Workplace Experience Coordinator, India (Contract)

About the Role

• We’re hiring a Workplace Experience Manager to run our Bangalore office.
• You’ll own how the office works every day: the food, the vendors, the space, and the feeling of walking in on your first day.
• You’ll find and negotiate with vendors, test new ideas, listen to the team, and continuously improve.
• You’ll be one of the first people every new hire and visitor meets, making you their first impression of Handshake in Bangalore.
• This is a contract, in-office role requiring five days a week onsite.

Key Responsibilities

Vendor Management

• Source and onboard vendors for meals, snacks, beverages, merch, transport, office supplies, etc.
• Compare at least three quotes, check licensing and references, and run tastings before signing.
• Negotiate pricing, minimum orders, payment terms, and service levels in writing.
• Act as the single point of contact for all vendors, resolving issues quickly and keeping backup options ready.
• Review each vendor monthly on quality, reliability, and cost, renegotiating or replacing as needed.
• Own the snack, meal, and supply budget, tracking spend weekly and flagging overruns with solutions.

Food Program

• Plan weekly lunch and dinner menus, considering dietary needs.
• Confirm headcounts, coordinate orders, and ensure timely and proper food setup.
• Keep the pantry stocked and rotate snacks based on consumption.

Pilots and Feedback

• Test new ideas as short pilots before committing budget.
• Define success metrics before each pilot, run it for two to four weeks, and then decide on next steps.
• Collect feedback continuously through pulse surveys, Slack polls, and conversations.
• Share a short monthly update on feedback, changes, and ongoing tests.
• Maintain a log of experiments and their results.

Onboarding and Culture

• Own the in-office onboarding process: ensure desk and equipment readiness, conduct office tours, introduce the neighborhood, and check in at the end of week one.
• Set the tone for new hires and visitors.
• Plan and run low-cost, high-impact monthly team bonding activities and small weekly rituals.
• Build traditions for the Bangalore team.

Office Operations

• Maintain office cleanliness, organization, and stock levels: manage inventory, set reorder levels, and work with housekeeping and building management.
• Generate guest passes, greet visitors, and share office information.
• Be the go-to person for office requests.
• Optional but a big plus: book flights and accommodation for employees traveling between India and US offices.

Qualifications

Desired Capabilities

• Prior experience in office operations, workplace experience, administration, hospitality, or a similar role.
• Hands-on vendor management: sourcing, negotiating rates and terms, and holding vendors to service levels.
• Comfortable with numbers: ability to build budget trackers in Google Sheets, compare quotes, and explain expenditures.
• An experimenter’s mindset: testing small, seeking feedback, and adapting based on learnings.
• Strong organizational skills with excellent attention to detail.
• A warm, confident communicator.
• Ownership: proactive in identifying and fixing issues.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, in-person environment and managing multiple priorities.

Extra Credit

• Experience supporting employee travel bookings.
• Event planning or team engagement experience, especially on a tight budget.
• Previous experience in a startup or fast-growing environment.
• Experience setting up an office or food program from scratch.
• Kannada or Hindi for working with local vendors.