Parul Bhatia

About Parul Bhatia

I\'m a People & Culture leader who has worn every hat in the HR world, and worn them well. My foundation was built at Protiviti, where I managed onboarding, compliance, and end-to-end employee lifecycle processes at scale. That operational grounding gave me something rare: an instinct for what breaks at speed, and how to build systems that don\'t. From there, I stepped into strategic HR Business Partnering at Rackspace, advising leadership through rapid growth and expansion on org design, workforce planning, and talent strategy. I\'ve sat at the business table, not beside it. At AHEAD, I built People Operations entirely from scratch, zero to fully operational. System integrations, payroll and benefits, compliance frameworks, policy design, and a high-performing People team built from the ground up. The result: a best-in-class people function that scaled with the business. But what drives me most isn\'t the systems or the strategy, it\'s the people. I lead with mentorship at the core, investing in my team\'s growth the same way I invest in the organization\'s. I believe the best HR leaders build other great HR professionals, not just great HR programs. Relationships and communication are where I thrive. Whether I\'m aligning with a CEO on a workforce strategy or coaching a first-time manager through a tough conversation, I show up the same way: present, direct, and genuinely invested.

Experience

1. Director- People Operations- in

   AHEAD

   Apr 2025 — Present · IN

   Built and now lead People Operations for AHEAD\'s India center — from a blank page to a fully functioning, scalable people function.When I joined, the infrastructure didn\'t exist. I built it. End to end. Architected the entire HR Operations framework — policies, processes, and governance across payroll, benefits, onboarding, performance management, and compliance Led enterprise-wide HRIS implementation and systems integration (Lever | UKG | HireRight), driving automation and data accuracy across the employee lifecycle Automated payroll management — reducing manual intervention and error rates significantly Designed and launched a Compensation & Benefits benchmarking structure, ensuring market competitiveness and internal equity Built People Analytics dashboards, enabling leadership to make data-informed talent decisions Established performance management processes and frameworks from scratch Drove cross-functional enablement — partnering with Finance, Legal, and business leadership to align people operations with commercial priorities Built and mentored a high-performing People Ops team — creating a function known for both operational rigor and employee experienceWhat I\'m most proud of: Taking zero infrastructure and turning it into a best-in-class people function that scales with the business.

Education

• Indian Institute of Planning and Management

  Master of Business Administration (MBA), Human Resources Management and Services

  2010 — 2012

Skills

• Talent Management
• Personnel Management
• Talent Acquisition
• Employee Relations
• Hris
• HR Policies
• Human Resources
• Performance Management
• Employee Engagement
• Sourcing
• Recruitments
• Recruiting
• Screening