Senior Manager - People Strategy

Company Description

Dharmalife is a social impact organization advancing inclusive progress across India through two core pillars — People and Planet. Working in over 40,000 villages across 15 states, it has built a rural network of 20,000+ women entrepreneurs, Dharmalife Entrepreneurs (DLEs) who drive sustainable community development. The organization works alongside women by enhancing their economic power, agency, and leadership, while addressing key social and environmental challenges. Through this network of DLEs, Dharmalife promotes sustainable livelihoods, behaviour change, and solutions across key domains — Health, Well-being, Livelihood, Education, Care, Clean Energy, Sustainability, and Circular Economy.

Impact so far:

17.5 million+ people reached through women-led initiatives.

500,000+ children supported through education, health, and hygiene programs.

50,000+ clean energy solutions deployed, saving over 131,000 tons of CO₂.

By 2030, Dharmalife aims to advance 1 million rural women through sustainable livelihoods and care support. Its group entities — Dharmalife Foundation, Gajam India Pvt. Ltd., Dharmalife Labs, and Dharmalife Society — work together to create lasting systemic change at scale..

Role Description

The Manager – People Strategy will play a pivotal role in shaping and driving Dharmalife's people and culture objectives, aligned with its mission of advancing People and Planet impact.

This role will work closely with senior leadership to translate organizational vision into structured people strategies, frameworks, and interventions that enable scale, performance, and sustainability.

As a core member of the HR function, the individual will contribute to building an agile, inclusive, and value-driven organization, where systems, structures, and behaviours are aligned to empower individuals and communities to live with dignity, empathy, and purpose.

The role will act as a strategic partner and program driver, supporting the design and implementation of key initiatives across organization design, talent management, leadership development, and employee experience.

This role will ensure that all frameworks are conceptually strong, scalable, and aligned to Dharmalife's evolving needs, bridging strategy with on-ground realities across corporate and field ecosystems.

The incumbent will also contribute to shaping Dharmalife's future of work agenda, including digital HR transformation, data-driven decision-making, and innovative people practices that enhance productivity, engagement, and long-term impact. This is a full-time on-site role based in New Delhi f

Key Responsibilities

1. Organization Strategy & Design

• Partner with leadership to translate organizational priorities into effective people structures, role definitions, and workforce plans aligned with Dharmalife's growth across programs, , and field ecosystems.
• Drive development of job architecture and role frameworks, enabling consistency, scalability, and role clarity across functions and geographies. Build and institutionalize career pathways, succession pipelines, and internal mobility frameworks to support both organizational continuity and employee aspirations.
• Align people strategy with growth priorities across programs, sales, and field operations

2. Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding

• Design and drive strategic hiring approaches for critical and high-impact roles, ensuring alignment with Dharmalife's mission, values, and long-term capability needs.
• Build and strengthen campus hiring programs and lateral talent pipelines, with a focus on premier institutes and high-potential talent pools.
• Partner with functional leaders to ensure quality hiring decisions, balancing competence, cultural fit, and potential.
• Shape and enhance Dharmalife's employer brand narrative, positioning the organization as a compelling destination for purpose-driven careers in the social impact ecosystem.
• Develop structured processes for candidate experience, assessment frameworks, and selection governance to ensure consistency and fairness.

3. Performance & Growth Framework

• Design and continuously refine Dharmalife's Performance Management Framework, integrating OKRs/KRAs, continuous feedback, 360-degree models and outcome-based evaluation.
• Build systems for performance differentiation, ensuring clarity in identifying high performers, critical talent, and development needs.
• Develop performance dashboards and analytics, enabling leadership to make data-driven decisions on productivity, retention, and team effectiveness.
• Ensure strong alignment between individual goals, team outcomes, and organizational impact metrics, especially in field and program-driven roles.

4. Leadership Development & Capability Building

• Design and anchor Leadership Accelerator and Future Leaders Programs to build a strong pipeline of leaders across corporate and field functions.
• Develop and institutionalize a Capability Development Framework, integrating structured learning journeys, mentoring, and cross-functional exposure.
• Build learning ecosystems through digital platforms (LMS), peer learning models, and on-the-job development interventions.
• Identify critical capability gaps and design targeted interventions to strengthen execution, leadership, and functional expertise across teams.
• Enable a culture of continuous learning, feedback, and self-development, aligned with Dharmalife's growth and impact aspirations.

5. Culture, Values & Engagement

• Design and activation of Dharmalife's Culture and Values Framework, ensuring that core value Performance, Integrity, Collaboration, Innovation, and Impact are embedded in everyday behaviours.
• Build and drive employee engagement frameworks, including recognition programs, leadership connects, and storytelling platforms that celebrate field impact and organizational achievements.
• Enable cross-functional collaboration and team cohesion, reducing silos and strengthening shared accountability across business and program teams.
• Anchor initiatives that promote Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), with a strong focus on women's leadership and rural representation.

6. HR Transformation & Analytics

• Drive initiatives for digital transformation of HR processes, including adoption and optimization of HRMS, analytics tools, and automation systems.
• Build and strengthen data-driven HR practices, enabling real-time visibility into workforce trends, performance metrics, and engagement indicators.
• Design and implement HR dashboards and reporting frameworks for leadership review and decision-making.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and scale through process simplification, technology integration, and automation.
• Support the development of a future-ready HR function that leverages technology, analytics, and innovative practices to enhance employee experience and organizational effectiveness.

Candidate Profile

MBA in HR from Tier 1 premier institutes equivalent to XLRI, IIMs

3–5 years of experience in HR strategy / consulting / HRBP roles

Strong exposure to:

• Organization design/talent strategy
• Performance management frameworks
• Stakeholder management
• High analytical ability + structured thinking
• Strong alignment to social impact/development sector 
• Strong analytical skills to assess data, identify trends, and provide actionable insights.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to effectively engage stakeholders and present ideas clearly.
• Demonstrated understanding of people strategy, organizational design, and leadership development.
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams and foster an inclusive work environment.

Why Join Dharmalife

• Opportunity to work with one of India's most impactful People + Planet organizations.
• Influence the future of rural social development leadership, gender equity, and sustainable development.
• Shape a values-driven, globally benchmarked culture that unites purpose, performance, and growth.
• Lead a future-ready people strategy integrating digital transformation and social impact.
• Work with passionate changemakers redefining how social impact and enterprise coexist.