Title: Associate Director – Talent Acquisition (Professional Services Hiring – Academia)
Location: India (Bangalore / NCR / Mumbai)
Reporting To : Head- HR (India Branch Campuses)
Role Overview
We are looking for a seasoned and highly strategic Associate Director – Talent Acquisition (Professional Services Hiring – Academia) to lead recruitment efforts for non-faculty and professional staff roles across multiple higher education institutions and global university joint ventures (JVs).
The role will be responsible for building and executing talent acquisition strategies to attract senior, mid-level, and specialist professionals who enable the successful operation of world-class universities. The incumbent will partner closely with university leadership and business function heads to identify, attract, and hire high-caliber talent across administrative, operational, academic support, and student-facing functions.
The ideal candidate will bring significant experience in recruiting professional services talent within leading Indian and/or global universities, possess a strong understanding of higher education operating models, and demonstrate exceptional stakeholder management capabilities in complex, matrixed environments.
Key Responsibilities
Talent Acquisition Strategy & Workforce Planning
- Develop and execute comprehensive recruitment strategies for non-faculty and professional services roles across multiple university entities and global academic partnerships.
- Partner with university leadership to understand workforce requirements, organizational structures, and future talent needs.
- Build annual hiring roadmaps and workforce plans aligned with institutional growth strategies.
- Act as a strategic advisor to stakeholders on talent availability, market trends, compensation benchmarks, and talent acquisition best practices.
End-to-End Hiring Leadership
Lead end-to-end recruitment for critical professional services positions including, but not limited to:
Academic Administration & Governance
- Registrar
- Deputy Registrar
- Controller of Examinations
- Academic Operations Leaders
- Academic Program Managers
- Faculty Affairs & Faculty Relations Professionals
- Academic Quality Assurance Professionals
Student & Campus Services
- Student Lifecycle Management
- Student Welfare & Experience Teams
- Student Success & Engagement Professionals
- Career Services Leaders
- Placement Teams
- Alumni Relations Professionals
Admissions, Outreach & Marketing
- Admissions Directors and Managers
- Outreach & Recruitment Teams
- International Student Recruitment Professionals
- Marketing & Communications Teams
- Partnership & Industry Engagement Professionals
Campus Operations & Administration
- Campus Operations Leaders
- Facilities Management Professionals
- Procurement Teams
- Administration Managers
- Security & Transport Managers
Corporate Functions
- Human Resources Leaders
- Finance Heads and Controllers
- Information Technology Managers
- Digital Transformation Professionals
- Legal & Compliance Professionals
- Corporate Communications Professionals
Knowledge & Learning Infrastructure
- Chief Librarians
- Library Services Professionals
- Research Administration Teams
- Learning Resource Specialists
Talent Mapping & Pipeline Development
- Build strong and sustainable talent pipelines across higher education institutions and relevant industries.
- Identify talent from:
- Leading Indian universities
- Global universities and branch campuses
- Research institutions
- EdTech organizations
- Consulting firms
- Service and operations-driven organizations
- Corporate sectors with transferable expertise
- Implement proactive talent mapping and succession planning initiatives.
- Develop diverse sourcing strategies leveraging:
- Executive search methodologies
- Professional networks
- Digital platforms
- Employee referrals
- Industry forums
- Higher education associations
- Talent communities
- Create and maintain a robust database of high-potential candidates for future requirements.
Stakeholder Management & Business Partnership
- Work closely with:
- Presidents
- Vice Chancellors
- Provosts
- Registrars
- Deans
- Functional Heads
- CEOs of University JV Entities
- Global Academic Partners
- Manage multiple senior stakeholders across geographies and institutional structures.
- Influence hiring decisions through market intelligence and talent insights.
- Facilitate alignment among diverse stakeholder groups for critical hiring requirements.
- Drive a consultative recruitment approach while ensuring exceptional stakeholder experience.
Higher Education Expertise
- Demonstrate a strong understanding of university operations and higher education ecosystems.
- Advise stakeholders on talent trends across:
- Academic administration
- Student services
- Admissions and enrolment management
- Campus operations
- Faculty affairs
- Research administration
- Quality assurance and accreditation
- Understand higher education governance frameworks and decision-making structures.
- Stay updated on emerging trends influencing university operations and professional services talent.
Employer Branding & Talent Attraction
- Strengthen employer brand positioning within higher education and professional talent markets.
- Represent the organization at:
- Higher education conferences
- Networking forums
- Talent acquisition events
- Industry and university partnerships
- Develop compelling talent attraction strategies for hard-to-fill and niche roles.
Recruitment Governance & Excellence
- Ensure compliance with hiring policies, recruitment governance standards, and institutional guidelines.
- Drive continuous improvement in recruitment processes, candidate experience, and hiring quality.
- Monitor recruitment analytics and provide insights through regular leadership reports.
- Implement best practices in assessment, selection, and onboarding of professional services talent.
Team Leadership
- Lead and mentor a team of recruiters and talent acquisition professionals.
- Establish recruitment metrics and operational excellence standards.
- Drive capability building within the talent acquisition function.
- Foster a collaborative and high-performance recruitment culture.
Required Qualifications
Education
- Master's Degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, or related discipline.
- Additional certifications in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, HR Analytics, or Leadership Hiring preferred.
Experience
- 12–18+ years of Talent Acquisition experience.
- Minimum 7–10 years of dedicated experience in recruiting professional services/non-faculty talent within higher education institutions.
- Proven track record of hiring substantial volumes of leadership and specialist talent across university support and administrative functions.
- Extensive experience managing complex recruitment mandates across multiple functions simultaneously.
- Experience supporting growth, transformation, expansion, or greenfield university projects will be highly preferred.
Preferred Industry Experience
Candidates should ideally have worked in Talent Acquisition roles within reputed institutions such as:
Indian Universities
- Ashoka University
- O.P. Jindal Global University
- Plaksha University
- Krea University
- Shiv Nadar University
- FLAME University
- Ahmedabad University
- Symbiosis International University
- Amity University
- Manipal Academy of Higher Education
- Azim Premji University
Global Universities & International Campuses
- International branch campuses
- Global university partnerships/JVs
- Research-intensive universities
- Private and public higher education institutions with multicultural workforces
Core Competencies
Functional Competencies
- Expertise in non-faculty/professional services recruitment.
- Strong understanding of higher education organization structures and operating models.
- Executive search and leadership hiring capability.
- Workforce planning and talent mapping.
- Talent market intelligence and compensation benchmarking.
- Recruitment analytics and process excellence.
- Employer branding and talent attraction strategies.
Leadership Competencies
- Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Ability to engage effectively with global and senior leadership teams.
- Strong executive presence and business acumen.
- Excellent communication and relationship management skills.
- Strategic thinking and problem-solving capability.
- High level of ownership, accountability, and execution excellence.
- Ability to work across cultures, geographies, and matrix structures.
Key Success Measures
- Achievement of annual hiring targets.
- Time-to-fill for critical and leadership roles.
- Quality of hire and hiring manager satisfaction.
- Diversity and talent pipeline strength.
- Stakeholder satisfaction scores.
- Recruitment process efficiency and governance compliance.
- Candidate experience metrics.
- Success in supporting talent needs across multiple global university JV operations.
