HR Director - SaaS Marine Solutions - IIM/XLR/ISB/FMS/MDI

About the Organisation:
We are a mid-size, product-led technology company with an international presence and an active, growing engineering and product organisation. Our people function is a strategic priority, not a support function, and this role sits at the centre of everything we're building.
We are looking for an HR leader who has built, not just administered. Someone who brings energy and initiative to the role, has a track record in product-first organisations, and is ready to own the full scope of the people function as we continue to scale.
The Opportunity:
This is a full-function ownership role. You will be the most senior HR professional in the organisation, reporting directly to the CEO and responsible for the entire people agenda, from how we hire engineers and product managers to how we build the organisation for the next phase of growth.
You will own tech, AI, and product hiring and not manage a team that does it, but personally drive sourcing strategy, hiring quality, and talent pipeline development.
You will build and evolve the HR organisation to support a digital product company with an international footprint.
You will set the people strategy, org design, culture, compensation philosophy, leadership development in partnership with the CEO.
What You Will Do:
Talent Acquisition
- Own end-to-end hiring for tech, AI, product, and leadership roles, sourcing strategy, JD design, pipeline management, and offer closure
- Build and manage high-quality hiring pipelines for hard-to-fill roles in a competitive talent market
- Set and track hiring metrics, time to fill, quality of hire, funnel conversion, offer acceptance rates
- Introduce AI and automation into hiring workflows to improve speed and candidate experience
- Serve as a talent partner to engineering and product leadership and not just a hiring executor

HR Operations & Compliance
- Own the full HR operations stack, onboarding, performance management, compensation cycles, exit processes
- Ensure HR compliance across domestic and international entities, employment law, statutory requirements, overseas HR obligations
- Design and manage compensation and benefits structures that are competitive for a product-first organisation
- Lead payroll coordination and ensure HR systems are fit for scale
Organisation Design & Culture
- Partner with the CEO on org structure decisions, reporting lines, spans of control, team design
- Build a culture of performance and ownership, not just process compliance
- Drive employee engagement and retention programmes, with a focus on engineering and product talent
- Lead leadership development and succession planning for senior roles
HR Strategy

- Define the people strategy for the next 2-3 years in alignment with business growth plans
- Build an HR function that scales the right team, the right tools, the right processes
- Be a trusted advisor to the CEO and leadership team on all people-related decisions
What We Are Looking for:
Non-negotiable requirements:
- MBA with HR specialisation from a Tier 1 B-school
- 18+ years of progressive HR experience;
- Background in product-based technology organisations, IT services experience alone will not be considered
- Prior experience in companies with 1000+ employees at minimum
- Full-function ownership and must have led both talent acquisition and HR operations, not TA alone
- Personally owned tech and AI/product hiring and not just managed a team that did it
Good to have:
- Experience managing HR for overseas entities or geographically distributed teams
- Exposure to AI/ML talent hiring or AI-augmented HR workflows
- Background in B2B product companies (SaaS, enterprise software, maritime tech, logistics tech, fintech)
- Prior experience with international HR compliance, employment laws across multiple geographies
Why This Role:
- Direct report to CEO, you will be in every strategic conversation that touches people, not presenting to an HR committee.
- Full-function ownership from day one, no handoffs, no matrix, no waiting for sign-off from a global HR head.
- A product organisation that is growing and you are not maintaining a steady state; you are building for the next phase.
Location:
Kochi, Kerala. This is an onsite role. The location is non-negotiable. Candidates who are not based in Kochi or not open to relocating to Kochi will not be considered.