Lead – Industrial Relations

Site Name:
India - Maharashtra - Worli Mumbai

Posted Date:
Dec

Job Purpose
The role is Critical to the organization's license to operate in India and leads the India Industrial relations and labour compliance strategy, deployment and governance.
Accountable for leading the organization's Industrial Relations (IR) strategy and partnering with global IR Team and the regional Employee Relations (ER) teams to shape progressive, business-enabling employee practices.

The role drives proactive partnerships with employee unions through constructive dialogue, collective bargaining, and capability building, while ensuring robust compliance with national labor laws. It also oversees litigation management and champions ethical governance, transparency, and trust-based relationships that reinforce the organization's license to operate, mitigate industrial and reputational risks and help build environment that fosters growth and new ways of working.

• Builds and execute proactive India IR strategy, deployment and governance.
• Builds trust-based partnerships with employee unions.
• Ensure Compliance with labor laws
• Enables business growth and stability by fostering constructive engagement, effective collective bargaining, and industrial harmony.
• Mitigates enterprise risk through ethical governance, transparent practices, and strategic litigation management.

Key Responsibilities
Leading Industrial Relations for the Organization

• Devise and implement India's IR strategy in collaboration with Global IR head, regional ER teams, HRBPs, and business stakeholders.
• Manage the grievance redressal process by deploying and overseeing global GSK frameworks and mechanisms within the India context. This includes conducting independent investigations as required, ensuring consequence management, and fulfilling all reporting obligations as per local laws and global policies.
• Carry forward relevant and applicable union agreements in the spirit of collective bargaining, ensuring fairness to employees while driving business outcomes in partnership with HRBPs and business stakeholders.
• Act as the primary point of contact for employee unions and lead, mediate, or facilitate dialogues to achieve win–win outcomes across grievance committees, day-to-day matters, and negotiation forums.
• Design and deliver IR and ER capability-building programs across line managers and HR teams to enhance skills in employee relations, negotiation, proactive engagement and change leadership.
• Develop multi-channel employee communication frameworks to strengthen transparency, trust, and consistent two-way dialogue at all levels.
• Lead the agenda of building managerial capability to handle workforce matters with fairness, consistency, and empathy thru active partnership with learning, HR and excellence teams.
• Establish and maintain professional relationships with industry and labor bodies to stay abreast of evolving labor laws and ensure accurate interpretation and implementation within the organization.
• Labour litigations

Employee Relations Governance and Risk Management

• Lead the initiation and management of disciplinary procedures (including domestic enquiry process in compliance with Indian Labour laws).
• Work closely with the India Disciplinary Committee, ensuring timely reporting and active partnership on decision making and consequence management.
• Support the Speak Up channel for India as needed.
• Partner with Regional ER in manage inquiries and investigations in alignment with global guidelines.
• Lead local domestic enquiry processes that are needed on top of the investigations done by regional ER, to ensure that the consequence management process is in line with the country legal requirements.
• Ensure adherence to all applicable India labor laws and country-specific labour regulations and guidelines across locations.
• Proactively assess and address HR-related risks to minimize potential challenges. Project manage the India HR risk register and work closely with RMCB.
• Drive internal audits and ensure the development and execution of corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs).
• Proactively engage the India leadership on developments in labor dynamics in the industry, changes in labour legislations and other external factors that can impact. Work with stakeholders to analyze potential implications for organizational operations and create plans to ensure timely mitigation and risk management.
• Partner with line managers to provide expert guidance on complex industrial relations matters and changes in country labor compliance if any.

Key Competencies

• Industrial Relations Expertise

• Knowledge of Labour Laws: Deep understanding of Indian labour laws, including the Industrial Disputes Act, Factories Act, Payment of Wages Act, Trade Unions Act, and Shops and Establishments Act.

• Union Management: Experience in handling unionized environments, including collective bargaining, grievance resolution, and maintaining harmonious relationships with trade unions.
• Conflict Resolution: Strong ability to mediate disputes between management and employees or unions while maintaining fairness and neutrality.

• Policy Development: Ability to draft, implement, and enforce industrial relations policies that align with organizational goals and legal compliance.

• Labour Compliance Skills

• Regulatory Knowledge: Familiarity with statutory compliance like Provident Fund (PF), Employee State Insurance (ESI), Minimum Wages, Bonus Act, and other key provisions.

• Audit Readiness: Ability to ensure compliance with labour laws and prepare for audits from regulatory authorities.
• Risk Management: Proactive identification and mitigation of labour compliance risks to avoid legal liabilities.

• Documentation & Reporting: Expertise in maintaining accurate records and preparing timely reports for compliance purposes.

• Stakeholder Management

• Relationship Building: Ability to foster strong relationships with unions, government authorities, and internal stakeholders.

• Negotiation Skills: Proficient in negotiating agreements, settlements, or contracts with unions and other entities.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with HR, Legal, Operations, and leadership teams to align industrial relations strategies with organizational goals.

• Leadership & Strategy

• Engages effectively with stakeholders, builds trust, and fosters collaboration across all levels; demonstrates curiosity, adaptability, and a strong drive for continuous learning and growth

• Strategic Thinking: Develop and execute long-term strategies for industrial relations that support business continuity and growth.
• Change Management: Manage transitions effectively, such as new policies or organizational restructuring, with minimal disruption to the workforce.
• Team Leadership: Lead and develop the industrial relations and compliance team, ensuring high performance and alignment with company objectives.

• Change Management: Leads complex initiatives, including policy shifts, organizational restructuring, and cultural transformation.

• Communication & Relationship Management

• Articulates complex information clearly and persuasively in both verbal and written forms.

• Empathy & Active Listening: Ability to understand employee concerns and address them in a constructive manner.
• Crisis Communication: Expertise in handling sensitive or crisis situations with clear, concise, and transparent communication.

• Cultural Sensitivity: Awareness of cultural diversity and how it impacts industrial relations in India, especially in a multinational environment.

• Problem-Solving & Decision-Making

• Analytical Thinking: Ability to analyze complex industrial relations issues and recommend practical solutions.

• Decision-Making: Strong judgment to make sound decisions in high-pressure situations while balancing employee and company interests.

• Conflict Management: Ability to de-escalate tensions and find mutually beneficial solutions to disputes.

• Digital/Technology Skills

• HRIS & ERP Systems: Familiarity with HR Information Systems (HRIS) and ERP platforms for tracking compliance, employee data, and policy implementation.

• Data Analysis: Ability to use data to identify trends in industrial relations and compliance-related matters.

• Awareness on digital and AI tools

• Ethical & Professional Integrity

• Makes principled decisions and approaches challenges with integrity, ensuring alignment with organizational values.

• Transparency: Operate with honesty and fairness in all dealings with employees and unions.
• Compliance Orientation: Maintain strict adherence to legal and ethical standards in all industrial relations practices.

• Company Advocate: Represent the company's interests while maintaining fairness and equity in employee relations.

• Knowledge of Industry Practices

• Sector-Specific Expertise: Understanding of industrial relations challenges in the company's specific sector (e.g., pharma, manufacturing, FMCG, etc.).

• Benchmarking: Keeping abreast of best practices and trends in industrial relations and compliance within India and globally.

• Crisis & Incident Management

• Workforce Disruption: Ability to handle strikes, lockouts, and other disruptions effectively while minimizing operational impact.

• Incident Investigation: Expertise in conducting investigations into employee grievances, misconduct, or accidents in compliance with legal and ethical standards.

Other Details

• Educational Background: Graduate, Full-time MBA in Human Resources
• Experience: 8–10 years of relevant HR experience with exposure to complex unions IR environment. Specialization in Industrial Relations, with demonstrated success in handling complex employee relations matters, union settlements and creating consultative work environments.

Why GSK?
Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.
GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we're committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

Inclusion at GSK:
As an employer committed to Inclusion, we encourage you to reach out if you need any adjustments during the recruitment process.

Please contact our Recruitment Team at IN.recruitment- to discuss your needs.

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