Meenaz Syed

Strategic Talent Acquisition Leader with 15+ years' experience driving recruitment excellence across MEA. Proven track record in shaping candidate experiences, executive hiring, and embedding EVP strategies into recruitment. Adept at candidate journey mapping, analysing cNPS and recruitment metrics, and partnering with business leaders to optimise digital sourcing and onboarding processes.

Skilled in employer branding, recruiter enablement, and implementing data-driven improvements aligned with global best practices. Extensively working on AI initiatives within Recruitment function since 2024.

Principal Talent Advisor at Oracle Middle East (2017-07 – 2020-10)

• Expert in Apps, Tech, Sales, Consulting, Support and Corporate functions recruiting – 100+ hires annually in the last 8 years
• Executive hiring for Sr. Directors & VPs across MEA, enhancing the candidate journey and employer brand.
• Job Description standardization template – Implementation & Change management
• Competency toolkit for every role
• Hiring manager trainings to increase adaptation of recruiting tools.
• Improve usage of LinkedIn recruiter and ATS in all recruitment teams
• Partnered with leadership to forecast talent needs and implemented sourcing strategies aligned with EVP.
• Monitored candidate feedback and process drop-offs, implementing improvements to strengthen candidate experience.
• Lead a HM CSAT improvement project to improve CSAT from 69 to 88
• Leveraged CRM tools, LinkedIn Recruiter, and referrals to deliver high-quality candidate pipelines.
• Conducted market mapping and talent insights reporting, supporting data-driven hiring decisions.

Principal Talent Advisor at Oracle Middle East (2021-06 – Present)

• Expert in Apps, Tech, Sales, Consulting, Support and Corporate functions recruiting – 100+ hires annually in the last 8 years
• Executive hiring for Sr. Directors & VPs across MEA, enhancing the candidate journey and employer brand.
• Job Description standardization template – Implementation & Change management
• Competency toolkit for every role
• Hiring manager trainings to increase adaptation of recruiting tools.
• Improve usage of LinkedIn recruiter and ATS in all recruitment teams
• Partnered with leadership to forecast talent needs and implemented sourcing strategies aligned with EVP.
• Monitored candidate feedback and process drop-offs, implementing improvements to strengthen candidate experience.
• Lead a HM CSAT improvement project to improve CSAT from 69 to 88
• Leveraged CRM tools, LinkedIn Recruiter, and referrals to deliver high-quality candidate pipelines.
• Conducted market mapping and talent insights reporting, supporting data-driven hiring decisions.

Sr. Talent Partner at Injazat (G42 company) (2020-12 – 2021-06)

• Led recruitment digitization projects: chatbot launch, sourcing tool 'Sniper' for AI Sourcing.
• Worked on Agile project to customize and implement Oracle Taleo
• Worked on Candidate CST improvement in recruitment, ensuring inclusive and seamless candidate touchpoints from first contact to 3 months after onboarding.
• Built a job description repository and introduced structured assessment frameworks.

Associate Manager – Corporate Functions at Accenture Middle East & India (2011-07 – 2016-12)

• Lead a team of 6 recruiters across UAE, Saudi and India
• Managed recruitment across IT and digital roles in Middle East, ensuring candidate experience excellence.
• Trained and coached recruiters on sourcing tools and personalized engagement strategies.
• Partnered with leadership to deliver recruitment reports, market insights, and actionable recommendations.
• Reduced Agency hires from 19% to 5%
• Managed stakeholders and provided bi-weekly reports and conducted MBRs.

Deputy Manager – Shared Services at IBM GPS (2005-06 – 2011-07)

(on contract for the first 6 months)

• Implemented employee referral program 'SAMPARK', improving sourcing efficiency.
• Conducted recruiter calibration sessions to enhance candidate interactions and selection consistency.
• Delivered Six Sigma Green Belt project – improved Candidate Satisfaction from 51% to 76%.
• Lead Soft skills trainings for new joiners and Customer Service staff

Communications Trainer at Sutherland Global Services (2004-11 – 2005-04)

Telesales Agent at Imercius Technologies (2003-04 – 2004-11)

MBA in Human Resources – NMIMS, India (2010)