Employee Relations Lead

Employee Relations Lead -India

The Community You Will Join:

The Employee Relations team operates as a Center of Excellence within Airbnb’s People team. ER professionals are not simply case handlers — they are strategic partners who build the frameworks, guidelines, and operating principles that uphold Airbnb’s culture at scale. This role shapes how the organization navigates complex workplace matters with consistency, fairness, and integrity. You will partner across Talent (HR), Legal, and business leadership to drive sound decision-making rooted in trust, mutual respect, and accountability. Success is not measured by cases closed. It is measured by the quality of outcomes, the strength of the practices we embed across the organization, and whether our work reinforces the culture and values that make Airbnb, Airbnb.

The Difference You Will Make:

We’re looking for an individual with strong Employee Relations (ER) expertise to join the ER team at Airbnb. This individual will be an instrumental part of the ER team, which includes implementing and improving frameworks, guidelines, approaches, practices and operating principles. Building and reinforcing Airbnb’s culture is a key requirement for this position.

The successful candidate will establish relationships across the organization and provide ER subject matter expertise in order to support the mission, culture and values of Airbnb, with a focus on India and APAC region. The incumbent manages intake and prioritization of ER cases; collaborates with Legal and Talent partners and serves on statutory committees such as the POSH Committee, as applicable under Indian law.

A Typical Day:

Case Management

• Conduct end-to-end investigations, including intake, evidence gathering, credibility determinations, written investigation reports, and recommendations on appropriate courses of action, with minimal guidance.
• Conduct interviews with exceptional thoughtfulness, clarity, and procedural responsibility,  ensuring psychological safety, neutrality, and cultural sensitivity throughout.
• Work closely with Legal to ensure awareness of laws applicable to investigations across APAC geographies and adapt interview and investigation approaches accordingly.
• Ensure cases are handled fairly, consistently, transparently, in a timely fashion, and in line with Airbnb culture, policies, and appropriate local laws.
• Advise on and lead employee relations investigations across functions and regions working in partnership with Talent (HR), Legal, and compliance related teams.
• Counsel Talent (HR) and business leaders on ER issues, trends and risks to foster sound business decisions.
• Advise Talent (HR) and management on how to handle performance issues and complex disciplinary matters using specialized knowledge of performance management concepts, principles and practices.
• Deliver training offerings depending on company needs and external regulations. 

ER Consulting

• Contribute to the development, socialization and rollout of ER processes, strategy, approaches, guidelines, practices and operating procedures.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to stakeholders at varying levels of seniority, including senior stakeholders, by modeling trustworthiness, discretion, confidentiality, empathy and sound judgment.
• Actively collaborate across global Employee Relations, Talent (HR), Legal, and Compliance teams, bringing openness to diverse approaches and sharing APAC-specific context that informs global strategy.
• Drive ER efforts that support Talent (HR) and business initiatives.
• Conduct training for leaders, managers, employees, Talent Partners and other stakeholders.
• Proactively identify trends through data analysis and use insights to inform and develop resources, process improvements and training.
• Collect, analyze, interpret and make recommendations on ER related data; maintain organized case management systems.
• Adapt ER programs and approaches to the needs of the business, function, and/or region.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with the Airbnb’s leadership team at its Global Capability Center based in India, acting as the on-the-ground Employee Relations partner for a high-growth, multi-functional workplace.

Strategic Planning & Operations

• Support the Employee Relations (ER) framework for their client groups, contributing to strategies and proposals to continuously drive improvements in ER practices within the organization based on trust, mutual respect, strong performance management, and accountability.
• Contribute to communications efforts that promote ER best practices throughout the organization.
• Assess employment risk in coordination with Talent (HR) leadership and Legal based on current regulatory landscape and anticipated changes, drawing on specialized knowledge of employment policies and regulations.
• Design, document, and implement ER workflows and processes where gaps exist or legacy approaches are insufficient, driving efficiency without sacrificing rigour or fairness.
• Should have the knowledge / experience to implement, use and adapt to case management platforms and technological tools to manage and improve investigation documentation, trend identification, deriving insights on workflows, and ER reporting efficiency.
• Monitor/interpret developments in India's evolving Labour Code framework (e.g. Industrial Relations, Social Security Codes) and work closely with Legal and Talent (HR) to proactively update internal practices and documentation standards.

Your Expertise:

• 10+ years of Employee Relations/Human Resources experience, including managing investigations 
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Strong ability to analyse large, complex sets of data and multi-faceted factual scenarios, synthesising competing evidence into clear, well-reasoned, and robust findings.
• Demonstrated experience working within or supporting a Global Capability Centre (GCC), shared-services, or multi-national matrixed environment.
• Ability to maintain composure, remain positive, collaborative and objective while under pressure and dealing with senior leaders and complex issues
• Proven track record of positively influencing stakeholders at varying levels of seniority
• Ability to coach, mentor, advise and partner with stakeholders at varying levels of seniority
• Specialized knowledge of ER, labor relations, training, conflict resolution and direct experience leading investigations with minimal guidance.
• Strong understanding of employment-related state and federal laws & regulations
• Strong preference for direct experience supporting international ER matters
• Comfortable leveraging generative AI tools (e.g.,Claude, Gemini, etc.) to accelerate daily tasks
• Demonstrated ability to assess and mitigate employment risks with sound business acumen
• Sound judgment and strong decision-making skills; experienced in handling sensitive and confidential matters
• Ability to be discreet and maintain confidentiality is required
• Self-motivated with strong ability to prioritize and plan in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
• Comfortable working across APAC and US time zones as a standard part of the role; must be open to working outside core hours when reasonably required to support global stakeholders, time-sensitive investigations, or cross-regional ER matters.
• Some travel may be required

Our Commitment To Inclusion & Belonging:

Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible. We believe diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement, and allow us to attract creatively-led people, and to develop the best products, services and solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.

Experience Level