SMARANIKA BARAL
Bangalore
Summary
Strategic Talent Acquisition Specialist with 10+ years of experience driving full-cycle recruitment across non-IT and technical domains, including engineering, manufacturing, and global shared services. Proven expertise in managing high-volume hiring, niche talent mapping, and end-to-end recruitment strategies aligned with organizational goals. Adept at partnering with HRBPs and business leaders to develop proactive hiring plans, build robust talent pipelines, and deliver impactful employer branding initiatives. Skilled in direct sourcing using Boolean methodologies, ATS optimization (Workday, SAP, Taleo), and advanced Excel reporting (VLOOKUP, dashboards). Known for delivering inclusive, data-driven hiring outcomes and fostering long-term stakeholder relationships in fast-paced, matrixed environments.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Talent Acquisition Partner
ABB
04.2023 - Current
- Led end-to-end talent acquisition for global GBS roles, collaborating with HRBPs and business leaders to align recruitment strategy with workforce planning and organizational goals.
- Executed full-cycle recruitment processes including strategy creation, sourcing, interview coordination, and offer negotiation for senior-level and niche roles across industries.
- Specialized in non-IT and technical recruitment for positions such as Solution Architects, Data Scientists, Web Developers, and SAP Functional Consultants.
- Developed creative sourcing strategies using Boolean search, LinkedIn, and internal databases to build proactive pipelines of diverse and qualified candidates.
- Built strong employer branding through partnerships with diversity initiatives, university collaborations, and inclusion campaigns to enhance candidate engagement.
- Managed and mentored cross-functional recruitment teams, ensuring delivery excellence, adherence to SLAs, and continuous process improvement.
- Produced real-time hiring dashboards and reports using Excel tools like VLOOKUP, Pivot Tables, and metrics tracking to support data-driven decision-making.
- Optimized recruitment workflows via ATS platforms like Workday, SAP, and Taleo to ensure compliance, candidate experience, and stakeholder transparency.
- Strong stakeholder engagement and client relationship management, working closely with hiring managers and senior leadership to ensure role alignment and quality of hires.
- Handled compensation benchmarking and offer negotiations, maintaining a balance between business goals and candidate expectations to improve joining ratios.
- Supported high-volume and leadership hiring, adapting sourcing models to suit project-based or critical hiring requirements with short turnaround times.
- Fluent in English and proficient in candidate communication, fostering a positive and transparent recruitment experience throughout all stages of hiring.
Talent Acquisition Lead
Harman International
03.2023 - 12.2023
- Led end-to-end recruitment for digital and technical roles including Java Full Stack, Big Data, Web Development, and DevOps across multiple industries such as Healthcare, BFSI, Hospitality, and IT Services.
- Managed RPO operations and supervised a 4-member team, ensuring efficient daily sourcing, talent delivery, and consistent achievement of hiring targets across diverse business units.
- Oversaw vendor relationships with Tier 1 and Tier 2 partners, driving performance improvements through structured scorecard reviews, feedback loops, and alignment with business-specific hiring strategies.
- Collaborated with senior stakeholders and delivery managers to forecast talent needs, align recruitment roadmaps, and provide actionable market intelligence, ensuring a proactive and agile hiring function.
Executive-Talent acquisition
Cognizant Technology Solutions
07.2020 - 11.2020
- Managed end-to-end technical recruitment for BFSI, Healthcare, and Life Sciences verticals, hiring across levels from lateral to Senior Manager, Analyst, and Architect for both full-time and contract roles.
- Led hiring initiatives for Cognizant's CIS infrastructure and Digital practices, covering roles in QEA, Data Engineering, Angular, React, Node.js, and DevOps, in alignment with multiple stakeholder groups.
- Executed the full recruitment lifecycle, from requirement gathering and candidate sourcing to onboarding, maintaining close collaboration with hiring managers to ensure timely and quality hires.
- Owned the complete offer management process, including approvals, salary negotiations, offer rollouts, background checks, and post-offer engagement to improve joining success rate.
- Delivered strategic recruitment insights and maintained detailed hiring dashboards, enabling proactive talent pipeline building and alignment of hiring strategies with evolving business demands.
Sr. IT Specialist-Talent acquisition
Legato Heath Technologies
12.2020 - 09.2020
- Spearhead full-time hiring for Data Tower roles including Big Data, ETL, Data Science, and DevOps, collaborating with delivery partners to meet project demands and SLAs.
- Manage internal vendor coordination for volume hiring, while contributing to recruitment strategy, drive planning, and overall resource fulfillment initiatives.
Resource Executive - Talent Acquisition
Vati Technology Pvt. Ltd
10.2014 - 01.2014
- Well-versed in the full recruitment lifecycle, managing sourcing, screening, interview coordination, offer rollout, and onboarding across mid to senior-level technical roles.
- Recruited for diverse positions including .NET, Java Developers, Test Leads, and Oracle Functional Leads, leveraging platforms like Naukri and LinkedIn to attract top talent.
Education
PGDM - HRDM, MARKETING
Institute of Management and Information Science
01.2012
Bachelor's - business administration (BBA)
Academy of Management and Information Technology
01.2010
Skills
- Recruitment Strategies
- Background verification
- Offer Generation
- Competency mapping
- Collaborating with hiring manager
- Candidate assessment
- Employee onboarding
- Compensation negotiation
- Client engagement and metrics analysis
- Salary and benefits negotiations
- Recruitment scalability
- Collaborative team formation
- Learning & Innovation
- Strategic vendor engagement
- Data analysis skills
- Skill development management
- SLA optimization and analysis
- Applicant tracking systems
- Professional mentoring
- Workforce planning
- Team leadership
- Stakeholder management
- Diversity and inclusion
Timeline
Senior Talent Acquisition Partner
ABB
04.2023 - Current
Talent Acquisition Lead
Harman International
03.2023 - 12.2023
Sr. IT Specialist-Talent acquisition
Legato Heath Technologies
12.2020 - 09.2020
Executive-Talent acquisition
Cognizant Technology Solutions
07.2020 - 11.2020
Resource Executive - Talent Acquisition
Vati Technology Pvt. Ltd
10.2014 - 01.2014
Bachelor's - business administration (BBA)
Academy of Management and Information Technology
PGDM - HRDM, MARKETING
Institute of Management and Information Science
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