Talent Acquisition & HR Manager

WittyPen is a strategic content marketing company. Since 2015, we've worked with 500+ companies, built a vetted network of 1,500+ writers, and shipped 85,000+ pieces of content. Today we run two disciplines as one system, Search Growth and Brand Authority, because you can't really do one without the other anymore: AI engines pull citations from where brands are actually discussed well, and brand work only turns into pipeline once it's found and cited.

We're a small, high-ownership team. We'd rather ship steady, good work at a sustainable pace than perform busyness, and we're not chasing move fast and break things or fail fast, fail forward as personality traits.

We're hiring our first dedicated Talent Acquisition & HR Manager. This is a hands-on, largely solo seat: you'll own hiring for the roles we have open right now, build the muscle to keep scaling the team after that, and shape how culture and engagement actually work day to day, beyond what's written down. You'll also own a talent pool that goes beyond our 1,500+ writer network: freelance and contract designers, brand, positioning, and PR talent for WittyPen Labs and client work.

What you'll do

• Own end-to-end hiring for our current open roles, and build a repeatable, scalable hiring engine for the team we'll need next.

• Bring in and pilot newer, calibrated hiring practices, like structured interviews and tighter panel calibration, instead of defaulting to how things have always been done.

• Continuously scout, vet, and onboard fresh writing talent to complement our existing 1,500+ writer network.

• Build and maintain a live bench of freelance and contract talent beyond writers, including designers and brand, positioning, and PR specialists, for WittyPen Labs and client work.

• Define and drive our culture agenda: onboarding, feedback rhythms, recognition, and how we actually behave as a team, not just what we say we value.

• Own employee engagement: pulse checks, 1:1 rhythms, and initiatives that keep the team connected.

• Run core HR operations, including offers, contracts, payroll coordination, and compliance, as leanly and automatically as possible.

• Evaluate and adopt AI tools across sourcing, screening, JD writing, and HR ops so the function stays fast and lean as we grow.

What we're looking for

• 4-5+ years in HR or Talent Acquisition, ideally at a services, agency, or fast-moving company (recruiting-led background preferred over corporate HR-ops/compliance background).

• Proven hands-on recruiting experience, not policy-only HR.

• Comfort building and managing freelance/contractor talent pools, not just full-time hiring.

• A real point of view on what "culture" means in practice, not a buzzword answer.

• Daily, hands-on use of AI tools, like ChatGPT, ATS AI features, and sourcing tools, not just familiarity with them.

• Strong judgment on people: you can calibrate a "yes" from a "not yet" quickly and defend it.

• Comfortable owning a function largely solo, without a large team under you initially.

Nice to have

• Experience hiring for content, creative, or marketing-adjacent roles.

• Exposure to employer branding or building a talent community.

• Familiarity with modern HRMS/ATS platforms.

Compensation

₹8-12 LPA, based on experience and fit, for the full-time role.

For candidates with 8-10+ years who'd rather work contractually or in a dedicated fractional capacity, we're open to structuring this as a retainer. Let's discuss scope and availability.

How to apply

Write to us with one hiring or culture problem you'd tackle first at WittyPen, and how you'd approach it.