Senior HR Business Partner, India

Job description

ABOUT THE TEAM The HR Business Partner team at OpenAI supports managers and employees as teams grow, perform and adapt. We work alongside managers at all levels to resolve day-to-day people challenges, build management capability and create the conditions for teams to do their best work. Our expertise spans team effectiveness, talent development, manager coaching, employee relations and change management, grounded in our Contributions & Impact (C&I) culture. We operate with urgency, empathy and sound judgment, valuing sincerity, collaboration and meaningful impact. ABOUT THE ROLE We’re looking for a Senior HR Business Partner. This role will primarily support teams in India, with a focus on Go-to-Market and selected other functions. The portfolio may also include support for teams in other APAC markets as business needs evolve. You’ll provide hands-on support to managers at all levels, owning day-to-day people work and helping teams grow and scale effectively. Your GTM partnership will span teams such as Sales, Technical Success, Partnerships and Marketing. Across your portfolio, you’ll build a deep understanding of business priorities and use that context to prioritise and deliver practical people support. As a hands-on partner to managers at all levels, you will use independent judgment to coach managers, resolve people issues and follow through on day-to-day work as teams scale. You will own delivery across your portfolio, working closely with the International HRBP Leader, Recruiting, Finance, Employment Legal and People centres of expertise, and involving specialist partners when needed. This is an individual contributor role, based in Mumbai or Bangalore. We operate in a hybrid work model: three days in the office per week. YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - Own day-to-day people support across your portfolio, with a primary focus on GTM. Be a practical point of contact for managers on performance, employee relations, team changes and development. Prioritise issues, agree clear next steps and see them through to resolution as teams scale. - Support teams as they grow. Help managers put agreed team structures and workforce plans into practice, clarify roles and address capacity needs as teams across your portfolio grow and scale existing operations. Coordinate with Finance and Recruiting to support hiring and team changes. - Build manager effectiveness. Coach managers at all levels, from first-time managers to experienced people managers, on feedback, difficult conversations, team dynamics and accountability. Help them address everyday people challenges with clarity and care. - Build capability and succession. Help managers identify skills and development needs across GTM teams. Partner on talent reviews, succession planning, internal mobility and development, with particular attention to roles essential to customer and business outcomes. - Drive performance and rewards decisions. Help managers set clear expectations, address underperformance and recognise contributions consistently. Partner with Compensation and Sales Compensation specialists on people implications of incentive structures, role changes and rewards decisions. - Lead through organisational change. Guide organisational changes and sensitive employee matters across your portfolio, partnering with Employment Legal and Employee Relations specialists. Balance business urgency, local requirements and fair, consistent treatment. - Use insight to act early. Combine workforce data, business context and employee feedback to identify emerging risks, test assumptions and recommend action. Track whether interventions improve capability, retention and team effectiveness. - Scale effective People practices. Partner with global HRBPs and centres of expertise to evolve performance, engagement and talent programmes across your portfolio, ensuring local needs inform global decisions and local delivery remains practical. WHAT YOU BRING - Substantial HRBP experience. Typically 7–10+ years in HR, including at least five years supporting managers and teams in high-growth, international or complex organisations. We value the scope and impact of your experience. - Commercial understanding. Experience supporting Sales and other go-to-market functions, with an understanding of enterprise sales cycles, customer-facing roles and the people implications of commercial operating models. - Hands-on manager partnership. A record of supporting managers at all levels, resolving day-to-day people issues and owning delivery across a busy portfolio. You can exercise independent judgment, challenge constructively and build trusted relationships. - India experience. Experience supporting teams in India, navigating local business and employment environments, with sound judgment about when to involve specialist partners. - Organisational and talent judgment. Practical experience supporting team growth, workforce planning, manager coaching