The Manager / Deputy Manager – Talent Acquisition will be responsible for driving end-to-end recruitment across Retail Stores and Corporate functions for Skechers India. The role will partner closely with business leaders, HRBPs and functional stakeholders to understand manpower requirements, develop effective hiring strategies and ensure timely closure of positions while maintaining quality, cost efficiency and a positive candidate experience.

The role will require a strong combination of strategic recruitment planning, stakeholder management, sourcing expertise, data-driven decision-making and operational execution. The incumbent will also contribute to employment branding, diversity hiring, recruitment process improvement and vendor management.

Function: Human Resources – Talent Acquisition
Designation: Manager / Deputy Manager – Talent Acquisition
Location: Mumbai
Reporting To: Head – Talent Acquisition / Deputy General Manager
Experience: 6–10 years
Industry Preference: Retail / E-commerce / Consumer / Lifestyle / Sportswear

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Talent Acquisition Planning

• Partner with business leaders and HRBPs to understand current and future manpower requirements.
• Develop and execute recruitment strategies aligned with business growth plans and workforce requirements.
• Translate manpower plans into actionable recruitment plans with clear priorities, timelines and ownership.
• Identify critical, niche and recurring hiring requirements and develop targeted sourcing strategies.
• Ensure recruitment plans are aligned with approved manpower budgets and organisational priorities.
• Provide market intelligence on talent availability, compensation trends and competitor hiring practices.

2. End-to-End Recruitment & Selection

Manage the complete recruitment lifecycle for Retail and Corporate hiring, including:

• Understanding and validating manpower requirements.
• Preparing and/or reviewing detailed Job Descriptions.
• Identifying appropriate sourcing channels based on the role and talent pool.
• Candidate sourcing, screening and shortlisting.
• Conducting initial HR/TA interviews and competency assessments.
• Coordinating interviews with hiring managers and functional stakeholders.
• Managing candidate feedback and interview processes.
• Salary benchmarking and offer negotiations.
• Offer generation and closure.
• Pre-joining engagement and follow-ups.
• Ensuring smooth transition from offer acceptance to joining.
• Maintaining candidate engagement throughout the recruitment journey.

3. Retail Talent Acquisition

• Drive high-volume and replacement hiring for EBO, MBO and other retail formats across regions.
• Partner with Retail HR and business teams to understand store manpower requirements.
• Develop region-wise sourcing strategies to address location-specific talent challenges.
• Monitor store hiring TAT, offer-to-join ratio and hiring productivity.
• Drive direct sourcing through job portals, LinkedIn, employee referrals, walk-ins, local networks and other relevant channels.
• Work towards reducing dependency on recruitment consultants and improving cost-effective direct hiring.
• Support manpower ramp-ups for new store openings and business expansion.

4. Corporate Talent Acquisition

• Manage recruitment across corporate functions such as Finance, Marketing, Digital, Legal, Supply Chain, IT, HR, Business Development and other functions.
• Partner with functional leaders to understand role expectations, competencies and talent requirements.
• Develop targeted sourcing strategies for mid-to-senior level positions.
• Build and maintain talent pipelines for recurring and critical positions.
• Ensure a high-quality candidate experience throughout the hiring process.

5. Offer Management & Pre-Onboarding

• Manage salary discussions, negotiations and offer closures in line with internal compensation structures.
• Ensure offers are released accurately and within agreed timelines.
• Drive effective pre-onboarding engagement with selected candidates.
• Maintain regular communication with candidates during the notice period.
• Proactively identify potential offer dropouts and develop retention/engagement strategies.
• Coordinate with HR Operations and relevant stakeholders to ensure smooth joining formalities.

6. Stakeholder Management

• Establish strong and proactive relationships with business leaders, hiring managers and HRBPs.
• Act as a trusted TA partner by providing regular updates on hiring progress, challenges and market insights.
• Conduct periodic recruitment reviews with key stakeholders.
• Ensure clarity on hiring priorities, expectations and closure timelines.
• Escalate potential delays, hiring challenges and risks proactively.
• Manage stakeholder expectations while balancing business urgency with quality of hire.

7. Diversity Hiring

• Develop and implement initiatives to improve diversity representation across the organisation.
• Build diverse talent pipelines across relevant functions and levels.
• Partner with hiring managers to promote inclusive hiring practices.
• Explore specialised sourcing channels and partnerships for diverse talent.
• Track diversity hiring metrics and identify opportunities for improvement.

8. Sourcing Strategy & Talent Mapping

• Leverage multiple sourcing channels to maximise direct hiring.
• Utilise LinkedIn, job portals, employee referrals, internal databases, social media, campus hiring, professional networks and recruitment partners as appropriate.
• Build talent pools for frequently hired and critical positions.
• Conduct market mapping and competitor talent benchmarking.
• Identify emerging sourcing channels and recruitment technologies to improve hiring efficiency.
• Continuously evaluate sourcing effectiveness based on cost, quality and conversion.

9. Recruitment Vendor Management

• Manage relationships with recruitment consultants and staffing partners.
• Allocate positions to vendors based on capability, specialisation and performance.
• Establish clear expectations around TAT, candidate quality and closure ratios.
• Monitor vendor performance and productivity.
• Review consultant costs and identify opportunities to optimise recruitment spend.
• Ensure adherence to agreed commercial terms and recruitment processes.
• Support vendor empanelment, performance reviews and contract renewals as required.

10. Recruitment MIS, Analytics & Reporting

• Maintain accurate and updated recruitment data across all assigned positions.
• Prepare and circulate regular recruitment MIS and dashboards.
• Track key TA metrics including:
  • Open positions
  • Time-to-fill
  • Time-to-hire
  • Hiring TAT
  • Offer-to-join ratio
  • Source effectiveness
  • Cost-per-hire
  • Consultant utilization
  • Diversity hiring
  • Candidate pipeline
  • Offer dropouts
  • Joining ratio
• Analyze recruitment data to identify bottlenecks and improve hiring productivity.
• Provide data-driven insights to TA leadership and business stakeholders.
• Ensure recruitment data is accurate, complete and reported within defined timelines.

11. Recruitment Policy & Process Compliance

• Ensure adherence to the organization’s recruitment policies, processes and approval matrix.
• Ensure hiring is undertaken within approved manpower budgets.
• Maintain appropriate documentation throughout the recruitment lifecycle.
• Ensure consistency and fairness in recruitment practices.
• Work closely with HR Operations to ensure compliance with onboarding and documentation requirements.

12. Turnaround Time & Hiring Productivity

• Ensure recruitment TATs are maintained as per defined SLAs.
• Monitor ageing positions and take proactive corrective action.
• Prioritise critical and business-sensitive positions.
• Identify bottlenecks in the recruitment process and resolve them in consultation with stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement in recruitment productivity and closure rates.

13. Employer Branding

• Support and drive initiatives to strengthen Skechers India's employer brand.
• Develop recruitment-related content for LinkedIn and other relevant platforms.
• Promote employee stories, career opportunities, workplace culture, and talent initiatives.
• Partner with internal teams to strengthen the organization’s visibility as an employer of choice.
• Support campus, talent community and external employer-branding initiatives.

14. Job Description Management

• Create comprehensive and market-relevant Job Descriptions in consultation with hiring managers.
• Ensure JDs clearly define responsibilities, qualifications, competencies, and experience requirements.
• Review existing JDs periodically to ensure they remain aligned with evolving business needs.
• Ensure consistency in designation, role expectations and qualification requirements.

15. Continuous Process Improvement

• Identify opportunities to streamline and automate recruitment processes.
• Improve candidate experience at every stage of the recruitment journey.
• Evaluate new recruitment tools, platforms and technologies.
• Identify opportunities to reduce hiring costs and improve direct sourcing.
• Drive initiatives to improve recruitment TAT, quality of hire and offer-to-join conversion.
• Benchmark TA practices against relevant organizations and industry trends.

Key Performance Indicators

The role will be evaluated on:

• Time-to-Fill / Time-to-Hire
• Position closure within agreed TAT
• Quality and relevance of shortlisted candidates
• Offer-to-Join Ratio
• Reduction in offer dropouts
• Direct sourcing contribution
• Consultant dependency and cost optimization
• Cost-per-Hire
• Diversity hiring targets
• Stakeholder satisfaction
• Recruitment MIS accuracy and timeliness
• Candidate experience
• Manpower budget adherence
• Talent pipeline development
• Process improvement initiatives

Candidate Profile

Education

• Graduate/Postgraduate in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a relevant discipline.
• MBA/PGDM in HR will be preferred.

Experience

• 6–10 years of relevant Talent Acquisition experience for Manager/Deputy Manager level.
• Strong experience in end-to-end recruitment across Retail and Corporate functions.
• Experience in high-volume retail/store hiring will be an advantage.
• Experience in managing recruitment vendors and direct sourcing channels.
• Exposure to diversity hiring and employer branding will be preferred.

Core Skills & Competencies

• Strategic Recruitment Planning
• Stakeholder Management
• Business Acumen
• End-to-End Recruitment
• Talent Sourcing & Market Mapping
• Offer Negotiation
• Vendor Management
• Data Analytics & Recruitment MIS
• Employer Branding
• Diversity Hiring
• Process Improvement
• Strong Communication & Interpersonal Skills
• Problem Solving
• Decision Making
• Planning & Prioritization
• Attention to Detail
• Ownership & Accountability

Technology Skills

• Strong proficiency in MS Excel and PowerPoint.
• Working knowledge of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
• Ability to work with recruitment dashboards and analytics.
• Knowledge of LinkedIn Recruiter and job portals will be an added advantage.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate should be a hands-on Talent Acquisition professional who can balance strategic thinking with strong execution. The person should be comfortable managing both high-volume Retail hiring and Corporate recruitment, while working closely with business leaders and HRBPs.

The candidate should have a strong understanding of the talent market, be data-driven in their approach, demonstrate excellent stakeholder management skills and have a proven ability to close positions within defined TATs while maintaining quality, cost efficiency and a strong candidate experience.

For the Manager level, the role will additionally be expected to demonstrate greater ownership of TA strategy, workforce planning, stakeholder governance, analytics, recruitment cost optimization and team/vendor productivity.

About Skechers

Skechers, a global Fortune 500® company, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel, and accessories. Serving over 180 countries and territories, Skechers connects customers to products through department and specialty stores, e-commerce and digital stores, and through our more than 5,300 Skechers retail locations.