HR & Admin Manager

Experience: 6-8 years

Location: Chennai

At Hashtag, the HR and Admin Manager is the person who keeps this place running behind everything you see.

• You're the one who makes sure a new joiner walks in on Day 1 to a ready desk, a team that knows they're coming, and a process that makes them feel like they made the right call.
• You're the one who makes sure festivals are planned months before they arrive, birthdays don't get missed, vendors are sorted before something breaks, and the founder isn't being pulled into things he shouldn't have to think about.
• You'll own the people and office side of Hashtag end-to-end, from finding the right people and bringing them in, to making sure the day-to-day runs without friction.

This role reports directly to the founder, which means high trust, high visibility, and real ownership from day one.

The difference between someone who's good at this job and someone who's great at it is simple: great people don't wait to be asked. They see what needs to happen and they make it happen.

If you're the kind of person who builds systems before things break, closes loops without being followed up on, and genuinely cares about making a workplace feel like somewhere people want to be, this role is for you.

What You'll Do

• Own the end-to-end hiring process, posting jobs, managing applications, making first-round calls, coordinating interviews, and keeping the pipeline moving without it stalling.
• Build and maintain a candidate database so we're never starting from scratch.
• Coordinate with department leads to understand what each role needs before the search begins.
• Ensure every candidate has a clear, respectful experience regardless of the outcome.
  

• Make sure every new joiner's first day is set up - desk, laptop, tools, access, introductions. Nothing missing, nothing scrambled.
• Run the onboarding checklist so nothing falls through.
• Handle exit processes cleanly with documentation, handover coordination, and full and final settlement processed on time.
  

• Maintain employee records, leave tracking, and HR documentation.
• Keep the HR calendar running, probation reviews, appraisal cycles, work anniversaries, and scheduled check-ins.
• Own the performance review and appraisal cycle end to end - set the calendar, send reminders, collect feedback, coordinate the conversations, and make sure every employee goes through their review on time, every time.
• Maintain a record of every employee's review history, feedback, and growth milestones so there's always a clear picture of where each person stands.
• Build and maintain a proper performance tracking system - a structured, consistent process that gives leadership real visibility.
• Identify opportunities for leadership training and employee upskilling across the team and bring recommendations to the founder proactively.
• Flag people issues, morale dips, and team friction early rather than waiting for them to become problems.
  

• Own the full culture calendar built at the start of every year. Every festival, team outing, quarterly activity, welfare initiative, and celebration is planned and budgeted in advance. Nothing reactive, nothing last-minute.
• Track every employee's birthday, work anniversary, and personal milestones acknowledged before the day arrives, not scrambled on the day.
• Execute activities and celebrations with care and detail, the kind that makes people feel genuinely seen, not just checked off a list.
• Spot opportunities to bring the team together beyond the obvious calendar moments - a small win worth celebrating, a rough week worth acknowledging, a team that needs a reset.
  

• Keep the office running - vendors, maintenance, housekeeping, supplies, all managed on a proactive calendar, not in a crisis.
• Own the full service and maintenance calendar for all office equipment, studio props, cameras, laptops, and assets scheduled proactively so nothing breaks before it's been serviced.
• Maintain vendor service agreements and renewal dates so contracts don't lapse, rates don't go unreviewed, and the right people are always a call away when something needs attention.
• Manage an equipment and asset register that's always current - every device, every prop, and asset tracked with condition, last service date, and next review.
• Process internal expenses and reimbursements - verify claims, flag anomalies, route to finance correctly. Track reimbursement cycles so no team member has to chase their claim twice.
• Coordinate travel and logistics for the team - bookings, reimbursements, receipts, all clean and on time.
• Support the founder's calendar with genuine judgment about what matters and what doesn't with not just scheduling, but protecting the right time.

Who You Are

• 6 to 8 years in an HR and Admin role, ideally at a company between 20 and 50 people, where you had to figure things out rather than follow a playbook.
• You take initiative if something isn't happening; you make it happen.
• You close loops. When you say something will be done, it gets done. You follow up, you follow through, and you don't let things quietly disappear.
• Organised enough to hold multiple things at once without losing track of any of them.
• You understand that HR is about people, not paperwork, and you bring that energy to everything you do.
• Comfortable being the person who knows where everything is, who everyone is, and what needs to happen next.
• Calm under pressure, solutions-focused, and dependable when things get busy.

Nice-to-Haves (Optional)

• Experience managing an ATS or applicant tracking system.
• Familiarity with HR tools, leave management software, or performance tracking systems.
• Experience at a creative agency or fast-moving startup environment.
• Ability to draft communications - internal announcements, offer letters, basic policies.
• Basic understanding of statutory compliance - EPF, ESI, leave entitlements under Indian labour law.

The Vibe

• A 10-year-old creative agency that continues to grow and needs its inside to be as sharp as its output.
• You'll work directly with the founder - no layers, no politics, just clear expectations and real ownership.
• Fast enough to keep you engaged, structured enough to let you build properly.
• A culture where the small things, the birthday setups, the smooth onboarding, the office that just works, are noticed and valued.

This isn't a job where you manage a checklist and hand it up the chain. It's where you own an entire function, identify and build the systems that didn't exist before, and become the person this company can't run without.

If you want a role with real responsibility, direct access to leadership, and the chance to shape how a growing creative age