Neeraj Sharma — Head of Talent

With over 16 years of dedicated experience in the dynamic field of talent acquisition, my core competencies lie in corporate and bulk hiring, which have propelled PhonePe's Merchant Business Unit and Payment Gateway to new heights. At PhonePe, I am committed to not only meeting but exceeding our hiring benchmarks, by strategically scaling human capital from a baseline of 5,000 to a robust 15,000 within ten months. My mission aligns seamlessly with PhonePe's culture of growth and innovation, as I bring a diverse perspective and a relentless drive to build a formidable, high-performing team. • 16+ years of experience in Talent Acquisition, with a significant focus on Business, Bulk, Technical and Product hiring within startup environments. • Proven track record of hiring niche technical talent and managing high-volume recruitment for fast-scaling organizations. • Deep understanding of technology stacks and the ability to assess technical candidates for roles in software engineering, product development, and emerging technologies (AI, Data Science, DevOps, etc.). • Strong leadership skills, with experience building and managing high-performing talent acquisition teams. • Exceptional stakeholder management skills and the ability to partner effectively with senior leadership. • Experience implementing innovative recruitment solutions, such as AI-driven recruitment tools and employer branding strategies. • Passion for building diverse and inclusive teams, with a history of championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in recruitment. • Excellent project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. • Data-driven approach to decision-making, with the ability to use metrics to drive improvements in the recruitment process. • Proficiency in using ATS systems, recruitment CRMs, and sourcing tools.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic Talent Acquisition leader in the Fintech and Logistics sectors.

Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Experience: 16 yrs 11 mos

Skills

Talent Acquisition
Leadership Hiring
Bulk Hiring
Recruitment Strategy
Team Management
International Recruitment

Career Highlights

Scaled PhonePe's workforce from 5K to 15K in 10 months.
Achieved 90% reduction in hiring costs at Ola Electric.
Led hiring for 35K gig workers at Dunzo.

Work Experience

Ola Electric

TA Head (1 yr 3 mos)

PhonePe

Head of Talent Acquisition (10 mos)

Dunzo

Head of Recruitment (3 yrs 3 mos)

Toyota Kirloskar Motor

Human Resources Director (5 yrs)

Big Bazaar - Future Retail

Assistant Manager Human Resources (2 yrs 5 mos)

Wipro

Senior Executive Human Resources (4 yrs 1 mo)

Education

AI at Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar

Master's degree at XLRI Jamshedpur

Bachelor of Commerce - BCom at CCS (Chaudhary Charan Singh)University

Neeraj Sharma

Head of Talent

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India16 yrs 11 mos experience

Highly Stable

Key Highlights

Scaled PhonePe's workforce from 5K to 15K in 10 months.
Achieved 90% reduction in hiring costs at Ola Electric.
Led hiring for 35K gig workers at Dunzo.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic Talent Acquisition leader in the Fintech and Logistics sectors.

Contact

neeraj.future3@gmail.com LinkedIn

Skills

Core Skills

Talent AcquisitionLeadership HiringBulk HiringRecruitment StrategyTeam ManagementInternational Recruitment

Other Skills

ATS data utilizationAnalytical SkillsAttrition controlBPO hiringCandidate AssessmentCandidate ManagementCommunicationCorporate RecruitingCost reductionCultural fit assessmentCustomer Relationship Management (CRM)Data managementData-driven Decision MakingE-RecruitmentEcommerce hiring

About

Experience

Ola electric

TA Head

Dec 2024 – Present · 1 yr 3 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · On-site

Hiring for GTM Business (Ola Electric), Ola Krutrim - AI and Ola consumer business, Specialized in Volume hiring and Sr. Leadership hiring.
Led end-to-end talent acquisition across Ola’s multiple business entities: Ola Consumer, Ola Electric, and Ola Krutrim (AI).
Specialized in bulk hiring and senior leadership recruitment for diverse functions including technology, engineering, manufacturing, GTM, cloud platform, and group functions.
Designed and institutionalised comprehensive hiring processes and leadership recruitment frameworks across the group.
Achieved a 90%+ reduction in hiring costs through strategic process optimizations.
Increased interview-to-offer conversion rate from 40% to 55% and improved joining ratio from 40% to 62%
Successfully closed leadership mandates with an average turnaround time of 30 days and onboarded CXOs across business units.
Managed complex hiring for niche domains such as silicon design, AI research, cloud infrastructure, and vehicle engineering.
Led global recruitment efforts including expatriate hires in strategic roles.

Volume hiringLeadership hiringEnd-to-end talent acquisitionHiring process optimizationStakeholder managementTalent Acquisition+1

Phonepe

Head of Talent Acquisition

Aug 2023 – Jun 2024 · 10 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · On-site

Hiring for Merchant BU and Payment Gateway Business, Specialized in Bulk hiring and Sr. Leadership hiring, Product, Engineering, Data and Analytics
 Roadmap for PhonePe Hiring for 20K work force in Merchant BU (Fintech Product Sale) | Scale 10 to 100 | Tech – AI Based
Hiring Enabled 50%+ reduction in Attrition (3.5K to 20K workforce hiring) & accelerated adoption timeline in 10 months.
Worked with best consultation with leading manpower suppliers, end-user product companies, startups and policymakers
 Hiring process improvement for Fintech Sector, Leading to first ever profitable Fintech | Cost reduction
Analyzed $2mn savings potential (Build first ever Bulk Hiring In house ATS for Bulk Hiring) in overall Blue-collar and Gig hiring Model; $2-3mn unlock from org structure, robust internal reference hiring plan/ governance revamp of stalled initiatives under existing cost restructuring program
 Revamped workforce planning for new Business | Org scalability
Drove 5-7% improvement in forecasting accuracy with cross-functional, granular hiring slot details.
 Infant Attrition- Strategy for new hires attrition control Robust employee engagement and training plan for new Hires | Customer focus
Assessed Employee delight ideas inspired across global hospitality, Fintech, Sales ecosystems
 Route-to-market overhaul in B2B segment for India’s 1st largest hiring player by volume | Employer Branding
Identified potential 2-3% incremental improvement in Hiring and Attrition control with influencer (Field Sales, retail, digital) management

Bulk hiringLeadership hiringHiring process improvementEmployer brandingCost reductionTalent Acquisition+1

Dunzo

Head of Recruitment

May 2020 – Aug 2023 · 3 yrs 3 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · Hybrid

Elevated to 10X growth Hiring plan across Hyperlocal Delivery, Ecommerce, logistics and Supply chain function and executed 4K hires in Central teams across, Hired 35K gig workers across Ecommerce and logistics.
End-to-end execution: Led Hiring team of 13 members across India, tech-led 6 members in HR Operations – moat around Hire-light and hybrid route contracts
Product and process strategy:
o Analyzed Hiring scale up plan, based on AI/ML tech, Automated screening, Predictive Analysis, Chatbot and Virtual Assistants
o Devised and assessed feasibility of scale-based hiring strategy via data management to achieve 5% cost reduction
Customer focus and Stakeholder management:
o Revamped company-wide MIS- Hiring dashboard around user evaluation parameters and complaints by engaging with stakeholders
o Engaged as Function lead POC across TA hierarchies and functions, ranging from company CXOs and other stakeholders to vendors
Business strategy:
 Created proactive hiring plan on new cities expansion on B2B and B2C Hiring, enabling 30% additional hires in active pipeline
 Developed thesis for 35k gig workers hiring opportunity in referrals plan focused on onboarding bulk merchants with an asset-heavy model

Hyperlocal delivery hiringEcommerce hiringLogistics hiringStakeholder engagementRecruitment StrategyTeam Management

Toyota kirloskar motor

Human Resources Director

Apr 2015 – Apr 2020 · 5 yrs · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · On-site

Hospitality Hiring, Sales and Marketing Hiring for Japan market.
 Partner with International Hospitality Colleges, streamlined the application process for international students.
 Assess cultural fit and adaptability for international roles, relocation support.

Hospitality hiringSales hiringCultural fit assessmentTalent AcquisitionInternational Recruitment

Big bazaar - future retail

Assistant Manager Human Resources

Nov 2012 – Apr 2015 · 2 yrs 5 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Retail Hiring
 Led a team of 7 for the end-to-end hiring of multiple retail stores across NCR.
 Utilized ATS data to improve conversion rate of online hiring for 10 pre-opening stores (50k+ candidates evaluated to hire all organic) by
80%.

Retail hiringTeam leadershipATS data utilizationTalent AcquisitionTeam Management