DESHPANDE SKILLING
Head - Industry Relations, Campus Placements & Alumni Engagement
Reporting To: Delivery Head
Location: Hubli, Karnataka (with regular travel to Metro cities for developing and managing key employer partnerships)
About the Role
Deshpande SKilling is frantic about high placement rates for its students and is seeking a strategic and execution-focused leader to lead the function of Industry Relations, Campus Placements, and Alumni Engagement. This role will lead a dedicated team responsible for driving large-scale student placement outcomes, developing and maintaining strategic relationships with credible employers in target sectors, and strengthening alumni engagement.
The ideal candidate will be someone with experience and strong capabilities in Business Development, Account Management, corporate relationships and leading high-performance teams to meet organisational goals.
Key Responsibilities
• Own and drive annual placement targets for an organisation that is growing numbers by growing the number of skilling centres in Karnataka, Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra and AP.
• Market research to understand the landscape of employment opportunities for fresher talent passing out of colleges in Tier II/IIIcities.
• Develop and implement scalable placement strategies aligned with the aggressive growth plans of the organisation.
• Establishing a structure for distributed placement capabilities by setting up placement cells in the partner universities or group of institutions.
• Build strategic relationships with HR leaders and Talent Acquisition Heads.
• Onboard new employer partners across key sectors (IT, BFSI, Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, Services).
• Lead and manage a team of Placement Managers, Placement Assistance Executives, and the Alumni Engagement Team. Define KPIs, conduct performance reviews, and build team capability.
• Develop and implement a structured alumni engagement framework and referral systems.
• Develop strategies to leverage the organisation's large alumni base to a.) enhance placement opportunities and placement rates b.) drive higher enrollments and c.) raise donations for the social works of the organisation.
• Institutionalise employer feedback mechanisms and provide inputs to align the academic/curriculum with industry demand.
• Standardise placement processes, dashboards, MIS reporting, and forecasting systems.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Annual placement, joining and CTC target achievement (%)
• Total employment opportunities connected to students.
• New employer partnerships added.
• Growth in employment offers from existing employer partners.
• Leverage of Alumni in mobilisation and placement.
Qualifications & Experience
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business Administration, Sales and Marketing, Human Resources Management, or related field.
• 8 to 10 years of experience in Business Development/ B2B Sales / Business HR and Talent Acquisition/ Placement cell of a reputed institute, of which 3-5 years in a leadership role
• Proven experience managing multi-location teams.
• Strong network within the HR and talent acquisition community of GCC/BPM/ITES/BFSI sectors
• Experience in placement operations is not a must, but will be preferred.
Core Competencies
• Owning and planning to achieve outcome targets.
• Leading and motivating high-performance teams.
• Listening and articulation skills.
• Strategic Planning backed by data from market research and execution
• Client Relationship Management.
• Operational Leadership
Travel Requirement
Frequent travel to major employment hubs (Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, etc.) and periodic travel to program locations across multiple states.
This role offers an opportunity to work in the social impact sector at an organisation that believes in operating professionally with the mindset of innovation and business excellence of the corporate sector.