Manish Shekhawat

CEO

Gurugram, Haryana, India9 yrs 3 mos experience
Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

  • Built entire People function from scratch
  • Achieved 90%+ offer-to-join ratio for 10 quarters
  • Scaled diverse teams across 6 continents
Stackforce AI infers this person is a Talent Acquisition expert in the SaaS industry with a focus on global recruitment.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Talent AcquisitionPeople OperationsProject ManagementEmployer BrandingRecruitment StrategyTalent SourcingProduct DevelopmentEnd-to-end Recruitment

Other Skills

HR systemsPeople Opsasync onboardingautomationbudget managementclient coordinationclient managementcultural frameworksemployee engagementengagement ritualsevent planningglobal recruitmentlateral hiringmarket researchpipeline building

About

💬 About 👋🏼 Hi, I'm Manish — a people-first builder and global talent strategist with around 9 years of experience scaling high-performance teams and cultures across 20+ countries and 60+ cities. At Fireflies.ai, I’ve built the entire People function from scratch — zero external recruiters, zero vendors — powered purely by 💡 creativity, 🔍 precision sourcing, and 🎯 relentless execution. Whether hiring for tech, GTM, or operations, I work hand-in-hand with leadership to turn bold hiring plans into high-impact results. 🌐 What I Do: 1️⃣ Design and execute global hiring strategies with by maintaining a consistent 90%+ offer-to-join ratio for consistent 10 quarters. 2️⃣ Architect remote-first culture and async-friendly engagement models 3️⃣ Source unicorns via GitHub, X-ray, niche communities, groups & outbound hacks 4️⃣ Drive data-led people ops, DEI programs, and process optimization 5️⃣ Build scalable HR playbooks and workflows using lean tooling 📈 The Impact: 1️⃣ Built an elite team with 10x growth across global geographies 2️⃣ Saved $330K+ in agency fees via internal sourcing & ATS automation 3️⃣ Scaled diverse teams across 6 continents 4️⃣ Hosted a global offsite fully organized internally with 0 vendor cost 5️⃣ Achieved industry-best candidate satisfaction and employee happiness as core pillars 💡 My Leadership Style: 1️⃣ Emphasize transparent communication and consistent feedback loops 2️⃣ Focus on outcomes and metrics-driven people strategies 3️⃣ Operate with a builder’s mindset and a systems-thinking approach 4️⃣ Act as a cross-functional partner aligned with business impact 5️⃣ Design human-first programs with empathy at the core 🎵 Beyond Work: 1️⃣ 🏃🏽‍♂️ Endurance runner & fitness enthusiast 2️⃣ 🏀Basketball & ⚽soccer junkie 3️⃣ 🎧 Music lover & hobbyist musician — currently learning 🎸 guitar but on a patience check 4️⃣ 🍳 Passionate home chef 5️⃣ 📚 Avid reader — Working on building daily learning & creative habits 6️⃣ 🌍 Explorer of cultures, ideas & human potential 7️⃣ 💪 Calisthenics & wellness advocate ✨ Philosophy: I believe the future of work is global, remote, and deeply human. Let’s connect and build organizations where people and purpose thrive — together.

Experience

Fireflies.ai

4 roles

Global Lead – Talent, People Ops & Culture | Fireflies.ai

Promoted

Aug 2023Present · 2 yrs 7 mos

  • 💪🏽 Owned and scaled the People function with a true 0→1 approach — no external recruiters, no vendors, just 1 ATS + 1 HR partner.
  • 🔧 What I Built & Led:
  • 1️⃣ Led full-cycle global recruitment for tech and non-tech roles
  • 2️⃣ Designed and executed People Ops, HR systems, async onboarding
  • 3️⃣ Built Fireflies' global offsite in Malaysia,Vietnam for 80+ people — 100% internally executed, 0 vendor cost
  • 4️⃣ Created engagement rituals and cultural frameworks company-wide
  • 5️⃣ Hired across 6 Continents and 62 Cities.
  • 6️⃣ Member of the internal strategic policy & culture committee
  • 7️⃣ Advised leadership on budget, culture design, and expansion strategy
  • Outcomes & Achievements:
  • 1️⃣ Offer-to-Join Ratio 2023:
  • Overall: 95.12%
  • Engineering: 88.88%
  • Non-Tech: 100%
  • 2️⃣ Maintained 9+/10 sourcing quality across all departments
  • 3️⃣ Hired ~4 new team members per month (avg)
  • 4️⃣ Candidate Experience: 98.3% rated 4.5+/5
  • 5️⃣ People Engagement Score: 91.11%
  • 6️⃣ Scaled Fireflies' presence to 20 countries, 54 cities
  • 7️⃣ Saved $330K+ by avoiding agency spend — fully internal hiring engine
  • 🔥 Scaling people, culture & impact — globally and remotely. Let’s connect if you're building for the future of work!
global recruitmentPeople OpsHR systemsasync onboardingengagement ritualscultural frameworks+2

Recruiting & HR Manager | Talent, People Ops & Culture

Promoted

Jul 2022Aug 2023 · 1 yr 1 mo

  • Led talent acquisition, employer branding, and employee engagement for global tech and GTM teams.
  • Key Contributions:
  • 1️⃣ Built and implemented scalable hiring strategies with leadership
  • 2️⃣ Reduced time-to-hire from 42 days → 28 days
  • 3️⃣ Developed and launched an HR Playbook reducing coaching dependencies by 80%
  • 4️⃣ Designed pre-onboarding and engagement experiences to improve conversion
  • 5️⃣ Initiated async All Hands + Happy Hours across time zones
  • 6️⃣ Enhanced candidate experience and transparency during hiring
  • 7️⃣ Improved average candidate quality from 8+ to 9+ rating
  • Metrics:
  • 1️⃣ Offer-to-Accept Ratio: 93.74%
  • 2️⃣ Offer-to-Join Ratio: 91.89%
  • 3️⃣ 100% join rate in non-tech roles
talent acquisitionemployer brandingemployee engagementscalable hiring strategiesTalent AcquisitionEmployer Branding

Lead Talent – Engineering & GTM

Jun 2021Jun 2022 · 1 yr

  • Led a high-performing team of 4+, overseeing global remote hiring across Engineering, Product, Design, Marketing, Customer Success, Sales, and Support functions. Focused on automation, internal sourcing, and building recruitment infrastructure for scale.
  • Key Initiatives & Responsibilities:
  • 1️⃣ Built scalable, cost-effective sourcing & recruitment systems
  • 2️⃣ Researched and formed an in-house HR Ops team
  • 3️⃣ Automated the end-to-end recruitment cycle
  • 4️⃣ Explored deep recruitment hacks, tools, and strategies
  • 5️⃣ Led final HR & Culture rounds — making interviews engaging
  • 6️⃣ Designed internal-first hiring frameworks to reduce dependency
  • 7️⃣ Took a “learn by doing” approach — constant exploration
  • 8️⃣ Developed and tracked key recruitment metrics & dashboards
  • 9️⃣ Operated as a hands-on Technical & Non-Tech sourcer
  • 🔟 Built global hiring culture across 15+ countries & 5 continents
  • Impact & Results:
  • 1️⃣ Scaled team size from 30+ → 100+, with Tech, Product & Design from 20+ → 70+
  • 2️⃣ Contributed 90% as an individual contributor (IC) in just 9 months
  • 3️⃣ Cultivated a strong, employee-first culture across hiring touch points
  • 4️⃣ Organised and led planning for international company retreats
  • 5️⃣ Introduced BYOD policy to empower remote productivity
  • 6️⃣ Executed both 3-day virtual & physical retreats
  • 7️⃣ Saved $125K+ in agency fees via outbound recruiting & internal tools
  • 8️⃣ Implemented fair pay mapping across all geographical zones
  • 9️⃣ Hired Fireflies' first Account Executive (USA) via niche search
  • 🔟 Hired the first woman engineer in the Infrastructure & Integration team
  • PS:
  • Yes, we were hiring then — and scaling fast: 👉 fireflies.freshteam.com/jobs
sourcing systemsrecruitment infrastructureautomationRecruitment StrategyTalent Sourcing

Founding Recruiter – Tech & GTM

Dec 2020Jun 2021 · 6 mos

  • First recruiter at Fireflies. Laid the groundwork for all hiring operations, strategy, and culture-building.
  • Key Contributions:
  • 1️⃣ Built recruitment & sourcing systems from scratch
  • 2️⃣ Hired across LATAM, SEA, South Asia, and Africa
  • 3️⃣ Closed senior IC and leadership roles including SREs, PMs & Software Engineers.
  • 4️⃣ Hired 100% via direct outreach — no agency or external platform
  • 5️⃣ Contributed to building the foundation of Fireflies' remote hiring culture
recruitment operationssourcing systemsTalent Acquisition

National basketball association (nba)

Taken time off

Sep 2020Nov 2020 · 2 mos

Pesto tech

Talent Acquisition Specialist – Tech & Non-Tech

Sep 2019Aug 2020 · 11 mos · Gurgaon, India

  • Led talent acquisition across engineering and business functions. Helped bridge global opportunities for Indian engineers in US-based startups.
  • Key Responsibilities:
  • 1️⃣Scaled student cohorts from 5 to 100 per batch, resulting in a 10x increase in revenue.
  • 2️⃣ Part of a launched remote bootcamp program for engineering grads , scaling outreach 20x.
  • 3️⃣ Hired critical roles like Full Stack JavaScript Instructor and Teaching Assistant, saving $13.5K in hiring budget.
  • 4️⃣ Generated 1,200+ qualified leads in 7 days using sourcing hacks and zero spend on marketing tools.
  • 5️⃣ Managed full-cycle recruitment for Sales, Partnerships, Instruction, and Content Marketing roles, saving over $30K in hiring costs.
  • 6️⃣ Deployed Airtable as ATS and ran successful LinkedIn Ads campaigns
talent acquisitionrecruitment strategiesTalent Acquisition

Oyo

Senior HR – Tech & Non-Tech Hiring

Dec 2018Aug 2019 · 8 mos · Gurgaon, Haryana, India

  • Handled lateral tech and non-tech hiring for multiple business units across India. Built strong pipelines for leadership and mid-level tech roles.
  • Key Responsibilities:
  • 1️⃣ Part of Scaling engineering team from 220 to 260 across consumer & international platforms- No Vendors
  • 2️⃣ Hired OYO’s first Machine Learning Engineer in Consumer Team in just 15 days
  • 3️⃣ Introduced “coffee engagement” with the leadership team to reduce offer drop-offs
  • 4️⃣ Closed 40 lateral tech hires across Engineering, Marketing, Design, Product, and Data Science
  • 5️⃣ Saved $82K in costs; achieved 3× ROI from recruitment efforts
  • 6️⃣ Used LinkedIn Recruiter, GitHub,Stack Overflow, Recruiterbox, Instahyre & Taleo ATS
  • 7️⃣ Hired Engineering Manager, Director level talent.
lateral hiringpipeline buildingTalent Acquisition

Anzy careers

2 roles

Senior Recruitment Specialist – Tech

Promoted

Apr 2018Oct 2018 · 6 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

  • 1️⃣ Recruited across top clients: Amazon, Flipkart, Walmart Labs, Swiggy, Uber, etc.
  • 2️⃣ Built founding teams at Gameskraft and Trusting Social
  • 3️⃣ Closed Director-level role (Trusting Social) and Architect roles (Target, Freighttiger) generating $48K revenue
  • 4️⃣ Delivered $60K+ revenue in 9 months; exceeded targets by 200%, 250%, and 400%
  • 5️⃣ Earned “Super Star Performer” for 3 straight quarters; promoted to Sr. Specialist
  • 6️⃣ Closed urgent backend hire in 2 days; received direct client recognition
recruitmentclient managementTalent Acquisition

Recruitment Specialist – Tech

May 2017Apr 2018 · 11 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

  • Specialized in closing tech roles across India’s top startups and product companies.
  • Key Highlights:
  • 1️⃣ Hired for companies like Amazon, Uber, Flipkart, Visa, Swiggy, Myntra
  • 2️⃣ Recruited for roles: SDE1/2/3, TL, EM, Android, iOS, DevOps, Data Science, Product
  • 3️⃣ Sourced talent through GitHub, Behance, AngelList, Dribbble, Naukri, etc.
  • 4️⃣ Managed full-cycle recruiting — sourcing, interviews, negotiations, closing
  • 5️⃣ Delivered niche hiring projects across Pre-Seed to Series A–E startups
  • 6️⃣ Built market intelligence reports for clients to plan hiring roadmaps
recruitmentclient coordinationTalent Acquisition

Confidential (in stealth mode)

Co-Founder – EdTech (Stealth Mode)

Feb 2018Nov 2018 · 9 mos · Bengaluru Area, India

  • Built an early-stage EdTech platform helping students prepare for Armed Forces exams like NDA, CDS, and AFCAT.
  • Key Contributions:
  • 1️⃣ Defined product direction and learning modules
  • 2️⃣ Conducted market/user research for content strategy
  • 3️⃣ Worked on MVP, content curation, and community building
  • 4️⃣ Collaborated with educators and early adopters to test and iterate
product directionmarket researchProduct Development

Astra hr services

Technical Recruiter – Tech Hiring

May 2016Apr 2017 · 11 mos · Bengaluru Area, India

  • Kicked off my recruitment journey managing tech hiring across domains with a focus on high urgency roles.
  • Key Responsibilities:
  • 1️⃣ Handled end-to-end recruitment for Amazon, Swiggy & Livspace (SDE roles)
  • 2️⃣ Contributed $13.5K revenue within 10 months as a fresher
  • 3️⃣ Coordinated directly with clients on tech hiring requirements
  • 4️⃣ Sourced & screened talent using in-house DB, referrals & advanced sourcing techniques
  • 5️⃣ Hired as a 2nd Recruiter in the team
end-to-end recruitmentsourcing techniquesclient coordination

Education

Visvesvaraya Technological University

Bachelor of Engineering (BE) — Completed Engineering with First Class Distinction

Jan 2011Jan 2015

Kendriya Vidyalaya

High School Diploma

Jan 2007Jan 2010

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