Karen D'Souza
Dublin,CA
Summary
Accomplished HR professional with around a decade of experience across Employee Relations and Business Partner roles in global, high-performing, matrixed organizations. Proven track record in performance management, manager coaching, workplace investigations, designing impactful training programs, and fostering a culture of compliance and ethics.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Employee Relations Advisor
Goldman Sachs
Remote (Contract), USA
02.2025 - Current
- Provide strategic guidance to managers on employee relations issues, including performance management, leadership effectiveness, organizational change, and conflict resolution.
- Lead sensitive and complex investigations into allegations of unfair treatment, inappropriate conduct, and other workplace concerns.
- Collaborate with Legal, Compliance, and internal partners to ensure investigative processes and outcomes align with firm policies and applicable employment laws.
- Counsel employees on work-related, personal, and health matters impacting engagement, performance, and workplace dynamics.
- Partner with the Employment Law Group to address high-risk matters and resolve employee relations issues while mitigating legal and reputational risk.
Stay-at-home Mom
Career Break
Dublin, CA
03.2023 - 02.2025
- Relocated internationally, and obtained work authorization.
- Dedicated quality time to family, supporting my daughter during a formative stage of her life.
- Completed online courses and certifications to enhance professional skills.
Vice President - Employee Relations
Goldman Sachs
Bengaluru, India
01.2020 - 02.2023
- Drove positive change as an ER advisor, with oversight for ~2,000 employees across Engineering, Investment Banking, Compliance and Corporate Workplace verticals.
- Advised managers on mitigating workplace conflicts in a fair and consistent manner.
- Managed staffing changes in collaboration with Legal, ensuring seamless transitions.
- Designed and delivered training programs to enhance policy awareness and foster better workplace conduct.
- Reviewed performance, promotion, and compensation decisions to mitigate conscious and unconscious bias.
- Served on the Internal Complaints Committee, managing several complex sexual harassment matters.
Associate - Business Partner
Goldman Sachs
Bengaluru, India
08.2017 - 12.2019
- Aligned to ~900 employees across Finance, Risk, and Engineering verticals, with a strong focus on leadership development.
- Spearheaded annual performance, promotion and compensation cycles.
- Actively engaged with employees through focus groups and one-on-one sessions.
- Led the introduction of succession planning across the office.
- Analyzed and presented actionable insights from the annual employee surveys.
- Contributed to a global working group responsible for the MD selection process.
- Collaborated across HR functions to align HR practices with business strategy.
Manager - Business Partner
Genpact
Jaipur/Bengaluru, India
05.2015 - 08.2017
- Led HR strategy across three business verticals and a 700-employee Finance Center.
- Improved retention by 8% through leadership collaboration, rewards programs, and performance-tracking dashboards.
- Implemented a succession planning framework and led manager coaching initiatives.
- Managed a scale-up transition for 45 employees, and led downsizing initiatives with no disruption to operations.
- Partnered with Legal and ICC to address employee grievances.
- Supported operational efficiency as part of the Margins workstream.
Systems Engineer - Test Analyst
Tata Consultancy Services
Mumbai, India
03.2012 - 06.2014
- Collaborated with global counterparts on software testing for a major policy change project for a Canadian bank.
- Recognized as an 'Outstanding Contributor' for the successful completion of a high-impact project.
- Represented the vertical as the Defect Prime Officer, reducing the occurrence of frequent bugs.
Education
Post Graduate Diploma - Human Resource Leadership Program
School of Inspired Leadership
Gurgaon, India04-2015
Bachelor of Engineering - Information Science & Engineering
Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology
Bangalore, India07-2011
Certification
- Coaching Practices, University of California, Davis, 04/01/24
- Human Resource Analytics, University of California, Irvine, 04/01/24
- Generative AI: Introduction and Applications, IBM, 04/01/24
- Managing as a Coach, University of California, Davis, 03/01/24
- Employment Contracts, University of Pennsylvania, 03/01/24
- Introduction to Generative AI, Google Cloud, 03/01/24
- Aon Hewitt Total Rewards Certification, 01/01/15
- Project Management, 11/01/14
Work Authorization
H4 EAD (visa sponsorship not required)
Timeline
Employee Relations Advisor
Goldman Sachs
02.2025 - Current
Stay-at-home Mom
Career Break
03.2023 - 02.2025
Vice President - Employee Relations
Goldman Sachs
01.2020 - 02.2023
Associate - Business Partner
Goldman Sachs
08.2017 - 12.2019
Manager - Business Partner
Genpact
05.2015 - 08.2017
Systems Engineer - Test Analyst
Tata Consultancy Services
03.2012 - 06.2014
Post Graduate Diploma - Human Resource Leadership Program
School of Inspired Leadership
Bachelor of Engineering - Information Science & Engineering
Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology
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