Jagat Baxi

HR Leader with 20+ years of progressive experience across engineering services, manufacturing, Global Capability Centers (GCCs), and promoter-led organizations.

Experience spanning HR leadership, business partnering, talent and workforce management, compensation, employee engagement, HR operations, and organization development. Demonstrated experience in building HR functions and processes from the ground up, supporting organizational scale-up, and strengthening HR governance and people practices. Career exposure across Indian conglomerates, mid-sized manufacturing, consulting, promoter-led businesses, and a U.S.

MNC — ranging from plant/manufacturing HR & Administration to strategic HR partnering and multi-location HR leadership.

DGM - HR Business Partner (GCC) at Xylem Water Solutions India (2022-05 – Present)

U.S. MNC | Global Capability Center | 700+ Employees

• Built the GCC HR function from ground up - executed HR strategy aligned with global HR frameworks, establishing governance model, operating structure, payroll oversight, and Indian labour laws compliance across multiple locations.
• Drove post-merger HR integration following Xylem's global acquisition of Evoqua — leading change-management and organisational development initiatives that harmonized HR policies, processes, and culture across two organizations.
• Managed sensitive leadership transitions (HR Director, GCC Leader) with zero business disruption, ensuring continuity and stakeholder confidence.
• Collaborated with European and U.S. global HR teams on international HR initiatives, supporting cross-cultural alignment.
• Partnered in formulation and implementation of HR policies and processes covering performance management (KRAs/KPIs), Rewards & Recognition, Recruitment, employee relations, and employee benefits, ensuring consistency while retaining flexibility for business needs.
• Led annual talent management reviews, succession planning, and leadership development programs in partnership with GCC senior leadership, building bench strength for critical roles.
• Led compensation & benefits benchmarking and annual pay revision cycles, using HR analytics for market positioning, salary-range analysis and pay recommendations, supporting retention of critical talent, internal equity, and ~15% HR cost optimisation.
• Partnered with business heads on strategic headcount decisions, role design, and organization effectiveness.
• Conceptualized and independently developed an AI-enabled HR Chatbot, enabling employees/managers to obtain instant answers on HR policies, reducing repetitive HR queries and improving employee self-service.
• Strengthened HR operations through HRMS implementation, self-service portals, standardized SOPs, and digitized onboarding workflows, improving process efficiency and HR compliance across the GCC.
• Launched employee engagement platforms (Open Mic, Chai with HR, HR Intranet) — improving transparency and manager-employee connect.

Senior HR Business Partner at Topaz Multi-trade Group (2021-06 – 2022-05)

Promoter-Led Conglomerate | Pan-Africa Operations

• Reported directly to Global Head – HR; led end-to-end HR transformation for 7 African port operations.
• Established compliance discipline and HR process rigor in a high-risk, promoter-led environment by building KPI frameworks and HR process SLAs from scratch.

Founder & Principal Consultant at KHOJ – HR Consulting & Training (2015-04 – 2021-05)

Independent Practice | Multi-industry Clients across India & Africa

• Delivered HR transformation projects for clients including Amul, Britannia, Huntsman, Gunnebo, Maxiss Rubber, and Rotex Automation.
• Advised leadership teams as a strategic HR Business Partner on HR process design, competency frameworks, and organisation capability across diverse business environments.
• Implemented end-to-end Performance Management Systems (PMS), competency frameworks, and goal-setting models for organizations with 500+ employees.
• Designed and delivered training modules on leadership effectiveness, communication skills, and life skills.
• Led an HR governance project for a West Africa-based client — gaining cross-cultural HR management exposure.

Head – HR & Administration at AXTEL Industries Ltd. (2013-03 – 2015-03)

Mid-size Manufacturing Organization

• End-to-end HR & Administration ownership for the manufacturing setup, spanning employee engagement, statutory compliance, and site administration for ~500 employees.
• Formulated and implemented HR policies and processes covering recruitment, performance management, employee administration and other employee lifecycle matters, bringing greater structure to a growing manufacturing organisation.
• Led recruitment and manpower planning for the manufacturing setup, including leadership hiring and 20% expansion.
• Built and implemented performance management, grading and compensation structures from the ground up, creating greater clarity around roles, performance expectations and rewards.
• Managed HR-related liaison with external authorities, supporting statutory inspections, labour-law compliance and resolution of regulatory matters relating to the manufacturing establishment.

Talent Development Representative at Aditya Birla Group (Indian Rayon) (2012-07 – 2013-02)

• Managed potential appraisals, training interventions, and employee engagement post Organizational Health Survey (OHS).
• Represented HR function in DuPont Safety audits and external compliance reviews.

HR Executive → HR Manager at Larsen & Toubro – Technology Services (2004-03 – 2012-07)

Indian Engineering Conglomerate | 8+ Years | Core HR Foundation

• Key member of the HR team during LTTS's scale-up journey from ~125 to 5,500+ employees, supporting the evolution of HR processes and systems required for rapid organizational growth.
• Spearheaded campus hiring program — designed a unique hiring + 3-month residential technical training model at partner institutes to create business-ready Graduate Engineer Trainees (GETs).
• Launched a higher education initiative in partnership with BITS Pilani, enhancing employee development and retention.
• Developed skill matrices, training calendars, and learning frameworks aligned to business verticals.
• Initiated two-way communication programs (HR Connect, in-house magazines), strengthening employee-management connect.
• Launched employee engagement platforms (Open Mic, Chai with HR, HR Intranet) — improving transparency and manager-employee connect.

Officer – Personnel & Administration at Paramount Ltd. (2003-09 – 2004-02)

• Managed recruitment, wage administration, onboarding, and full & final settlement processes.

MBA / Masters in Human Resource Management (MHRM) in Human Resource Management – M.S. University, Baroda (2001 – 2003)

B.Com. in Commerce – M.S. University, Baroda (1999 – 2001)

Talent Management Program in Talent Management – XLRI Jamshedpur (2022 – 2022)

PG Diploma in Guidance & Counselling in Guidance & Counselling – M.S. University (2018 – 2018)