Talent Acquisition Lead

About SARAS AI Institute

SARAS AI Institute is an AI-exclusive, fully online, degree-granting institution. Our programs run from foundation certificates through MS degrees, for learners in 20+ countries. We started in 2023 with a small first cohort. Today we have thousands of learners, and our mission is to change 1 million lives with AI education by 2030.

The role

We are looking for a hands-on hiring closer, not an HR generalist. Your job is to get the right people into SARAS, fast. You will own talent acquisition end to end, from the hiring brief to the day the person joins.

You will understand the business before the brief arrives. You will push back on vague briefs and unrealistic asks, with market data to back it up. You will be measured on hires closed, quality of hire and speed. Activity doesn't count.

Routine HR (attendance, leave, performance cycles) runs on our HRMS. This role is 100% hiring.

What you'll own

Hiring delivery

• Close critical and niche roles across academics and faculty, technology, sales, marketing and student success.
• Run the full cycle yourself: briefing, sourcing, screening, assessment, closing and offer negotiation.
• Agree hiring SLAs with every business leader and hold both sides to them.

Sourcing

• Build a steady pipeline through direct sourcing, referrals, LinkedIn, communities and campus channels before defaulting to agencies.
• Build networks for academic and faculty talent, including PhD and industry-practitioner faculty.
• Support hiring for international roles as SARAS grows beyond India.

Partners, tools and data

• Manage recruitment partners on cost, speed and quality.
• Run the ATS and use AI tools to source, screen and schedule faster.
• Track and report time-to-hire, offer-acceptance rate, source mix and cost per hire.

Candidate experience and employer brand

• Make sure every candidate, hired or not, has a fast, clear and respectful experience.
• Help position SARAS as a place serious talent wants to join.
• Hand new hires over to a smooth onboarding.

What success looks like

• First 60 days: Open critical roles closed or in the final stage. Hiring SLAs agreed with every leader. Pipeline visible on one dashboard.
• 4 months: Predictable hiring. Time-to-hire down, offer-acceptance up, agency spend reduced.
• 6 months: Leaders see TA as the reason they can scale. A bench of warm talent is ready for upcoming roles.

Who we're looking for

Must have

• 8–10 years in talent acquisition, with at least 2 years owning hiring for a business or function end to end.
• A proven record of closing senior and niche hires at pace. Be ready to walk us through specific closures.
• Experience in edtech, higher education, tech or startups.
• Strong direct-sourcing skills. You find people, you don't just post jobs.
• Strong data habits. You run hiring on metrics, not anecdotes.

Good to have

• Experience hiring for international roles.
• Experience setting up or scaling TA in an early-stage company.
• MBA/PGDM in HR or equivalent.

How you work

• You own outcomes. You don't wait for instructions.
• You are a closer. You can sell the role, the mission and the stage of the company.
• You have the confidence to challenge hiring managers.
• You move fast, stay hands-on and are comfortable with ambiguity.
• You use AI and modern recruiting tech to work faster.

Why join

• Own hiring for a global, AI-first institution at an early, high-growth stage.
• Work directly with the founding team, with real influence on who builds SARAS.
• Grow the TA function as hiring volume grows.
• Be part of a mission to change 1 million lives with AI education by 2030.

How to apply

• The CTC for this role is capped at 15 lakh per annum, including both fixed and variable pay. Please apply only if your expectations sit within this range.