Head of Recruitment

Job role : Head - Talent Acquisition

Location : Mumbai HO

Experience : 10+ years

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