Nikitaa Premnath

Head of Talent

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India9 yrs 5 mos experience

Highly Stable

Key Highlights

Over 8 years in talent acquisition.
Built scalable recruitment frameworks for high-growth companies.
Championed diversity hiring initiatives.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Talent Acquisition Specialist in the Tech industry.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Global Talent AcquisitionTechnical RecruitingHr StrategyNiche Talent Acquisition

Other Skills

Contractor ManagementCross-functional Team LeadershipCustomer ServiceDiversity & InclusionEmployer BrandingHiringHuman Resources (HR)IT RecruitmentInterpersonal SkillsLeadershipLinkedIn RecruiterMarket AnalysisMarket MappingMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft PowerPoint

About

With over 8 years of hands-on experience in end-to-end talent acquisition, I've helped high-growth companies like Zeta, HackerEarth, and Swiggy build scalable recruitment frameworks that support ambitious expansion. My early exposure to global HR practices during an internship at the Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh laid a strong foundation for my strategic approach.🚀 Currently leading Talent Acquisition at Freshworks, I focus on crafting impactful hiring strategies, building high-performing teams, and driving recruitment excellence across departments.Passionate about elevating the candidate experience, fostering inclusive workplace cultures, and exploring innovative talent solutions. I’m always open to connecting with fellow professionals and discovering new opportunities in talent acquisition and HR.

Experience

Freshworks

Talent Acquisition Lead

Jun 2025 – Present · 9 mos · India · Hybrid

Zeta

3 roles

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Jul 2024 – Jun 2025 · 11 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · On-site

Led strategic hiring across 3 key business units and supported recruitment for 5, scaling engineering teams through targeted acquisition
Built the U.S. engineering team from scratch, hiring from junior to executive levels
Specialized in tech/product hiring: DevOps/SRE, Data Science/ML, Program Management, UI/UX, Product Design, Backend, Frontend & Solution Architecture
At Zeta, closed high-impact roles including Software Development Managers, Principal Engineers, NOE & Program Managers
Drove senior & mid-senior hiring, contributing to team growth across fast-paced units
Executed multiple hiring drives and developed strategies for priority roles
Skilled in talent mapping & open-web sourcing using LinkedIn, GitHub & other platforms
Experienced with sourcing tools: LinkedIn Recruiter, Instahyre, Naukri, IIMJobs and HRMS platforms: Darwin, Workday, Lever, RecruiterBox
Championed diversity hiring, onboarding four senior leaders from underrepresented backgrounds
Honored with the Outstanding Award for two consecutive years (2022–2023 & 2023–2024)

Global Talent AcquisitionTechnical RecruitingMarket MappingDiversity & InclusionStakeholder ManagementCross-functional Team Leadership

Senior Talent Acquisition

Promoted

Jul 2022 – Jun 2024 · 1 yr 11 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · On-site

Talent Acquisition Associate

Aug 2021 – Jun 2022 · 10 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · On-site

HR StrategyDiversity & InclusionEmployer BrandingGlobal Talent AcquisitionHiringHuman Resources (HR)+6

Hackerearth

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Oct 2020 – Aug 2021 · 10 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · Remote

Built the technical hiring framework for India operations as the sole point of contact, hiring across Backend, Frontend, Full Stack, Engineering Managers, Data Scientists, and SDETs
Handled end-to-end recruitment for lateral hires, consistently closing roles within SLA
Led internship hiring and campus drives, converting 70% of interns to full-time and onboarding 80+ interns in 6 months
Closed niche roles through HackerEarth’s Face Code, tapping into developer communities
Supported LGBTQ+ hiring initiatives in partnership with company leadership
Took on HR responsibilities such as employee engagement and exit interviews during lighter hiring periods

Swiggy

Talent Acquisition

Feb 2019 – Sep 2020 · 1 yr 7 mos · Bangalore · On-site

Proven experience in end-to-end recruitment for engineering teams, driving hiring strategies across Backend and Frontend roles
Consistently met monthly hiring targets, successfully onboarding both seasonal and full-time employees within defined SLAs
Collaborated with vendors and external recruiters for contract staffing, and contributed to organizational development through research and employee pulse surveys
Partnered with business leaders to launch HR initiatives including Diversity Hiring, Virtual Recruiter Enablement, and Employee Referral Programs
Hands-on experience with integrated HRMS platforms such as Darwin and Lever, streamlining recruitment operations and data management

Niche Talent AcquisitionTechnical RecruitingStakeholder ManagementSourcingHR StrategyHiring