communication, manager enablement and disciplined process governance.

C. Succession Planning:

• Create and lead a structured succession planning framework for critical leadership, business and specialist roles.
• Partner with senior leaders to identify critical positions, succession risks, potential successors and role-specific readiness requirements.
• Define successor readiness categories and development actions, ensuring that assessments are evidence-based, calibrated and periodically refreshed.
• Build succession plans that balance internal pipeline development with external talent risk considerations and business continuity needs.
• Track successor development, readiness movement, coverage depth and exposure plans; highlight risks and required leadership decisions to the CHRO.
• Ensure succession discussions are confidential, well-documented and linked to broader talent, capability and workforce planning priorities.

D. Competency Framework:

• Design, validate and implement an organisation-wide competency framework covering core, leadership and role-relevant behavioural competencies.
• Develop clear competency definitions, proficiency levels and observable behavioural indicators that employees and managers can readily understand and apply.
• Integrate the competency framework with performance management, talent reviews, succession planning, leadership development, learning and career architecture.
• Facilitate stakeholder workshops, validation discussions and pilot exercises to ensure the framework reflects business context and organisational values.
• Create assessment guides, manager toolkits and communication materials; build internal capability to apply competencies consistently.
• Periodically review the framework for relevance and effectiveness, incorporating organisational evolution, role requirements and user feedback.

E. Technology, Analytics & Governance:

• Partner with HR technology, IT and vendors to digitise performance, talent, succession and competency processes with simple workflows and an intuitive user experience.
• Define business requirements, process logic, data fields, dashboards, testing protocols and adoption plans for relevant HR platforms.
• Use people analytics to identify performance patterns, talent risks, succession gaps and development priorities, and convert findings into decision-ready insights.
• Maintain high standards of employee-data confidentiality, access control, data quality and process documentation.
• Establish annual calendars, governance forums, roles and responsibilities, escalation paths and service standards for all processes under the role.

F. Stakeholder Partnership & Change Leadership:

• Act as a trusted adviser to the CHRO and HR leadership team on performance culture, talent decisions, leadership pipeline and organisational capability.
• Partner with senior leaders, business HR teams and managers to drive ownership and ensure that processes lead to meaningful decisions rather than administrative compliance.
• Build alignment across businesses and locations while allowing appropriate contextual flexibility within enterprise governance.
• Lead communication, capability-building and change interventions to strengthen adoption, manager confidence and employee understanding.
• Lead and develop team members, where assigned, and manage external partners through clear outcomes, milestones and quality standards.
• Handle sensitive performance and talent information with maturity, discretion, objectivity and sound judgement.

Candidate Profile:

Education & Certification:

Full-time MBA in Human Resources from a recognised institution is mandatory. Certification in Performance Management, Talent Management, Competency Framework and/or Succession Planning will be an added advantage.

Experience:

• 8 - 10 years of progressive HR experience, including at least 3 - 5 years of substantive experience in Performance Management and Talent Management.
• Demonstrated experience in designing, implementing or significantly improving performance and talent processes in a structured organisation.
• Hands-on exposure to talent reviews, potential assessment, succession planning, competency frameworks and individual development planning.
• Experience facilitating discussions with senior leaders and enabling managers to make objective, evidence-based people decisions.
• Exposure to HR technology, process digitisation, people analytics and change management will be strongly preferred.
• Experience in a multi-location, manufacturing, industrial or similarly complex organisation will be advantageous, but is not mandatory.