Harish Kumar has joined Sodexo as regional head of human resources for Karnataka. He brings over two decades of experience across human resources, talent acquisition, employee relations and HR operations, with a career spanning food services, hospitality, quick-service restaurants and staffing.
Kumar joins Sodexo after serving as branch lead at Compass Group India from June 2025 to August 2026. His responsibilities covered talent acquisition, HR operations, payroll, rewards and recognition, employee engagement, statutory compliance, administration and facilities management.
Before rejoining Sodexo, Kumar was human resources director at VRO Hospitality from September 2024 to May 2025. He oversaw talent acquisition, HR operations, payroll, training and development, and led a team of eight employees. He also worked on workforce planning and developed an employee handbook detailing company policies.
Earlier, Kumar served as head of human resources at GOPIZZA India from April to September 2024, managing recruitment across levels, HR operations, payroll, training and development, and administration. He subsequently worked as lead project manager at Curefoods from October 2023 to April 2024, handling talent acquisition and HR operations across India while supporting process improvements and employee engagement.
Kumar previously spent over five years at Compass Group India, from June 2017 to October 2022, as assistant general manager. His responsibilities included recruitment, payroll, employee engagement, rewards and recognition, statutory compliance and facilities management.
Before that, he spent seven years at Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts as regional head of human resources for the South region, from June 2010 to June 2017. He managed talent acquisition and HR operations, manpower planning, budgeting, internal audits, contract labour and employee relations across restaurant operations.
Kumar began his career in recruitment and staffing.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Bangalore University.
In his new role at Sodexo, Kumar brings experience in regional HR leadership, high-volume recruitment, frontline workforce management, employee relations and HR operations across multi-site businesses.
