Company Secretary Jobs in India: Demand, Roles and Where to Apply

Why companies have to hire a Company Secretary

Most of the demand comes from the Companies Act. ICSI's notice to recruiters for the Mega Placement Drive I, 2026 summarises the rules this way:

• Listed companies, and other public companies with paid-up capital of ₹10 crore or more, must appoint a Company Secretary as key managerial personnel (KMP) under Section 203 read with Rule 8 of the Companies (Appointment and Remuneration of Managerial Personnel) Rules, 2014.
• Other companies with paid-up capital of ₹10 crore or more must have a whole-time Company Secretary (Rule 8A).

Smaller companies are not covered by these rules, but they still have filings and other compliance work under company law. They can use a Company Secretary in practice for it instead of a full-time employee (see the next section).

The two career paths: employment and practice

A qualified Company Secretary (an ICSI member) either works for one employer or practises independently. You cannot do both: ICSI issues a Certificate of Practice only to members who are not in employment.

Working in a company

In a company the Company Secretary usually runs board and shareholder meetings and their minutes, keeps the statutory registers, files returns and forms with the Registrar of Companies and, in a listed company, handles stock exchange compliance. Job titles on recent recruitment notices posted on ICSI's Placement page include:

• Company Secretary & Compliance Officer
• Assistant Company Secretary
• Officer Trainee (Company Secretary) and CS Trainee
• Executive Trainee (Board & Company Affairs)
• Deputy Manager, Chief Manager and Additional General Manager (CS)

Working in practice

A Company Secretary in practice offers services to many clients. Under Section 2(2) of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980, as quoted on ICSI's Member page, these services include:

• filing, attesting or verifying documents for a company as its authorised representative
• secretarial audit and consultancy
• issuing certificates on behalf of, or for the purposes of, a company
• advising companies on company law, securities law and related matters
• work on forming, amalgamating, reorganising and winding up companies

Under Section 6(1) of the Act you need a Certificate of Practice from ICSI before you can practise. Members who enter practice on or after 1 April 2023 must complete the PCS Orientation Programme before applying for it. Members aged 60 or more, or with 15 or more years of experience after becoming members, are exempt.

Government, PSU and banking jobs for CS

ICSI's Placement page keeps an archive of recruitment notices from public sector companies, banks and government offices. It shows the range of employers that hire Company Secretaries, including in banking and financial services:

• Banks and financial institutions: Specialist Officers (Company Secretary) at Canara Bank, Company Secretary on contract at SIDBI, Chief Compliance Officer at Bank of Maharashtra, Grade A officers at IIFCL and Assistant Company Secretary at Repco Home Finance.
• Public sector companies: Officer Trainee (Company Secretary) at POWERGRID, Deputy Manager (CS) at IREDA, and a campus selection for Executive Trainee (Board & Company Affairs) at NMDC held at ICSI's Noida office on 9 April 2026.
• Government offices: Young Professionals at the Registrar of Companies and Regional Director offices of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and the Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT 01/2025) for ground duty in the Accounts Branch, open to qualified Company Secretaries.

These notices are examples, not current openings. Each one sets its own eligibility, pay, age limit and closing date, so read the full notice before you apply.

How many Company Secretaries there are in India

ICSI's About page (updated 6 August 2026) says the Institute has over 79,000 members and 250,000 students. Its July 2026 notice to recruiters gives "over 80,000 Members and around 250,000 Students" and calls this the largest membership and student base of Company Secretaries in the world.

ICSI's Annual Report 2025-26 gives 79,131 members on 31 March 2026, of whom 11,689 held a Certificate of Practice (members in practice). It does not say how many of the rest are employed or looking for work. No official source says how many Company Secretaries India needs. Treat any "shortage" or "unemployment" figure you see online with caution unless it names an official source.

When you can start working

You do not have to wait until you qualify to get workplace experience. Under ICSI's Student Training Guidelines 2024:

1. After passing CS Executive and the 30-day Executive Development Programme (EDP), you do 21 months of long-term training with a Company Secretary in practice, a company or another eligible organisation.
2. The trainer must pay you a monthly stipend of at least ₹5,000, or the amount ICSI's Council sets from time to time, including during the probation period.
3. After passing CS Professional and completing the training and the 30-day Corporate Leadership Development Programme (CLDP), you can be enrolled as a member of ICSI. Company Secretary posts generally ask for membership, and ICSI's Mega Placement Drives are for members.

The order of the stages and training is explained in our guide to the CS course: levels, eligibility, papers and training.

What a Company Secretary earns

ICSI does not publish a salary survey. The only official pay figure is the minimum trainee stipend above. For a particular post, the recruitment notice (PSU and bank notices give the pay scale) or the employer's offer is the reliable source. We have removed the salary ranges this article used to quote because we could not trace them to an official source.

Where to find Company Secretary jobs

• ICSI's Placement page: the Placement page links to ICSI's online placement portal, announces placement drives and lists recruitment notices.
• Mega Placement Drives: ICSI runs these twice a year at its Regional Offices and CCGRTs to recruit Company Secretaries for companies and practising firms. The July 2026 drive was open to members who became ACS on or after 1 January 2025, from any part of the country.
• Regional and chapter drives: Regional councils and chapters also hold placement and trainee drives, which help students looking for a training place. Check your region's or chapter's page on icsi.edu.
• Employers' own notices: public sector companies and banks publish recruitment notices on their websites, and ICSI reposts many of them on its Placement page.
• General job sites: private-sector roles are also advertised on sites such as Naukri.com, LinkedIn and Indeed. Search for "company secretary", "compliance officer" and "secretarial" roles.

Check what stage each opening is for. Training places are for students who have passed CS Executive and the EDP, while Company Secretary and compliance officer posts usually ask for ICSI membership.

How CS jobs differ from CA and CMA jobs

CS jobs are mostly about company law, governance and compliance. CA jobs centre on audit, tax and financial reporting, and CMA jobs on costing and cost audit. If you are still choosing a course, compare CA jobs in India and CMA job opportunities, or read our comparison of CA, CS and CMA.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Company Secretary a good career?

In our view it suits people who like law, drafting and how companies are run. The legal requirement for companies above a set size to appoint a Company Secretary gives the profession steady demand. Pay and growth depend on the employer, the city and your experience, and no official salary data exists.

How many Company Secretaries are unemployed in India?

There is no official figure. ICSI publishes its membership (79,131 on 31 March 2026, of whom 11,689 were in practice, per its Annual Report 2025-26) but not how many members are employed or looking for work.