Citi has promoted Nisha Padbidri to the position of global head-human resources partnership for technology, operations, HR & functions. The role — for the first time — will be based in Mumbai, India, underscoring the country’s strategic importance to Citi’s business growth and human capital agenda.
In her new position, Padbidri will lead HR business partnerships for over 1.4 lakh employees, representing more than 62 per cent of Citi’s global workforce spread across 98 countries. Her appointment marks a milestone in Citi’s ongoing effort to build globally-distributed leadership roles and strengthen its India-centred talent strategy.
Before this appointment, Padbidri served as head-human resources, professional services, Asia Pacific, within Citi. Having spent 29 years with Citi, Padbidri has held multiple senior leadership roles across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, driving strategic HR interventions, talent transformation, and cultural alignment across regions.
She first joined Citibank in 1996 as its assistant manager-mortgage operations.
Padbidri’s new role—positioned at the intersection of technology, operations, and human resources—reflects Citi’s strategic direction of embedding HR within business operations rather than viewing it as a support function. By aligning talent strategy with technological and operational transformation, she is expected to play a key role in driving organisational agility and workforce readiness for the future.
An alumna of Cornell University, she has led teams with regional and country-level HR responsibilities across corporate banking, institutional banking, consumer banking, and operations and technology. She is deeply passionate about developing talent through scalable and structured strategies.
