Santosh Rudrawar — CEO
Santosh is a dynamic leader with expertise in crafting and executing people strategies that drives a vibrant, high-performance workforce aligned with company objectives. As a core member of the leadership team, he played a pivotal role in transforming a family-run, South-centric company into the second-largest national player in its category. This transformation included expanding the company’s strong manufacturing and supply chain footprint from two plant locations in 2017 to 26 manufacturing sites by 2023 as well as growing a limited product portfolio into a comprehensive range that serves the Buildings, Agriculture, and Infrastructure sectors. His efforts in talent acquisition and leadership development were critical in building a robust organization poised for continued growth. Santosh excelled in enhancing capabilities across B2B, B2G, and B2C sectors, while also leading the company’s geographic expansion. Santosh has consistently promoted an inclusive, individualistic, and collaborative work culture. He redefined HR operations, operationalized a state-of-the-art R&D centre, and established the Learning Academy with a vision to create an engaged, empowered, and future-ready workforce. These initiatives contributed to the company’s recognition as a "Great Place to Work" for four consecutive years, ranking among India's top 25 manufacturing workplaces in 2023. He also led the organization to win the Golden Peacock Award for HR Excellence in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, Santosh’s leadership earned him the "HR Leader of the Year" award from the Economic Times’ Human Capital Awards and White Page International. As a member of the global HR leadership team, Santosh contributed to the development of group-level systems, processes, and people practices. His business acumen extends to operational and revenue roles as well. With 25 years of experience, he is well-versed in Indian, JV, and MNC cultures, managing single- and multi-site operations across various sectors, including education, engineering & automotive, construction & mining equipment, and building materials. Santosh holds an engineering degree, a postgraduate management degree, and is a Prosci-certified change manager. He began his career as an entrepreneur before transitioning to corporate life.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic HR leader with expertise in organizational transformation and talent development.
Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Experience: 28 yrs 2 mos
Skills
- Strategic Leadership
- Hr Strategy
- Talent Strategy
- Organizational Alignment
- Digital Transformation
- Business Strategy
- Hr Operations
- Employee Engagement
- Employee Relations
- Business Development
- Operations Management
Career Highlights
- Transformed a family-run company into a national leader.
- Established a state-of-the-art R&D center.
- Recognized as HR Leader of the Year.
Work Experience
Sanjay Ghodawat Group
Group Chief Human Resources Officer (1 yr)
Infrastructure Auto Ancillary Agro Industry
Strategic Advisor (1 yr 1 mo)
Aliaxis
Global HR (4 mos)
Ashirvad by aliaxis
Chief Human Resources Officer (8 yrs 9 mos)
Larsen & Toubro Ltd. Bangalore
Asst. General Manager - HR (6 yrs 4 mos)
Spicer India Ltd.
Head HR & Administration (3 yrs 2 mos)
Iai Industries Limited. Chakan (Pune)
Assistant manager HR & Administration (1 yr 8 mos)
Aptech
Centre Head ( Managing Partner ) (4 yrs 9 mos)
KSB PUMPS LTD,
Graduate Engineering Trainee (1 yr)
Education
Global Advanced Management Program at Indian School of Business
MBA at Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University
BE at Government College of Engineering Pune
