Head of Recruitment

GoodHiresOnly; Chennai; Hybrid; INR 4,000,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

GoodHiresOnly, a global IT services company with delivery in Chennai, seeks a hands-on Head of Talent Acquisition to lead a six-person team across India and deliver 100+ hires annually. Hybrid work with a Chennai-based office.

You will partner with the Managing Director, India, shape recruitment standards, drive high-volume technical hiring (70% tech) and build a data-driven function with strong candidate experience and employer branding. Hybrid work model.

Qualifications

• MBA in HR or equivalent required.
• 12–18 years of Talent Acquisition experience, including 5–6 years leading recruiting teams.
• Background in IT services or tech product companies with strong IT industry knowledge.
• Proven track record hiring mid-to-senior tech talent, especially in digital, cloud, DevOps, AI and modernization.
• Experience delivering high hiring volumes (100+ hires/year) and rapid demand spikes.

Responsibilities

• Develop hiring strategy and demand planning to absorb spikes in requirements.
• Own full-cycle recruitment across technical and non-technical roles with high-volume hiring.
• Build recruitment dashboards and regular reports on open roles, pipeline health, time-to-hire and cost-per-hire.
• Strengthen employer brand and ensure a professional, timely candidate experience.

Skills

Leadership

Sourcing

Stakeholder management

HR systems

Education

MBA in HR

Tools

Zoho HRMS

ATS

Job description

Global IT Services Company | Chennai, India

ROLE AT A GLANCE

• Position: Head of Talent Acquisition
• Work Mode: Hybrid – minimum 3 days a week in the Chennai office
• Employment Type: Full-time, 5-day working week
• Experience:12–18 years in Talent Acquisition
• Reports To: Managing Director, India
• Team Size: Leads a team of ~6 recruiters across India
• Hiring Volume: 100+ hires (approx.) a year; ~70% technical, ~30% non-technical
• Education: Full-time MBA (HR) or equivalent – mandatory

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Our client is a UK-headquartered global IT services and engineering consultancy with delivery operations in India. The company helps large enterprises, particularly in banking, financial services and telecommunications, modernise their technology through digital transformation, cloud and DevOps, automation and application modernisation. With a growing order book and an expanding India presence, talent acquisition is central to how the business wins and delivers client projects.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Our client is looking for a hands-on Talent Acquisition leader to run and strengthen its recruitment function across India and the UK, and globally as needed. Reporting directly to the Managing Director, India, you will lead a team of around six recruiters and deliver 100+ hires a year, mostly mid-to-senior level and around 70% technical.

Hiring demand here is not steady. New project wins can create sudden, high-volume requirements, especially for experienced engineers with 5–10 years' experience. Your job is to keep the business ready: pipelines built ahead of need, a team that can scale up quickly, data that shows what is working, and honest, early advice to leadership when a target is at risk. You should be just as comfortable personally closing a difficult search as you are shaping hiring strategy with senior leaders.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Hiring Strategy & Demand Planning

• Work with business and delivery leaders to understand hiring needs, anticipate demand and build a hiring plan that can absorb sudden spikes in requirements.
• Keep warm, active talent pipelines for recurring and hard-to-fill roles so the business never loses a project opportunity because staffing is slow.
• Track hiring progress, gaps and changing demand, and adjust priorities, team capacity and the hiring plan as business needs shift.
• Advise senior leadership clearly when targets are hard to meet: explain the constraints, trade-offs and realistic timelines, and agree solutions together.
• Run market mapping and compensation benchmarking, and recommend the right sourcing channels and sourcing mix for each hiring need.
• Lead, coach and develop a team of ~6 recruiters; set clear priorities, KPIs and ownership across sourcing, screening, candidate management and stakeholder engagement.
• Build the team's understanding of the technology roles they hire for, so recruiters can challenge weak requirements rather than just forward CVs.
• Personally handle critical, senior and niche hires when needed.

3. End-to-End Recruitment Delivery

• Own full-cycle hiring for mid-to-senior technical and non-technical roles, including high-volume hiring across a smaller set of recurring role types.
• Drive hiring for digital, cloud, DevOps and modernisation skills, plus emerging AI needs (GenAI, LLM, Python).
• Support non-technical hiring across research, technology management, sales, marketing, project management and back-office functions.
• Own the quality of screening and shortlists so candidates reaching hiring managers are technically and commercially credible.
• Work with hiring managers to sharpen job specifications, interview design and decision speed; train interview panels where needed.
• Manage offers, set candidate expectations and reduce offer drop-outs and back-outs.
• Grow direct sourcing and use recruitment agencies deliberately; manage agency selection, terms and performance in India and the UK.

4. Analytics, Reporting & Process

• Build and maintain recruitment dashboards and regular reports covering open roles and ageing, pipeline health, conversion rates, time to hire, offer acceptance, offer-to-join, sourcing mix, agency spend and cost per hire.
• Use data and trends to show what is working and what isn't, and turn that into clear recommendations for leadership.
• Set and maintain clear recruitment processes and SLAs, from vacancy intake to joining, so hiring is consistent, measurable and does not depend on individual knowledge.
• Make effective use of HRMS, ATS, sourcing platforms and AI-enabled recruiting tools (the company uses Zoho HRMS).

5. Employer Brand & Candidate Experience

• Strengthen the employer brand and value proposition across digital channels, so recruiters and agencies present it consistently.
• Ensure a professional, timely candidate experience at every stage.
• Support diversity and inclusion across the hiring process.

WHAT YOU BRING

Must-Have

• Full-time MBA in Human Resources or equivalent.
• 12–18 years in Talent Acquisition, including at least 5–6 years leading recruiting teams.
• Background in IT services or technology product companies, with a strong understanding of IT industry culture.
• Proven track record hiring mid-to-senior technology talent, particularly in digital, cloud, DevOps, AI and modernisation.
• Experience delivering high hiring volumes (100+ hires a year) and responding quickly to sudden demand spikes.
• Strong sourcing capability for experienced technical talent (5–10 years), the hardest segment to fill.
• Hands-on experience with an HRMS and an ATS (experience with a specific platform is not essential).
• Maturity and credibility with senior stakeholders; confident communicating hiring risks and realistic expectations.
• Proactive and adaptable; able to balance speed with planning, pipeline readiness and the right sourcing choices.

Strongly Preferred

• UK or international hiring experience alongside India hiring.
• Experience with recruitment analytics and dashboards, and using data to drive hiring decisions.
• SHRM (SHRM-CP/SCP) or a similar recognised HR or talent acquisition certification.
• Experience in a funded startup or a mid-sized, fast-growing technology company.

Good to Have

• Exposure to AI-related hiring (GenAI, LLM, Python roles).
• Experience managing recruitment agencies and improving direct-sourcing ratios.
• Hands-on familiarity with LinkedIn Recruiter, Naukri and similar sourcing platforms.

HOW SUCCESS WILL BE MEASURED

• Hiring-plan attainment and time to fill against agreed SLAs, including during demand spikes.
• Pipeline readiness for recurring and critical roles.
• Offer acceptance and offer-to-join rates.
• Share of hires through direct sourcing, and cost per hire.
• Hiring-manager satisfaction and quality of hire.
• Quality and use of hiring reports and dashboards in leadership decisions.

WORKING HOURS

Standard day hours, around 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. or 10:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. IST. Occasional later calls with UK candidates or stakeholders may be needed; late working is not a regular expectation.

WHAT'S ON OFFER

• A senior role reporting directly to the Managing Director, India, with real influence over how the company hires.
• The chance to shape and strengthen a TA function supporting an international technology-services business.
• A collaborative environment with high leadership visibility and a sensible hybrid working model.

HIRING PROCESS

• Client disclosure and detailed role briefing for shortlisted candidates
• Interview with the Managing Director, India
• Leadership / stakeholder round