Senior HR Business Partner - Tech

About Us

Mercari is a Japan-based C2C marketplace company founded in 2013 with the mission to "Create value in a global marketplace where anyone can buy & sell." From being the first tech unicorn from Japan before its IPO in 2018 we have come a long way towards becoming a global player and continuously and diligently work towards our transformation journey with a strong focus on our mission.

Since its inception, Mercari Group has worked to grow its services, investing in both our people and technology. Over time Mercari has expanded from being the top player in the C2C marketplace in Japan to new geographies like the U.S. We have also successfully launched new businesses such as Merpay, which is a mobile payment service platform with a vision to create a society where anyone can realize their dreams through a new ecosystem centered not only on payment service but also on credit. Today, Mercari Group is made up of multiple subsidiary businesses including logistics, B2C platform, blockchain, and sports team management.

For our services to be utilized by people worldwide; however, there is still a mountain of work ahead of us. This endeavor naturally requires the capability of the best talent and minds, and that is exactly the reason for us to launch the India Center of Excellence. With your help, we will continue to take on the world stage and strive to grow into a successful global tech company.

About Mercari India

Established in Bengaluru in 2022, Mercari India serves as a crucial technology hub for the Mercari Group. Leveraging the rich and diverse tech talent in India, we primarily collaborate closely with our development hub in Japan to drive engineering development for Mercari's applications. Having grown to an organization of approximately 100+ members over about Four years since its inception, Mercari India aims to evolve into an even stronger engineering organization that spearheads technological innovation for the entire group. This will be achieved by further enhancing our engineering capabilities and promoting AI initiatives that reflect India's cutting-edge technology and knowledge.

Our Culture

To achieve our mission at Mercari, our organisation and each of our employees share the same values and perspectives.

Our individual guidelines for action are defined by our four values:

• Go Bold
• All for One
• Be a Pro
• Move Fast

Our organisation is also shaped by our four foundations:

• Sustainability
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Trust & Openness
• Well-being for Performance

Regardless of how big Mercari gets, the culture will remain essential to achieving our mission and something we want to preserve throughout our organisation.

We invite you to read the "Mercari Culture Doc," which summarizes the behaviours and mindset shared by Mercari and its employees. We continue to build an environment where all of our members of diverse backgrounds are accepted and recognised, and where they can thrive while holding dear to Mercari’s culture

About Role

We are looking for an experienced HR Business Partner - Technology to partner with leaders, managers, and employees across assigned technology teams at Mercari India.

This is a hands-on individual-contributor role combining business partnership with end-to-end ownership of people initiatives. You will translate business and People & Culture priorities into focused people plans, lead projects requiring strong HR expertise, and bring stakeholders together to solve organisational challenges.

Beyond delivering established HR programmes, you will identify underlying people issues, develop solutions, and drive implementation through to measurable outcomes. Your work will strengthen manager effectiveness, team performance, talent development, and employee experience while contributing to broader organisational priorities.

The ideal candidate is commercially aware, analytical, empathetic, and comfortable exercising judgement in an ambiguous, fast-changing, multicultural technology environment.

Business Partnership and People Planning

• Build trusted relationships with technology leaders and managers, developing a strong understanding of their business priorities, operating context, and people challenges.
• Own people plans for assigned teams, translating business and People & Culture priorities into clear objectives, interventions, timelines, and success measures.
• Diagnose organisational issues using business context, people data, and employee insights; recommend practical solutions and secure stakeholder commitment.
• Bring an informed People & Culture perspective to business discussions, constructively challenging assumptions and balancing organisational needs, employee experience, and risk.

Performance and Talent Management

• Own the delivery and effectiveness of performance-management practices for assigned teams, including goal setting, check-ins, evaluations, calibration, and development planning.
• Facilitate evidence-based talent discussions, helping leaders assess performance, potential, readiness, and capability gaps consistently and fairly.
• Partner with leaders to develop and follow through on plans for critical talent, succession priorities, retention, career development, and internal mobility.
• Work with Learning & Development and other People partners to design targeted interventions and assess their impact on team capability and performance.

Engagement and Culture

• Integrate engagement results, attrition trends, listening-session findings, and employee feedback to identify underlying issues and prioritise action.
• Lead targeted engagement initiatives with clear ownership, stakeholder involvement, and measures of effectiveness.
• Help leaders build inclusive, high-performing teams that reflect Mercari’s values and leverage diverse perspectives and working styles.
• Evaluate interventions, share lessons from successes and setbacks, and adapt approaches based on evidence.

Manager Coaching and Effectiveness

• Coach managers on leadership effectiveness, team dynamics, performance conversations, feedback, career development, and sensitive people matters.
• Help managers identify underlying issues, weigh options, and take timely, fair, and well-supported action.
• Design and deliver focused tools, workshops, or coaching interventions to address recurring managerial capability gaps.
• Influence stakeholders without direct authority, offering clear recommendations while remaining open to constructive challenge.

Organisational Change and Headcount Planning

• Lead the people workstreams of organisational changes affecting assigned teams, including leadership transitions, team movements, role changes, and restructuring.
• Partner with leaders and relevant People teams on workforce and capability planning, role clarity, and team-effectiveness needs.
• Develop and execute change plans covering stakeholder alignment, communications, employee impact, dependencies, and implementation risks.
• Track adoption and outcomes, resolve issues within your remit, and escalate decisions requiring broader authority or specialist input.

Employee Relations and Risk Management

• Manage employee-relations matters within your remit, applying sound judgement, appropriate confidentiality, and consistent documentation.
• Conduct or coordinate fair, objective workplace reviews and investigations in partnership with Legal, Compliance, and relevant HR stakeholders.
• Coach managers through performance improvement, workplace concerns, and disciplinary processes, ensuring appropriate procedural safeguards.
• Recognise high-risk or sensitive issues early and seek specialist guidance or escalate appropriately.

People Analytics and Project Delivery (AI)

• Translate people data into clear diagnoses, recommendations, and decision-ready insights rather than reporting metrics alone.
• Lead cross-functional People & Culture projects requiring strong HR expertise, from problem definition and planning through implementation and evaluation.
• Align stakeholders on outcomes, responsibilities, dependencies, and decisions; maintain momentum and follow through despite obstacles.
• Apply relevant best practices, test new approaches, and document learning to improve HR delivery.
• Partner closely with HR Operations, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Learning & Development, Finance, and global stakeholders.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Typically 6–9 years of progressive HR experience, including at least 4 years in HR business partnering or a comparable role.
• Experience partnering with technology, engineering, or product teams in a dynamic business environment.
• Demonstrated ownership of people initiatives from diagnosis through implementation, with evidence of measurable outcomes.
• Strong applied expertise in performance management, talent development, employee engagement, organisational change, and employee relations.
• Proven ability to coach managers, influence senior stakeholders, and coordinate cross-functional contributors without direct authority.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to distinguish symptoms from underlying issues and translate insights into action.
• Sound understanding of Indian employment practices and workplace-compliance requirements, including when to seek legal or specialist advice.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to prioritise competing needs, make timely decisions within your remit, and manage sensitive matters with discretion and sound judgement.
• Evidence of learning from experience, adapting approaches, and delivering through ambiguity and obstacles.

• Location: Bengaluru, India - Hybrid
• Team: People & Culture
• Employment type: Full-time
• Role type: Individual contributor
• Indicative experience: 6–9 years