Director, Human Resources

Job Title: Director of People & Culture

Location: Pune, Maharashtra

Reporting To: CEO/ COO/ Chief of Staff

Function: Human Resources

Work Mode: Work From Office 05 Days a Week

Employment Type: Full-Time 

About SMS-Magic

At SMS-Magic, we believe people are our greatest strength. Every success story we write is shaped by a team that blends innovation, empathy, and performance. Our vision is to empower businesses through meaningful customer conversations using intelligent messaging. Our mission is to build trusted, conversational messaging solutions that drive growth and customer delight.

We operate through a strong set of values:

• Customer First

  – We obsess over solving real customer problems.

• Data-Driven Excellence

  – We make informed, performance-led decisions.

• Think Through, Act Fast

  – We balance thoughtful consideration with execution speed.

• Take Charge

  – We take ownership, lead proactively, and collaborate with purpose.

• Be Humble

  – We lead with empathy, humanize our work, and foster trust.

As we scale rapidly, we’re looking to strengthen our foundation with a values-driven, future-focused leader who can evolve our people strategy while fostering a high-performance culture.

About the Role

Director of People & Culture

• Talent Acquisition
• HR Operations
• Culture & Engagement
• Office Admin & IT (oversight role)

You will be a cultural torchbearer and trusted advisor to the CEO, founders, and function heads. Your ability to create trust on the floor, build scalable systems, and empower managers will define your success.

Key Responsibilities

1. People Strategy & Organizational Effectiveness

• Design a scalable people strategy aligned with business goals
• Lead workforce planning, succession, org design, and team structuring
• Balance startup speed with operational maturity

2. Culture, Values & Employee Experience

• Champion our values through programs, rituals, and touchpoints
• Drive inclusion, belonging, and trust across the employee lifecycle
• Lead pulse checks, engagement surveys, internal comms, and recognition

3. Leadership & Capability Building

• Build competency frameworks, skill maps, and leveling structures
• Launch learning programs and leadership development initiatives
• Enable a coaching mindset across mid to senior managers

4. Performance, Rewards & Progression

• Drive a strong performance management culture
• Lead compensation benchmarking, internal parity, and incentive strategy
• Design career pathing and internal mobility frameworks

5. Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding

• Lead a full-stack TA function with agile, quality-focused hiring
• Build predictive hiring models and DEI-informed processes
• Position SMS-Magic as an employer of choice through digital and campus efforts

6. People Analytics & Digital HR

• Build dashboards for attrition, engagement, headcount, and performance
• Implement and scale HR systems (HRMS, ATS, etc.)
• Enable business leaders with real-time insights

7. Admin, Compliance & Policy Governance

• Provide oversight on office admin and workplace infrastructure
• Ensure labor law compliance and audit-ready HR practices
• 
  
• Create modern, inclusive policies and maintain governance frameworks

Key Monthly/Quarterly Deliverables

• People Dashboard: Hiring, attrition, diversity, engagement
• Performance and progression metrics by function
• Culture report: Insights + actions
• Compensation and policy reviews
• Succession and capability reports

Interfaces & Collaboration

• CEO & Founders

  – People strategy, leadership coaching, succession

• Function Heads

  – Team planning, performance calibration, hiring

• Finance

  – Budgets, CTC planning, ESOP strategy

• Marketing

  – Employer branding, internal campaigns

• Legal

  – Compliance, audits, dispute resolution

• External

  – Recruitment partners, HR tech vendors, consultants

Qualifications & Requirements

• MBA in HR, Organizational Psychology, or equivalent
• 12–18 years of HR leadership experience across startups and mature firms
• Deep knowledge of:
• 
  
• Competency frameworks, skill mapping, performance systems
• Pay architecture, benchmarking, and rewards strategy
• Culture-building, engagement, and talent programs
• People analytics and HR tech stack
• 
  
• Proven success in managing lean teams with high outcomes
• Strong business acumen and executive presence
• Passionate about people, diversity, and progressive work culture