Poonam Bavdankar

About Poonam Bavdankar

Poonam is a senior Human Resources leader with over 23 years of experience shaping people strategy across media, entertainment, and high-growth organizations. Her career includes 14 years as Senior Vice President – HR at Times Network, where she worked closely with business leaders through phases of rapid growth, organizational transformation, and cultural evolution. Across complex, multi-brand environments, she has led end-to-end HR functions, built scalable people systems, and implemented enterprise-wide frameworks aligned with business strategy.Poonam’s work spans leadership development, talent management, culture building, organisational design, and large-scale workforce transformation. She has played a key role in new venture launches, organisational integrations, and building leadership capability in fast-evolving business environments.A specialist in Talent Acquisition, talent scouting, and executive headhunting, she brings a sharp eye for identifying high-impact leaders and building strong leadership benches for growing organisations.Today, Poonam partners with an HR advisory & Recruitment firm and works as a Fractional CHRO, collaborating closely with founders, CXOs, and leadership teams as a strategic advisor on people and culture. She supports organizations in designing thoughtful people strategies, hiring for capability and cultural alignment, and building strong leadership ecosystems that enable sustainable growth.Her philosophy is anchored in solving for People, Performance, and Potential - helping organizations scale with structure, clarity, and a high-performance culture while preserving the essence of their vision.She also engages with leadership teams through transformation sessions, mentoring conversations, and strategic HR advisory, bringing practical insights from over two decades of building and leading people functions.

Experience

1. Senior Vice President - HR & Head - Talent Times Network, Wwm, Et Edge, Junglee Pictures

   Times Network

   Oct 2023 — Present · Mumbai, IN

   As the Lead Talent and HRBP, I am responsible for driving talent strategies and human resources initiatives across a portfolio of leading media businesses. My role encompasses:News Channels: Spearheading talent management for Times Now, TN Navbharat, and Mirror Now, ensuring the right leadership and workforce alignment to meet the fast-paced demands of the news industry, from Talent hiring to retention.Business News Channels: Managing HR initiatives for ET Now & ETN Swadesh, with a focus on strategic workforce planning, engagement, and development.Entertainment Channels: Overseeing HR business partnering for Movies Now, Romedy Now, MN+, MNX, & Zoom, enhancing the talent pipeline to support creativity and innovation. Leading the HR function for Times Influence, a premier brand and content engagement business unit, aligning HR strategies with business growth and content innovation.Digital & Revenue Units: Driving talent acquisition, development, and retention strategies for the Times Network Digital Business Unit.Worldwide Media (WWM): Heading HR for iconic brands such as Miss India Org, Femina, Filmfare, Grazia, and GoodHomes, focusing on cultivating a culture of excellence and brand-driven talent management.ET Edge (Times Strategic Solutions Limited): Partnering with the leadership at ET Edge to design and implement HR strategies that support the company’s mission of driving knowledge and innovation through conferences and events.Junglee Pictures: Overseeing HR and talent strategies, ensuring alignment of human capital with the creative and production goals of this dynamic film production company.Revenue Unit: Leading HR strategy to ensure robust revenue performance across all business verticals including TV Distribution & OTT.My role is pivotal in fostering a vibrant and agile work environment across these diverse businesses, ensuring that HR processes and strategies are future-ready, innovative, and aligned with the overall organizational goals.

Education

• ITM Group of Institutions

  Master of Business Administration - MBA, Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General

  2001 — 2003

• University of Mumbai

  Bachelor's degree, Economics and Commerce

  1997 — 2000

• Southern New Hampshire University

  Master of Business Administration - MBA, Human Resources Management and Services

  2001 — 2003