Tata Projects Elevates Shirley Burla to Chief Human Resources Officer

Tata Projects has elevated Shirley Burla to the role of Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), marking a significant leadership move within the organisation’s people function. She assumed the new position in January 2026 after serving as Vice President & Head – HR for the company’s Energy & Industrial Business.

Burla has been with Tata Projects for nearly three years, playing a key role in strengthening HR frameworks and supporting business growth across core verticals. In her previous role, she led people strategy initiatives for the Energy & Industrial Business, aligning workforce planning, talent development and organisational capability with operational expansion.

Prior to joining Tata Projects in 2023, Burla spent over five years at Shapoorji Pallonji Group. She served as Head – Learning & Organisational Development and Corporate HR, and earlier as Head – HR for SP EPC. In these roles, she drove leadership development, capability building and HR transformation initiatives across large infrastructure and engineering operations.

Burla also brings over 13 years of experience from Siemens Ltd., where she held multiple leadership positions. These included Head HR Business Partner – Building Technologies Division, Head – Talent Acquisition for South Asia, and Head – Press, Internal Communications and CSR for South Asia. Her tenure at Siemens reflects a diverse portfolio spanning talent strategy, corporate communications and employer branding.

She began her career in corporate communications, working with firms such as Hanmer MSL (now MSL Group), Genesis BCW and Abacus Integrated Corporate Communications, building a strong foundation in stakeholder engagement and brand positioning.

With nearly three decades of professional experience across infrastructure, engineering and technology sectors, Burla’s elevation to CHRO underscores Tata Projects’ focus on strengthening leadership depth and building robust people practices to support long-term growth.

As the infrastructure and EPC sector navigates large-scale project execution, digital transformation and evolving workforce expectations, the CHRO role becomes increasingly strategic. Burla is expected to lead enterprise-wide HR initiatives, focusing on talent management, leadership development, organisational effectiveness and culture building at Tata Projects.