Founding Recruiter & Talent Leader

ELENA DOUDOUKALOVA

Founding Recruiter Head of Talent Talent & People Leader

San Mateo, CA LinkedIn Email Phone

SUMMARY

Founding Recruiter and Talent Leader with 18+ years of experience building recruiting functions and scaling venture-backed companies from early-stage startups to global organizations. Expertise hiring executive, technical, product, AI/ML, GTM, and operations talent across SaaS, AI, FinTech, Healthcare, Web3, and marketplace businesses. Proven track record scaling organizations from fewer than 20 employees to more than 250 globally, building recruiting infrastructure from scratch, and partnering directly with founders and executive teams to drive hypergrowth. Experienced across Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, M&A, and international expansion.

HIGHLIGHTS

● Built recruiting and people functions from zero at multiple venture-backed startups

● Scaled Insightly from ~20 employees to 250+ globally

● Delivered 100+ hires in a single year

● Hired executive leadership, engineering, AI/ML, product, design, sales, marketing, customer success, and G&A teams

● Built recruiting operations, interview frameworks, compensation bands, and talent programs

● Global hiring across North America, EMEA, and APAC

● Deep expertise sourcing and closing passive talent in competitive markets NEXUS LABORATORIES

Global Talent Acquisition Lead Nov 2024 – Present Partner directly with founders and executive leadership to scale a venture-backed AI/Web3 company.

● Own end-to-end recruiting across GTM, Product, Design, Marketing, Community, Operations, and Technical functions

● Built hiring processes, interview scorecards, and recruiting infrastructure

● Led searches for Regional Marketing Directors, Product Marketing, Community Leadership, Design, Recruiters, Sourcers, and executive hires

● Developed global talent pipelines across North America, Europe, APAC, Korea, Japan, and LATAM

● Introduced recruiting analytics and workforce planning processes FRACTIONAL HEAD OF TALENT & PEOPLE

OPERATIONS

Independent Consultant 2016 – Present

Advise startups ranging from Seed to Series C.

Clients include:

● GoFundMe

● Sprouts.ai

● Blanc.ai

● Blujin

● Solution Community

● Multiple AI, SaaS, FinTech, and Healthcare startups

● Built recruiting functions from scratch

● Led executive searches and strategic hiring initiatives

● Designed interview processes and talent acquisition strategies

● Implemented ATS and recruiting operations infrastructure INSIGHTLY (UNBOUNCE)

SVP, PEOPLE OPERATIONS 2021 – 2023

● Led global Talent Acquisition and People Operations

● Scaled teams across Engineering, Product, Sales, Marketing, and G&A

● Built leadership development, performance management, and succession planning programs

● Drove global workforce planning and organizational design VP, GLOBAL PEOPLE OPERATIONS 2014 – 2021

● Scaled company from approximately 20 employees to over 250 globally

● Delivered 101 hires in 2017 while maintaining quality and retention metrics

● Built recruiting team, employer brand, university recruiting, and DEI initiatives

● Reduced time-to-fill by 30% and improved retention by 20% FIELDWIRE (A HILTI COMPANY)

Head of HR Oct 2023 – Mar 2024

● Led HR and Talent strategy for a global construction technology company

● Partnered with executives on workforce planning, organizational design, and talent acquisition

EARLIER EXPERIENCE

Meta

Technical Recruiting

Zynga

Technical Recruiting

CERTIFICATIONS

● SPHR

● SHRM-CP

● PHRca

Contact this candidate