Nita Nambiar
Chennai
Summary
Dynamic professional with over 23 years of experience in leading teams, managing complex projects, and achieving strategic objectives. Proven expertise in designing and executing HR strategies that drive substantial business value, supported by a strong background in managing the people aspects of change, including growth initiatives, reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions, and integrations. Recognized for creating streamlined processes that uphold high standards while aligning with organizational goals. A collaborative mindset and unwavering commitment to excellence consistently elevate team performance and cultivate a thriving culture of success.
Overview
23
23
years of professional experience
1
1
Certificate
Work History
Chief People Officer
Hexaware Technologies
10.2023 - 11.2025
- Led organizational culture initiatives that enhanced employee engagement and retention - achieving industry leading attrition rates (10.8-11.2%).
- Led the HR function and collaborated with Finance for actionables through the run up to the IPO in Feb 2025.
- Collaborated with executive leadership to define and execute strategic workforce planning objectives including ramp ups and talent optimizations.
- Analyzed employee feedback to devise progressive HR policies and improve workplace satisfaction with mood scores sustaining at 80%+
- Oversaw improved HR metrics tracking to influence decision-making and drive operational efficiency.
- Reduced legal risk exposure by implementing comprehensive compliance policies related to employment law regulations and practices. Went from a High Risk to a Zero Risk People landscape.
- Proposed robust succession planning frameworks to secure long-term stability for key executive positions and readied for implementation .
- Collaborated cross-functionally with other departments to support organizational alignment on people strategy goals and objectives effectively.
- Transformed workplace culture by initiating flexible work arrangements that prioritized business outcomes and employee well being.
- Fostered a diverse and inclusive work environment, driving cultural change initiatives and promoting open communication.
- Championed corporate social responsibility initiatives that enhanced company reputation both internally and externally.
- Managed compensation and benefits programs to ensure employee interests amidst market competitiveness with optimized process life cycles and customized merit models.
- Introduced best in class employee benefits programs with reduced cost to organization.
Global Inclusion Lead and Head of D&I India
Cognizant Technology Solutions
04.2021 - 08.2023
- Owned the design and execution of regional D&I groups, Affinity Groups and Millennial Council into a unified organization. My team worked cohesively to advance the global strategy around belonging and inclusion, while still enabling targeted engagement within geographies and associate populations.
- Led the design, development and implementation of all Diversity and Inclusion initiatives and programs across Cognizant India, APAC and Europe.
- Focussed on creating the environment of inclusion at the workplace and beyond.
- Expanded understanding of diversity beyond gender.
- Established diversity policies and programs in the region and globally.
Global Delivery HRBP Lead
Cognizant Technology Solutions
12.2017 - 03.2021
- HR Head and Strategic Consultant for the business leadership - Large technology business group (~27000 headcount) - Impacting employees at scale via Workforce engagement & Analytics
- Align people activities to the business growth with a focus on strategic and operational initiatives - specifically in the areas of Workforce Planning, People Operations, Performance management, leadership Development, Employee engagement and Rewards and Recognition.
- Leading the People Outcomes driving key business results relating to bottom line and deriving measurable results
- Driving organization design changes and span/ layer governance to enable HR action in alignment with business strategy.
- Multiple organization change initiatives - design to rollout
HRBP Lead - Multiple Industry Units; HR Program Manager
Cognizant Technology Solutions
12.2011 - 11.2017
- HRBP lead for 2 key industry verticals (~6000 headcount); HR Program Management
- Anchoring all People Processes including Leadership Development and Organization Change Management. Interface with external clients on a regular basis
- Program Manager for the Implementation and Change Management necessitated out of the creation of two new career tracks in the organization spanning more than 40,000 associates globally
- Pivotal role in the integration of HR teams and processes post 2 major M&A deals
- Functional Advisory Role for HCM 9.1 Upgrade Assessment
- Program Manager to resolve the Swiss Work Permit process issues in 2010 based in Zurich- Defined the revised process for Swiss work permits, interacted with all cross functional teams and managed it till stabilization
- Interim lead for India C&B team - all compensation process delivery for India based associates.
Head - HR Shared Services and HR Systems
Cognizant Technology Solutions
08.2006 - 08.2010
- Led the Global HR Shared Services organization from inception – grew it from 5 India centric processes to 26 global processes
- Managed all HR processes from pre-hire to exit, including payroll and benefits administration for India, North America and Europe - managing HR systems, PeopleSoft 8.9 as well as all HR related Analytics globally
- Built and monitored monthly and quarterly performance metrics – implemented the widespread use of data and metrics in HR for the first time
- Ensured delivery of world class HR services ranging from employee and manager self-service to transactional services, leading up to a premier Shared Services team with a Customer Satisfaction Score of 4.2/5.
- All migrations were done using an internally developed transition framework called SERVICE and resulted in an average ROI of 132%.
- Tracking and continuously improving process effectiveness by developing innovative solutions, ensuring timely and efficient query resolutions and building a career path for HR professionals in Shared Services. Coached, developed and led a team of 80+ members
- Won accolades from business clients for high element of service orientation
- Core Business team Member for HCM 8.9 implementation, which had an impact on the entire organization - functional consultant and business user. Working closely with external consultants and internal stakeholders for the largest ERP implementation at that point
Associate Manager
Standard Chartered Bank
08.2004 - 01.2005
- HRRM for Consumer Banking Business (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) including Branch Banking, Unsecured, Credit and Collections, Call Center, SME Business, Wealth Management and Priority Banking
- Recruitment to Exit
Senior Associate HR
HCL Technologies
09.2003 - 08.2004
- HR Business Partner for 600+ strong unit and Central HR Coordinator for 2500+ strong parent entity
- End to End Employee Relations and Employee Development Responsibilities
Assistant Manager-HR
Polaris Software Lab Limited
08.2002 - 08.2003
- HR Facilitator for 750+ strong business unit and HR POC for Integration of Polaris and Orbitech
Education
Masters, PGD PM&IR -
Xavier Institute of Labour Relations (XLRI)
Jamshedpur, India01.2002
Bachelors - English Literature
Presidency College
Kolkata, India01.1999
Skills
- Integration & Transition of HR processes & functions
- HR Change Management on large scale
- HR Program Implementations
- Culture transformation
- HR technology
- HR Business Partnering and Program Mgt
- HR Process/Systems Design and Consulting
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Retention and Engagement strategies
Certification
- SHL Assessor (Assessment Center)
- MBTI
- GPHR (2005 and 2008)
- Six Sigma (Green Belt certified and Black belt trained)
- Independent Director Certification from KPMG (In progress)
Timeline
Chief People Officer
Hexaware Technologies
10.2023 - 11.2025
Global Inclusion Lead and Head of D&I India
Cognizant Technology Solutions
04.2021 - 08.2023
Global Delivery HRBP Lead
Cognizant Technology Solutions
12.2017 - 03.2021
HRBP Lead - Multiple Industry Units; HR Program Manager
Cognizant Technology Solutions
12.2011 - 11.2017
Head - HR Shared Services and HR Systems
Cognizant Technology Solutions
08.2006 - 08.2010
Associate Manager
Standard Chartered Bank
08.2004 - 01.2005
Senior Associate HR
HCL Technologies
09.2003 - 08.2004
Assistant Manager-HR
Polaris Software Lab Limited
08.2002 - 08.2003
Bachelors - English Literature
Presidency College
Masters, PGD PM&IR -
Xavier Institute of Labour Relations (XLRI)
Top Five strengths As per Gallup’s strength Finder 2.0 assessment
- Input
- Learner
- Harmony
- Inclusiveness
- Discipline
Personality type as per MBTI
ISTJ
Top Five strengths As per Gallup’s strength Finder 2.0 assessment
- Input
- Learner
- Harmony
- Inclusiveness
- Discipline