HR Operation Manager

Role: HR & Finance Manager Function: Human Resources & Finance Location: Bangalore Type: Full-time Industry: Information Technology & Services, Artificial Intelligence, Critical Infrastructure About Company A research-first AI company incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). It builds advanced AI for the planning and operations of critical networks. Its core technology is a World Model that augments LLMs to reason about network state and dependencies even with incomplete information. The founding team has raised over $100M in prior ventures and published at leading AI research venues. The company has just closed its seed round and is at the zero-to-one stage of building. Position Overview This is a hands-on, dual-function role that builds and runs the people and finance backbone of the company. Reporting directly to the founders, you will independently own HR operations, payroll, statutory compliance, and day-to-day accounting creating the systems and processes that let the technical team focus on frontier AI. At a company of this stage, you won't inherit a playbook; you'll write it. Role & Responsibilities Own the full employee lifecycle onboarding, records management, leave/attendance tracking, and offboarding ensuring a seamless experience at every stage.Process monthly payroll accurately and on time; manage all statutory filings and compliance for PF, ESI, PT, and TDS without exception.Maintain books of accounts in Tally covering invoicing, vendor bills, accounts payable/receivable, and monthly bank reconciliations.Support monthly MIS preparation, cash-flow tracking, budgeting inputs, GST filings, and coordination with statutory auditors.Coordinate recruitment logistics, HR policy rollout, performance management tracking, and employee engagement initiatives.Manage office administration, vendor contracts, and relationships with external stakeholders including legal teams, banks, and the Company Secretary.Build scalable HR and finance systems and documentation (policy guidebooks, trackers, SOPs) in partnership with the founders. Must Have Criteria 36 years of experience in an HR generalist or HR operations role with direct exposure to finance and accounts.Hands-on working knowledge of Tally for day-to-day bookkeeping invoicing, AP/AR, and bank reconciliations.Demonstrated ability to independently process payroll and manage statutory compliance filings: PF, ESI, PT, and TDS.Bachelor's degree in Commerce (B.Com) or a related field.Prior experience setting up or maintaining HR systems attendance/leave trackers, onboarding/offboarding workflows, and compliance records in a lean team environment. Nice to Have M.Com or MBA (HR or Finance) preferred.Prior experience in a startup or early-stage company where you operated across both HR and finance functions simultaneously.Familiarity with GST filing processes and coordination with statutory auditors.Exposure to building HR/finance documentation from scratch policy guidebooks, SOPs, or process playbooks. What We Offer Direct access and reporting line to the founders high visibility and influence over how the company is built.Opportunity to design and own the people and finance function from the ground up at a seed-stage, IISc-incubated AI company.Work at the intersection of frontier AI and critical infrastructure a mission with long-term national and global significance.Lean, high-ownership environment where your work has immediate, measurable impact on the organisation. .