Chief Human Resources Officer - Manufacturing

About the Company:
The Company is a Kolkata-headquartered manufacturer with over six decades of legacy in manufacturing.
Role Objective:
To build and lead the HR function from the ground up for a growth-stage manufacturing company that currently has no formal HR infrastructure. The CHRO will design and implement the full HR architecture - policies, compliance frameworks, talent strategy, organisation structure and culture - while acting as a close strategic partner to the Managing Director and promoters in shaping the people agenda for the company's next phase of growth.
Key Responsibilities:
1. HR Function Build-out:
- Set up the HR department from scratch - structure, team, systems, and ways of working
- Define the HR operating model and roadmap aligned to business growth plans
- Select and implement an HRMS / HR tech stack suited to a manufacturing organisation
2. Policy, Compliance & Governance:
- Design and implement HR policies, employee handbook, SOPs and codes of conduct
- Ensure full compliance with labour laws applicable to manufacturing - Factories Act, Shops & Establishments Act, PF, ESI, Gratuity, Bonus Act, POSH, contract labour regulations, and West Bengal state-specific labour compliances
- Establish statutory registers, audits, inspections and liaison with labour authorities
- Build robust grievance redressal, disciplinary and POSH committee frameworks
3. Core HR Areas:
- Design organisation structure, role definitions, job descriptions and reporting lines across corporate office and factory
- Build performance management systems - goal-setting, appraisals, and linkage to rewards
- Design compensation & benefits structures, salary bands and incentive frameworks benchmarked to industry
- Drive talent acquisition strategy in partnership with the recruitment team, especially for leadership and factory roles
- Build learning & development frameworks, especially for factory workforce and frontline supervisors
- Establish HR MIS, manpower planning, attrition analysis and workforce cost reporting for management
- Drive culture-building initiatives suited to a promoter-led, high-ownership environment
- Manage industrial relations, union/contract labour matters and factory HR operations
4. Strategic Partnership:
- Act as a trusted advisor to the MD and promoters on organisation design, leadership hiring, succession planning and people risk
- Translate business strategy into people strategy, particularly around the company's growth and expansion plans
Key Result Areas:
- A fully functional, compliant HR department operational within the first 69 months
- Zero statutory/compliance gaps across labour law and factory-related regulations

- Documented HR policies, handbook and SOPs adopted company-wide
- Defined organisation structure with clear roles, reporting lines and job descriptions
- Functional performance management and compensation framework
- Improved hiring quality and reduced time-to-fill for leadership and factory roles
- Established and trained HR team (including HR Manager) operating independently
Candidate Profile:
- 15 to 20 years of progressive HR experience out of which last 3 years as HOD in manufacturing/industrial organisations
- Demonstrated experience working directly with promoters/owners in family-run or promoter-led businesses, ideally combined with a stint in a structured corporate environment
- Strong working knowledge of labour law compliance, factory HR operations, and statutory frameworks (preferably with exposure to West Bengal)
- Proven track record of building HR functions/teams from the ground up (zero-to-one HR experience)
- Strong grounding across core HR pillars - talent acquisition, performance management, compensation, L&D, IR and HR operations
- High ownership, hands-on, comfortable operating with limited initial infrastructure and building systems independently
- Excellent stakeholder management skills to work closely with promoters and senior management
- Postgraduate qualification in HR/Personnel Management or equivalent (MBA-HR is must)
What We're Looking For:
This is a builder's role, not a maintenance role. We need a leader who can walk into a business with no HR function and create one - policies, structure, compliance, talent and culture - while working in close, daily partnership with the promoters. The ideal candidate combines the discipline and frameworks of a corporate HR career with the agility, hands-on style and ownership mindset needed in a promoter-driven manufacturing business.