Pradeep (K) Raju
Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition
Experience
Sep 2024 - Present
11 months Austin, United States
Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition
VonExpy Softech LLC
- Developed and implemented a holistic talent acquisition strategy aligned with company goals to scale from 65 to 140 employees in 8 months.
- Partnered closely with C-suite leaders and department heads to forecast hiring needs, develop requisition plans, and align on candidate personas and success profiles.
- Designed and rolled out a structured recruitment process encompassing job description refinement, screening templates, structured interviews, and scorecard-based selection.
- Launched a unified applicant tracking system and CRM integration with automation capabilities, which increased recruiter productivity by 40% and improved compliance.
- Instituted AI-powered resume screening and candidate-matching tools that improved candidate-role fit by 63%, dramatically reducing mis-hires.
- Collaborated with marketing to develop and amplify the company’s Employer Value Proposition (EVP), resulting in a 52% increase in application-to-interview conversions.
- Built a centralized talent metrics dashboard tracking time-to-fill, source effectiveness, diversity mix, and recruiter load balance, enabling data-backed optimization.
- Created a referral incentive framework and internal mobility program that reduced external hiring costs and filled 25% of roles internally.
- Organized participation in job fairs, virtual hiring events, and industry forums to increase candidate pipeline and enhance employer presence.
- Reduced time-to-fill from 62 days to 34 days through strategic sourcing and candidate pipeline initiatives.
- Achieved a 92% offer acceptance rate through personalized candidate engagement and optimized compensation strategies.
- Lowered cost-per-hire by 42% through channel optimization and in-house sourcing tactics.
Apr 2016 - May 2024
8 years 2 months India
Manager, Talent Acquisition
OpenText Technologies
- Led a 12-member global recruitment team operating across India and North America, supporting hiring for engineering, G&A, sales, and product teams.
- Partnered with functional leaders and HRBPs to identify future talent needs and translate workforce plans into scalable sourcing strategies.
- Conducted structured hiring manager intake sessions to clarify expectations, define selection criteria, and build consensus on candidate profiles.
- Launched digital recruitment campaigns, social media advertising, and employer stories that expanded reach and attracted mission-aligned candidates.
- Integrated Workday Recruiting with internal HRIS and onboarding workflows to standardize and scale hiring processes across 5 regions.
- Conducted candidate experience audits and introduced journey touchpoints, increasing satisfaction scores and reducing candidate drop-off.
- Championed diversity hiring initiatives, resulting in a 45% increase in underrepresented talent across leadership and tech functions.
- Created quarterly recruitment performance reports for executive leadership, showcasing pipeline health, funnel conversion, and DEI performance.
- Built a sourcing Center of Excellence, increasing passive candidate engagement by 65%.
- Led talent acquisition integration during 3 major M&A events, ensuring zero disruption in business continuity.
- Designed and scaled a university recruiting program that brought in 150+ early career hires annually.
Dec 2007 - Mar 2016
8 years 4 months India
Senior Executive – Recruitments (IT)
HSBC Global Technologies
- Delivered full-cycle recruitment for 200+ technical and leadership roles annually across development, security, analytics, and infrastructure domains.
- Aligned closely with technology leadership to map skills gaps, build talent pipelines, and conduct capability-based assessments.
- Created and enforced recruitment SLAs, ensuring hiring teams adhered to defined turnaround times, compliance rules, and candidate communication standards.
- Piloted global process improvements across HSBC technology hubs in the UK, India, Hong Kong, and the US to unify candidate experience.
- Implemented digital recruitment workflows and tracking systems that improved compliance reporting and decreased audit errors by 70%.
- Built a centralized talent intelligence repository, housing competitive insights, salary benchmarks, and market heatmaps for decision-making.
- Launched a global referral program which sourced 40% of hires in engineering functions.
- Led campus relationship strategy across top tech institutes, helping establish long-term early talent pipelines.
- Achieved 90% hiring forecast accuracy through workforce modeling and predictive analytics.
Summary
Seasoned and people-centric Talent Acquisition Executive with over 16 years of progressive leadership in end-to-end recruiting strategy, talent branding, and team development across high-growth, tech-driven, and global organizations. Deep expertise in building scalable, inclusive, and metrics-driven recruitment functions that support business transformation, drive workforce planning, and enhance employer branding. Adept at fostering strategic partnerships with hiring managers and stakeholders to develop proactive hiring roadmaps, improve time-to-fill, and ensure a superior candidate experience.
Passionate about evolving recruitment from a transactional process to a strategic talent engine that powers innovation, enhances culture, and delivers long-term business impact. Known for leading with integrity, mentoring global teams, and embedding compliance, analytics, and empathy into every phase of the recruitment lifecycle.
Languages
English
Advanced
Education
Andhra University
Master of Business Administration, Human Resources Management · Human Resources Management · Visakhapatnam, India
Certifications & licenses
Structured Interviewing
Unconscious Bias Mitigation
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