HR Executive job description template (India, 2026)
A HR Executive job description written for Indian companies: responsibilities, requirements, CTC and notice-period framing, five screening questions, and the full text to copy or post on ofper.
Last updated 3 September 2026. Competitor pricing and plan limits are re-verified against each vendor’s own pages.
What does a HR Executive do?
In a company of 30 to 150 people, the HR Executive is the person employees actually deal with: the offer and appointment letters, the joining documents and PF nomination forms, the attendance and leave records, the monthly payroll inputs, the ID card and the laptop request, the exit and full-and-final settlement. Recruiting coordination — posting on Naukri and LinkedIn, screening calls, interview scheduling — is usually part of the role too.
It is a generalist role with a compliance backbone. The job description should say which HRMS the company uses, whether payroll is processed in-house or by a vendor, whether recruiting is a major part of the role, and who the person reports to. Candidates from large companies where HR is specialised can find the breadth surprising; the posting should describe a real week.
HR Executive responsibilities
Written as work the person does, not qualities they have. A responsibility a candidate can picture is one they can decide about.
- Run onboarding end to end: offer and appointment letters, joining documents, PF and ESI enrolment and nomination forms, background verification, induction and first-day setup with IT and admin.
- Maintain employee records and the HRMS — [Keka / greytHR / Zoho People / other] — so that every employee's data, documents and history are current and audit-ready.
- Manage attendance and leave: policy application, regularisation, leave balances and the monthly attendance lock for payroll.
- Prepare monthly payroll inputs — new joiners, exits, attendance, leave without pay, reimbursements, deductions — and reconcile the payroll output before disbursement.
- Support statutory compliance: PF and ESI challans and returns, professional tax, Shops and Establishment registrations and registers, with the accounts team and any compliance vendor.
- Coordinate recruiting: post jobs, screen resumes and make first calls, schedule interviews, collect feedback and prepare offers within approved bands.
- Handle employee queries on policy, pay slips, tax declarations and benefits, and escalate grievances through the right channel, including the POSH committee where applicable.
- Run exits: resignation acceptance, notice tracking, clearance, exit interview and full-and-final settlement with accounts.
HR Executive requirements and qualifications
Keep the required list to what you would actually reject a candidate for. Everything else goes under nice to have — a long required list mostly filters out the people you wanted.
- Graduate, ideally with an MBA or PGDM in HR, and 1 to 4 years in an HR generalist or HR operations role in India.
- Working knowledge of PF, ESI, professional tax and the payroll input cycle, and of what an appointment letter and a full-and-final settlement contain.
- Hands-on with an HRMS and with Excel for attendance, payroll inputs and trackers.
- Comfortable making screening calls and coordinating interviews across teams.
- Discreet with confidential data — salaries, medical information, grievances — without exception.
- Clear written and spoken English and Hindi; the regional language is a plus for shop-floor or field workforces.
Nice to have
- Experience as the first or only HR person in a small company.
- Familiarity with the POSH Act requirements and with running an internal committee's paperwork.
- Exposure to labour-law compliance for a factory or a multi-state workforce, if relevant.
Salary, CTC and terms for a HR Executive in India
State a CTC range. Postings without one get fewer and worse-matched applications, and the range is the first thing an Indian candidate looks for. Say how the CTC is made up — fixed, variable, and any statutory components — so the in-hand figure is not a surprise at offer stage.
- State the CTC range and its split. HR candidates know exactly how CTC is constructed and will read the number accordingly.
- State the reporting line and whether the role is the sole HR person or part of a team; the two are different jobs with different candidates.
- State working days and hours, and whether payroll week needs longer hours. Say whether the role is in-office — it almost always is, for documents and employee access.
- Notice period: 30 days is typical at this level. Ask for the candidate's in screening.
HR Executive job description template
Replace every [placeholder]. Cut anything that is not true of your company — a generic paragraph is worse than no paragraph.
HR Executive — [Company name], [City] Employment type: Full-time | Location: [City] / [On-site, hybrid or remote] | CTC: [range] per annum | Experience: [years] About the role In a company of 30 to 150 people, the HR Executive is the person employees actually deal with: the offer and appointment letters, the joining documents and PF nomination forms, the attendance and leave records, the monthly payroll inputs, the ID card and the laptop request, the exit and full-and-final settlement. Recruiting coordination — posting on Naukri and LinkedIn, screening calls, interview scheduling — is usually part of the role too. It is a generalist role with a compliance backbone. The job description should say which HRMS the company uses, whether payroll is processed in-house or by a vendor, whether recruiting is a major part of the role, and who the person reports to. Candidates from large companies where HR is specialised can find the breadth surprising; the posting should describe a real week. What you will do - Run onboarding end to end: offer and appointment letters, joining documents, PF and ESI enrolment and nomination forms, background verification, induction and first-day setup with IT and admin. - Maintain employee records and the HRMS — [Keka / greytHR / Zoho People / other] — so that every employee's data, documents and history are current and audit-ready. - Manage attendance and leave: policy application, regularisation, leave balances and the monthly attendance lock for payroll. - Prepare monthly payroll inputs — new joiners, exits, attendance, leave without pay, reimbursements, deductions — and reconcile the payroll output before disbursement. - Support statutory compliance: PF and ESI challans and returns, professional tax, Shops and Establishment registrations and registers, with the accounts team and any compliance vendor. - Coordinate recruiting: post jobs, screen resumes and make first calls, schedule interviews, collect feedback and prepare offers within approved bands. - Handle employee queries on policy, pay slips, tax declarations and benefits, and escalate grievances through the right channel, including the POSH committee where applicable. - Run exits: resignation acceptance, notice tracking, clearance, exit interview and full-and-final settlement with accounts. What we are looking for - Graduate, ideally with an MBA or PGDM in HR, and 1 to 4 years in an HR generalist or HR operations role in India. - Working knowledge of PF, ESI, professional tax and the payroll input cycle, and of what an appointment letter and a full-and-final settlement contain. - Hands-on with an HRMS and with Excel for attendance, payroll inputs and trackers. - Comfortable making screening calls and coordinating interviews across teams. - Discreet with confidential data — salaries, medical information, grievances — without exception. - Clear written and spoken English and Hindi; the regional language is a plus for shop-floor or field workforces. Nice to have - Experience as the first or only HR person in a small company. - Familiarity with the POSH Act requirements and with running an internal committee's paperwork. - Exposure to labour-law compliance for a factory or a multi-state workforce, if relevant. Compensation and terms - State the CTC range and its split. HR candidates know exactly how CTC is constructed and will read the number accordingly. - State the reporting line and whether the role is the sole HR person or part of a team; the two are different jobs with different candidates. - State working days and hours, and whether payroll week needs longer hours. Say whether the role is in-office — it almost always is, for documents and employee access. - Notice period: 30 days is typical at this level. Ask for the candidate's in screening. How to apply Apply with your resume through this page. We reply to every application, and shortlisted candidates hear from us within [number] working days.
Opens a free ofper workspace with the title, description and screening questions filled in.
Screening questions for HR Executive applicants
Five questions is the ceiling on ofper, and it is the right ceiling: a form that asks more than that costs applications. Use them for the things that decide a shortlist, not for anything the resume already says.
| Question | Type | Knockout | Why it earns a slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Have you prepared monthly payroll inputs and handled PF and ESI enrolment for at least 1 year? | Yes / No (pass: Yes) | Yes | The compliance backbone of the role; 'HR generalist' on a resume often means recruiting only. |
| How many years of HR generalist or HR operations experience do you have? | Number (pass: 1+) | Yes | The floor for running onboarding, payroll inputs and exits without supervision. |
| Have you used an HRMS such as Keka, greytHR or Zoho People for employee records and attendance? | Yes / No (pass: Yes) | No | Not a knockout — the tools are learnable — but it shortens onboarding and shapes the interview. |
| What is your current notice period, in days? | Number (pass: 0 to 60) | No | Scheduling; ideally the person joins before a payroll cycle, not during one. |
Questions, answered straight
What should an HR Executive job description include for an Indian SME?
The HRMS, whether payroll is in-house or outsourced, the statutory scope (PF, ESI, professional tax, Shops and Establishment), how much of the role is recruiting, the reporting line, and whether the person is the sole HR resource. Candidates evaluate breadth and tooling before pay.
Does an HR Executive need an MBA in HR?
It is common and useful but not essential. Hands-on experience with payroll inputs, PF and ESI, and onboarding predicts performance better than the degree. Ask for that experience in screening.
What is the difference between an HR Executive and an HR Manager?
An HR Executive runs the operations — onboarding, attendance, payroll inputs, compliance support, recruiting coordination. An HR Manager owns policy, the HR calendar, performance and compensation cycles, and manages the executives. In a small company one person may do both; the posting should say which it is.