People & Culture Lead Full Time

📍  Location: Pune (In-office / Hybrid) 🕐  Experience: 3 years+

The Role

This is a role where you get to shape something from the beginning rather than inherit someone else’s system. You will be our dedicated people and culture driver, reporting directly to the Founder, with full ownership of the people function.

Keep building and improvising the playbook, which means there is also no ceiling. You will help share how plan-a hires, onboards, develops, and retains its people. The foundations you strengthen now will carry the agency through its next phase of growth — and your role will grow with it.

Your Responsibilities

Talent Acquisition

• Lead hiring across creative, performance, strategy, and client servicing roles — from writing the JD to welcoming someone on Day One.
• Go beyond job boards. Build relationships with good people proactively, lean on referrals, and make Plan-A visible in the right circles.
• Hire for fit and potential, not just credentials. We want people who see this as a place to grow, not a placeholder.

Onboarding & Culture

• Shape a warm, thoughtful joining experience — one that helps new people feel at home quickly and genuinely understand who we are and how we work.
• Work with reporting managers to set new hires up for early wins: clear goals, regular check-ins, and the right support through probation.
• Keep a pulse on team engagement — through conversations, wellness initiatives, and development opportunities that people actually look forward to.

HR Operations

• Take ownership of day-to-day HR operations — attendance, leave, and payroll inputs — working alongside our outsourced payroll partner.
• Bring in and manage an HRIS that fits where we are headed. We have shortlisted a few options and would value your input on the right call.
• Strengthen the consistency of our existing policies — working hours, leave, contracts — so everyone across the team is on the same page.

Performance & Growth

• Introduce a performance review rhythm that is straightforward and meaningful — regular enough to be useful, light enough to not feel like a burden.
• Support team leads and individuals through growth conversations, career check-ins, and the occasional difficult moment — handled with care and fairness.
• Stay close to how people are feeling. A quick conversation at the right time goes a long way in keeping good people happy and motivated.

Leadership Enablement

• Partner with team leads to help them grow — better 1:1s, feedback, and the confidence to handle tricky conversations.
• Work closely with the Founder as a thinking partner on people strategy, org structure, and how we build the team as we scale.

Who You Are

• You genuinely like people. Not as a professional skill to list on a CV, but as a basic instinct. You are curious about what makes someone tick, what is bothering them, and how to help them do their best work.
• You have hired people before — from writing the brief to getting someone across the line. You know it involves equal parts process and instinct, and you are comfortable owning both.
• You are a generalist who is happy doing the work, not just planning it. Onboarding, performance conversations, policy drafting, exit interviews — you have touched most of these and are not precious about rolling up your sleeves.
• You communicate clearly and honestly. Not aggressively, but directly. People trust you because they know you will give them a straight answer rather than a diplomatic non-answer.
• You are comfortable with some ambiguity. A role where you help write the playbook rather than follow an existing one sounds interesting to you, not stressful.

On paper, we are looking for:

• 2–4 years of HR experience in an agency, startup, or fast-paced services environment.
• Hands-on familiarity with HR tools — HRIS platforms (Keka, Zoho People, GreytHR), LinkedIn Recruiter, and basic ATS usage.
• Solid written and verbal English — you will be writing JDs, policies, and representing Plan-A to candidates regularly.
• A working understanding of Indian labour law basics: PF, ESIC, offer letters, and employment contracts.

Good To Haves:

• Experience in a creative or performance marketing agency specifically.
• An MBA or PGDM in HR — though we will take demonstrated experience over a degree any day.
• Having set up an HRIS or hiring workflow from scratch before.

What’s In It For You?

• A genuine seat at the table. You will report directly to the Founder and have real input into how the company is structured, staffed, and scaled.
• Full ownership of the people function — the rare opportunity to build something from scratch and put your name on how it works.
• A clear growth path. As we scale, this role scales with it — in scope, team, and responsibility.
• A team that is serious about its craft and its people. We are not a revolving door agency. We invest in the people who invest in us.

About Our Agency

plan-a is a strategy, content, and design-driven digital marketing agency with a talented team of individuals who have contributed significantly to our success. In 11+ years of delivering delight, we have worked with companies at different life-cycle stages from various industries. We work with a globally established clientele and help them solve communication challenges with innovative campaigns that balance thought-provoking content and visually striking designs. Our teammates are digital natives and are constantly striving to deliver impact-focused campaigns. We’re working with some of the most prominent organisations in India, like Tata Steel Nest-In, Panchshil Realty, John Deere & more.