Director - People Partner

Company: Mercer Description: We are seeking a talented individual to join our Human Resources team as a People Partner (Grade G) for Marsh, People and Investments. This role will be based in Mumbai/Pune. This is a hybrid role that has a requirement of working at least three days a week in the office. As a People Partner you will act as a trusted strategic advisor and as a co-architect of business performance, integrating talent, culture, structure and data to drive sustainable outcomes. The People role provides opportunities to work at the intersection of business strategy and people transformation, exposure to complex, global, and evolving business challenges, and ability to shape the future of work within a high-impact environment. The People Partner will be: Translating business strategy into workforce and organizational solutions. Enable leaders to make better, faster, data-informed people decisions. Build resilient, future-ready teams and leadership pipelines. This is a role for someone who can: Think in systems, not silos Operate with ambiguity and evolving business needs Use data, judgment, and influence to shape outcomes Act as a true partner in driving business performance through people We will count on you to be accountable for: Business & Workforce Strategy Partner with business leaders to translate strategy into workforce plans (skills, capacity, location, cost) Drive a shift from role-based planning to skills-based workforce strategies Provide forward-looking insights on talent trends, productivity, and capability gaps Integrate external market intelligence into workforce decisions Organizational Effectiveness & Design Diagnose organizational challenges and design effective, scalable operating models Lead org design and restructuring initiatives with clear business cases and outcomes Simplify structures, decision-making, and workflows to improve speed and accountability Define and track organizational effectiveness metrics Talent, Leadership & Succession Build robust leadership pipelines and succession strategies Enable leaders to assess and strengthen bench strength and critical roles Partner with HR CoEs to ensure leadership and learning interventions are business-relevant and outcome-driven Drive internal mobility and career growth through a skills-first approach Performance, Rewards & Workforce Planning Lead talent reviews and calibration processes to drive high-performance culture Advise leaders on reward strategies aligned to performance and market competitiveness Continuously evolve workforce plans based on business needs and future scenarios Culture, Engagement & Inclusion Shape and sustain a high-performance, inclusive culture through leadership actions and team environments Translate engagement insights into targeted, measurable actions Partner with leaders to address culture, inclusion, and team effectiveness challenges Move beyond surveys to continuous listening and action systems Change & Transformation Lead and support business transformations (organizational, digital, cultural) Design and execute change strategies that drive adoption and minimize resistance Enable leaders to navigate ambiguity, scale, and evolving business demands Data, Insights & Decision Support Use data and analytics to generate actionable people insights Shift from reporting to decision-focused storytelling Governance, Risk & Employee Relations Provide expert guidance on complex employee relations matters Ensure alignment with enterprise policies while balancing business context and risk Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on sensitive people matters Talent Acquisition (Strategic Input) Partner with Talent Acquisition to define target talent strategies and hiring priorities Ensure hiring decisions align with long-term capability needs, not just immediate gaps Enterprise Contribution & Leadership Contribute to broader HR and business leadership forums to shape priorities and strategy Drive alignment across HR CoEs to