Senior HR Business Partner - Research & Development (APAC)

Sr. HR Business Partner

HR Business Partner – R&D APAC

About Clearwater Analytics:

Clearwater Analytics (NYSE: CWAN), a global, industry-leading SaaS solution, automates the entire investment lifecycle. With a single instance, multi-tenant architecture, Clearwater offers award-winning investment portfolio planning, performance reporting, data aggregation, reconciliation, accounting, compliance, risk, and order management. Each day, leading insurers, asset managers, corporations, and governments use Clearwater’s trusted data to drive efficient, scalable investing on more than $6.4 trillion in assets spanning traditional and alternative asset types.

Our mission: To be the world’s most trusted and comprehensive technology platform that simplifies the entire investment lifecycle and eventually revolutionizes the world of investing.

Job Summary:

The HR Business Partner – R&D APAC will serve as the primary strategic HR partner for Clearwater Analytics’ Research & Development organisation across the Asia-Pacific region, covering India (Mumbai, Bangalore, Noida), Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan. Based in Mumbai and reporting to the HR Head of India, this is a senior individual contributor role that partners closely with R&D leadership to shape and execute a comprehensive people agenda that drives organisational effectiveness, talent excellence, and a high-performance culture across five dynamic markets.

Responsibilities:

Strategic HR Partnership

• Serves as the primary strategic HR advisor to R&D senior leadership across India, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan — translating business priorities into a cohesive people agenda that supports Clearwater’s engineering and technology growth objectives across the region.
• Engages as a thought leader on APAC people strategy, proactively surfacing regional market intelligence, talent trends, and competitive insights to inform R&D leadership decisions.

Talent Management & Workforce Planning

• Leads talent management processes for the R&D APAC population including annual talent reviews, succession planning, career development frameworks, and high-potential identification across all five markets.
• Partners with Talent Acquisition — APAC to define workforce plans, role architecture, and hiring strategies that meet R&D scaling goals across India (Mumbai, Bangalore, Noida), Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan.
• Advises on grade-level structures, technical career ladders, and compensation benchmarking frameworks specific to R&D roles across diverse APAC talent markets.

Employee Experience & Engagement

• Designs and drives employee engagement strategies tailored to the R&D engineering population across APAC — identifying root causes of attrition and disengagement through structured listening, pulse surveys, and manager feedback channels.
• Champions a culture of inclusion, recognition, and psychological safety within APAC R&D teams, partnering with managers on effective onboarding, integration, and long-term retention of critical engineering talent.

Performance Management & Employee Relations

• Guides R&D managers through performance calibration, feedback frameworks, and improvement planning, while navigating complex employee relations matters with cultural sensitivity and alignment to local employment laws — including India’s Labour Codes and POSH Act, Singapore’s Employment Act, Australia’s Fair Work Act, Hong Kong’s Employment Ordinance, and Japan’s Labour Standards Act.
• Coaches and upskills APAC R&D managers on people management fundamentals, navigating difficult conversations, and building high-performing engineering teams.

Organisational Design & Change Management

• Leads and supports organisational design, workforce restructuring, and change management initiatives within R&D APAC — ensuring business-driven decisions are executed with care for employee impact and in compliance with local regulations.
• Collaborates with COEs — Compensation, L&D, Talent Acquisition, and HR Ops — to localise and deploy people programmes that address the specific needs of a fast-growing, engineering-first APAC population.

HR Programme Leadership

• Designs and delivers one or more high-impact people initiatives annually — such as an APAC R&D retention framework, technical career ladder, or manager capability programme — and represents R&D APAC in global HR projects and working groups.
• Builds and tracks people strategy metrics for R&D APAC — including headcount trends, attrition, capability gaps, and engagement scores — reporting regularly to the HR Head of India and R&D leadership with data-driven insights and recommended actions.

Required Skills:

• Strategic business acumen with the ability to connect people decisions to R&D engineering outcomes and regional business growth.
• Strong consultancy and influencing skills — able to challenge and advise senior technical leaders with confidence across diverse cultural contexts.
• Hands-on experience navigating employment legislation in two or more APAC markets (India, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan).
• Proficiency in HRIS platforms, particularly Workday; strong analytical capabilities with comfort working with HR data, dashboards, and people metrics.
• Skilled in change management, facilitation, and executive communication across time zones and cultures.
• Strong organisational and interpersonal skills; collaborative with proven relationship-building ability across geographies and seniority levels.
• Strong computer skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office.
• Excellent attention to detail and strong documentation skills.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Exceptional problem-solving abilities; project management proficiency with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Psychology, or a related field; MBA or Master’s in HRM strongly preferred.
• SHRM-SCP, PHR, or equivalent professional HR certification is an advantage.
• 12+ years of progressive HR experience, with at least 6–7 years in a dedicated HRBP role supporting Engineering, Product, or Technology functions in a global organisation.
• Proven track record of partnering with senior R&D or technology leadership in a high-growth, multi-geography SaaS or technology company.
• Demonstrated experience managing employee relations, organisational design, and talent management across multiple APAC jurisdictions; prior exposure to India plus at least one other APAC market (Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, or Japan) strongly preferred.

Employee Benefits:

• Employee Health Insurance and Wellness program.
• Maternity and paternity leave.
• Competitive salary, benefits, and special allowances in the compensation package.
• Continual learning and development opportunities for career growth.

Experience Level

Senior Level