Head of Recruitment

Job role

Location

Experience

Role overview:

As a “Talent acquisition head” at The Hosteller, you shall be leading the entire team of acquisition specialists hiring for India’s largest backpacker hostel brand. This role requires a strategic thinker who can build a super-efficient team and processes having a sound understanding/experience in the hospitality sector, specially in domains like manpower agencies/campus hiring/facility management services/etc. supporting the face paced human resource requirement of the company. The role shall also require experience in P&L management, attrition controls, pan-India knowledge including regional/national expertise, labour laws, manpower forecasting, etc. in order to attract and retain the best talent in the hospitality sector.

Key responsibilities

• Design and execute The Hosteller’s pan-India full scale talent acquisition strategy in line with growth plans (new property openings, functional scale-ups, and seasonal hiring cycles)
• Partner with leadership to anticipate talent needs, skill gaps, and organizational design changes aligned with business goals
• Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing talent acquisition team including regional leads, recruiters, and manpower partners
• Establish KPIs, hiring metrics and dashboards for TAT (time-to-fill), cost-per-hire, attrition forecasting, conversion efficiency, etc.
• Develop a centralized manpower forecasting model (property, F&B, housekeeping, community, ops, and support roles) and lead recruitment across functions
• Build partnerships with campuses, training institutes, and skill development centres (e.g., IHMs, hotel management schools, NSDC-affiliated institutions)
• Activate mass recruitment drives through job portals, agencies, job fairs, and regional collaborations
• Activate and manage manpower supply partners, recruitment agencies and facility management vendors across North, South, East, and West zones
• Negotiate and optimize contracts to balance cost efficiency and hiring quality
• Oversee P&L management of the recruitment vertical including budgets, agency commissions, onboarding costs, and productivity ratios
• Standardize SOPs for job postings, screening, interviews, offers, and onboarding across all levels
• Implement scalable ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) and digital hiring tools for better transparency and reporting, including the ones developed by The Hosteller
• Analyze attrition data, identify root causes, and co-create retention strategies with HR Business Partners
• Ensure adherence to state and central labour laws, minimum wages, PF, ESI, contract staffing regulations, and HR audits
• Liaise with compliance and finance teams for vendor documentation, agreements, and renewals and develop frameworks to prevent non-compliance issues in multi-state hiring and staffing

Qualifications

• MBA/PGDM in HR or related field (Tier 1/Tier 2 institutes preferred)
• 10+ years of proven experience in hospitality/facility management/retail/QSR/ manpower supply/multi-location operations
• Strong pan-India recruitment exposure with understanding of regional hiring dynamics and language diversity
• Experience managing large-scale blue & grey collar hiring pipelines
• Demonstrated success in P&L ownership, attrition control, and manpower forecasting
• Knowledge of hospitality org structures, shift dynamics, and service standards
• Familiarity with ATS tools, HR analytics, and recruitment automation systems
• Excellent negotiation, stakeholder management, and team leadership skills
• Up-to-date understanding of labour legislation and contract workforce regulations across states
• Excellent communication, analytical, and stakeholder management skills
• Certification in labour laws, HR analytics, or talent management is a plus
• Strategic thinker with an execution-first mindset