Head of Recruitment

Job role: Head of Recruitment/Talent acquisition head

Department: Human resource

Job experience: 8+ years

Location: Mumbai, HQ

About The Hosteller

The Hosteller began in 2014 with a simple vision - to create amazing, affordable & accessible backpacker hostels all around India for 'young at heart' travellers. We work towards building experiences for our community of travellers thereby creating ever lasting backpacking memories. Our core values of being social, warm, experience driven and authentic make us Indias most preferred backpacker hostel chain.

About the role

As the Talent Acquisition Head , you own hiring end-to-end for The Hosteller, across the Head Office (HO) and Ground Operations (GO). This is a leadership role reporting into the head of HR with strong focus on data, forecasting, governance, and team management.

The ideal candidate would come with experience in the hospitality sector and exposure to different hiring funnels such as campus, agencies, manpower consultants, etc. The role further demands experience in P&L management, labour laws, and attrition control.

The candidate shall be responsible for ensuring we hire the right people, at the right time, at the right cost, while building a strong, scalable TA engine that works closely with HRBPs, TM/L&D, and the business leaders.

Responsibilities

TA strategy, forecasting, workforce planning

• Own hiring forecasts pan-India in line with business growth, new hostel launches, attrition trends, and seasonal needs
• Translate workforce plans into clear hiring targets for HO and GO teams
• Work with CHRO, Operations, and Finance to build quarterly and annual manpower plans
• Anticipate hiring spikes and build pipeline readiness in advance

Data analytics & reporting

• Build & own TA dashboards covering metrics such as hiring TAT, source effectiveness, offer-to-join ratio, cost per hire, attrition-linked hiring
• Use data to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities
• Share regular TA performance reports with CHRO and leadership
• Drive data-backed hiring decisions

Overall supervision

• Own end-to-end hiring delivery for GO (F&B, FO, HK, Kitchen, etc.) and HO roles (corporate, leadership, specialist roles)
• Oversee P&L management of the TA vertical including budgets, agency commissions, onboarding costs, etc
• Ensure adherence to central and state labour laws, minimum wages, PF, contract staffing regulations, etc
• Ensure role clarity, JD hygiene, and realistic hiring expectations across teams
• Act as the final escalation point for delayed, complex, or critical hires

Stakeholder management

• Work closely with the L&D team, HRBPs, operations leaders, campuses, manpower consultants, agencies, compliance/finance team
• Ensure hiring decisions align with long-term talent and culture goals, not just short-term urgency

Team leadership & capability building

• Lead and manage a TA team of 10-15 members across HO & GO
• Create/Enhance SOPs for TA, hire, train, and coach team to improve quality, speed, and candidate experience
• Set clear role ownership, hiring metrics, and review cadence for the team
• Conduct regular performance reviews, feedback sessions, and capability building sessions

Process governance & employer brand

• Build and refine TA processes for scalability and consistency
• Ensure fair, unbiased, and compliant hiring practices
• Partner with marketing to strengthen employer branding on LinkedIn, job portals, and referral channels
• Improve candidate experience from first touch to joining

Qualifications & skills

• MBA/PGDM in HR or related field
• 8-12 years of experience in Talent acquisition, with at least 3-5 years in a leadership role
• Demonstrated experience in high-volume + multi-location hiring (hospitality, retail, ops-heavy pan-India businesses with blue and grey collar hiring pipelines preferred)
• Strategic thinker, strong data, analytics, and forecasting mindset
• Familiarity with ATS tools, HR analytics, and recruitment automation systems
• Excellent team leadership skills
• Strong understanding of labour laws and contract workforce regulations across states
• Excellent communication, negotiation, analytical, and stakeholder management skills
• Certification in labour laws, HR analytics is a plus

Why join us

• Own and shape the TA engine for Indias fastest-growing hospitality brand
• High visibility role working directly with the CHRO and leadership team
• Strategic role with the opportunity to build systems, not just close roles
• Culture that values clarity, quick execution, ownership, and real impact