Virlyn Xiao

Head of Talent

Singapore, Singapore12 yrs 10 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

Led recruitment for McKinsey's fastest-growing practices.
Achieved 3X growth in QuantumBlack analytics team.
Recognized as a top 10% recruiter globally.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic talent acquisition leader in the consulting and technology sectors.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Talent AcquisitionTeam LeadershipData-driven InsightsAssessment ManagementStrategic InfluenceGrowth StrategyEmployer BrandingUniversity RecruitmentTechnical RecruitingSales RecruitmentSourcing Strategy

Other Skills

Assessment ExcellenceBusiness ChineseCampus RecruitmentCandidate EngagementChange ManagementCoachingContent CreationCreative SourcingData AnalysisData AnalyticsDirect SourcingDiversity & InclusionDiversity RecruitmentEmployee EngagementEnd-to-End Recruiting

Experience

12 yrs 10 mos

Total Experience

2 yrs 7 mos

Average Tenure

6 yrs 1 mo

Current Experience

Mckinsey & company

3 roles

Asia Recruiting Leader for Operations Practice and QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

Promoted

Mar 2024 – Present · 2 yrs 3 mos · Singapore

🚀 Driving Talent Attraction Strategies for McKinsey’s Fastest-Growing Practices in Asia
I am privileged to lead the Experienced Hiring Teams for two of McKinsey Asia’s most dynamic and rapidly expanding practices:
🔹 Operations Practice:
As the Asia Leader for McKinsey’s Operations Practice, I oversee a team of 10+ exceptional recruiters. Together, we enable hiring across 5 service lines, 8 career paths, and 12 assets, spanning 6 locations in Asia. Our mission is to connect top talent with opportunities to drive sustainable, inclusive growth at the intersection of strategy, technology, and transformation.
🔹 QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey:
As the Asia Leader for McKinsey’s Center of Excellence in AI and Advanced Analytics, I lead a team of technical recruiters dedicated to hiring world-class Data Scientists and Data Engineers. Together, we help build the talent foundation for QuantumBlack’s cutting-edge work in AI and machine learning.

Talent Attraction StrategiesRecruitingTeam ManagementData-Driven InsightsTalent AcquisitionTeam Leadership

Regional Leadership, Strategy & Operations for McKinsey Asia

Promoted

Mar 2024 – Sep 2025 · 1 yr 6 mos · Singapore

🌏 Advancing Talent Attraction and Assessment Excellence Across Asia
🔹 Driving Global Talent Strategies in Asia:
I lead the adoption and implementation of McKinsey’s global strategic priorities to elevate the Talent Attraction function across Greater China, Southeast Asia, India, Japan, Korea, and Australia.
🔹 Championing Assessment Excellence:
I oversee the performance management of assessment processes within the region, ensuring we uphold McKinsey’s high-quality talent bar. This includes driving consistency, rigor, and innovation in how we assess and select exceptional candidates.
🔹 Leading Regional Implementation of New Initiatives:
I spearhead the rollout of new assessment products, initiatives, and training programs across all Asia offices, enabling our Recruiters and Assessors to stay at the forefront of talent evaluation and development.

Talent StrategiesAssessment ExcellencePerformance ManagementTalent AcquisitionAssessment Management

Talent Attraction Leader - McKinsey Digital Asia

May 2020 – Mar 2024 · 3 yrs 10 mos · Singapore

🚀 Driving Strategy, Operations, and Team Leadership for Asia Tech Recruiting
🔹 Strategic Leadership:
Led the overall strategy and operations for Asia Tech Recruiting, spanning three key technology arms: Build by McKinsey, QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and the Client Tech Capability Network. Oversaw hiring across five technical career paths and nine technical specializations, including Software Engineers, Data Engineers, and Data Scientists.
🔹 Team Leadership:
Managed and coached a high-performing team of 10 professionals (7 recruiters and 3 sourcing specialists), driving impactful recruiting efforts across the region.
📅 May 2020 – March 2023:
🔹 Asia Convenor for Build by McKinsey and QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey:
Led and coached a team of 4 to attract and hire top technical talent across Southeast Asia.
🔹 Scaling QuantumBlack Across the Region:
Successfully launched QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Singapore, achieving a 3X growth in the QuantumBlack analytics team. This included hiring for critical roles such as Data Scientists, Data Engineers, and Machine Learning Engineers to support the practice’s rapid expansion.

StrategyOperationsTeam LeadershipTalent Acquisition

Hubspot

2 roles

Senior Recruiter, Asia

Dec 2019 – May 2020 · 5 mos

Recruiter, Asia

Jan 2018 – Dec 2019 · 1 yr 11 mos

Led end-to-end recruiting across all functions in APAC, including Customer Success, Sales, Support, and Professional Services roles.
Consistently exceeded quarterly hiring targets, averaging 15–20 hires per quarter, and recognized as a top 10% recruiter globally.
Initiated and led the development of the Campus Playbook to enhance university hiring strategies.
Directed Employer Branding initiatives, collaborating with cross-functional teams to create impactful content such as "Facebook Life" campaigns and video job descriptions, significantly boosting HubSpot’s brand awareness in APAC.
Lead Employer Branding initiatives, worked with cross functional teams to produce inbound content such as Facebook Life, Video Job Descriptions to increase HubSpot’s brand awareness in APAC
Championed initiatives and programs to enhance culture and employee experience in the Singapore office, fostering a vibrant and inclusive workplace.

End-to-End RecruitingEmployer BrandingCampus RecruitmentTalent Acquisition

Google

Technical Recruiter - Google Cloud

Jan 2016 – Jan 2018 · 2 yrs · Singapore

Hiring for Google Cloud
Drive external pipeline including online screening, employee referral, passive sourcing and talent mapping to identify top Cloud talents across APAC regions
Specialize in hiring for Sales Engineering roles for South East Asia, Greater China, Korea and India
Provide insights on talent pools and challenges in respective markets to develop innovative ways to identify best talents (E.g Talent mapping, Employee Referrals)
Establish and maintain meaningful relationships with hiring teams and key cross-functional stakeholders, nominated as Partnership Advocate to drive partnership best practices, mentoring team member on partnership challenges
Develop long-term candidate engagement plan to identify and engage top tier candidates for Google, resulted in 2 key leadership hires
Overachieved quarterly OA (Offer Accept) targets and key performance metrics [Q1’2017: 100%, Q2’2017: 133%, Q3’2017: 200%, Q4’2017: 433%]
Successfully hired 27 Googlers into Google Cloud teams in 2017

Talent MappingCandidate EngagementTechnical RecruitingTalent Acquisition

Palo alto networks

Talent Sourcing Specialist

Aug 2015 – Mar 2016 · 7 mos · Singapore

Specialize in sourcing for talents in Network and Security industry across APAC region with special focus on Greater China markets. (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan)
Generated high volume quality pipelines of candidates for high priority requisitions like Sales Director, Technical Sales, Marketing leadership roles through variety of channels (Social Media, Direct Sourcing, Employee Referral)
Successfully mapped Network and Security sales and technical profiles across all cities in China, resulted in 6 successful hires in 2 quarters.
Successfully hired 1 diversity Marketing leadership position

SourcingCandidate EngagementTalent AcquisitionSourcing Strategy

Gartner

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Jan 2013 – Jan 2015 · 2 yrs · Singapore

Supported all hiring activities across Asia
▪ Rated as Exceptional for end of year appraisal – 2014
▪ Best Client Service Award 2014 – Gartner Global Product & Services Recruiting Team
▪ Recognition for best team player 2014 – Gartner Sales Recruiting Team