Елена Чигиринова

Partnered with C-level leadership (CEO, CTO, Founders) to build and scale technical teams across three business units (Cloud, AI/ML, SaaS, Infrastructure, Backup, DR, Storage), supporting 300 employees and driving a 3x team expansion in two years.

Executive Search & Senior Hiring
Delivered 240+ senior IT hires and 40+ leadership placements (including CTO, CPO, Head of ML/DS, Head of Cloud, Head of Infrastructure, Principal Engineers, Solution Architects) in 2 years, closing hard-to-fill, niche roles in highly competitive markets (Russia, EMEA, US).
Reduced executive time-to-hire to 35–60 days (vs. industry average of 90 days) and senior IT time-to-hire to 25–45 days through proactive market mapping, AI-powered sourcing, and CRM-based talent pipeline management.
Achieved 85%+ offer acceptance rate (rising to 95% for strategic roles) by building trusted relationships with passive candidates, crafting compelling EVPs, and negotiating competitive compensation packages aligned with market benchmarks.
Cut cost per hire by 65% by establishing an in-house executive search function, replacing external agencies with internal talent intelligence, AI-driven sourcing tools, and a proprietary CRM pipeline of 150+ high-potential leaders and 300+ C-level profiles across Russia and EMEA.

Strategic Business Partnership
Acted as strategic advisor to CEO and CTO, integrating HR analytics and data-driven decision-making into quarterly business reviews. Presented insights on time-to-hire, cost per hire, offer acceptance, quality of hire, retention, and talent market trends to inform workforce planning and business strategy.
Supported organizational restructuring to launch new product lines (RuBackup Cloud Backup, BRO Software) and optimize team structure, ensuring transparent communication, minimal disruption, and alignment with business objectives. Successfully onboarded 17 new hires in restructured teams with 100% retention of top management.
Collaborated with business leaders to define success profiles for middle, senior, team lead, and C-level roles in backup, storage, and cloud domains, ensuring alignment between technical requirements and business impact.

Talent Management & Retention
Achieved 92% retention after 12 months and 100% retention of C-level executives through proactive talent management, competitive compensation strategies, and internal development programs.
Reduced voluntary turnover to 8% (vs. industry average of 15–20%) by implementing engagement initiatives, regular 1-on-1s, feedback cycles, and career development planning, resulting in 28 internal promotions in one year.
Supported managers in resolving complex employee issues, improving team dynamics, and driving engagement, achieving a manager satisfaction score of 9/10.

HR Process Design & Optimization
Built the full HR process from scratch, including recruitment, onboarding, performance management (30/60/90-day cycles, 360 reviews), employee development, grading, and retention programs, creating a scalable foundation for rapid growth.
Developed and implemented workforce planning and talent management strategies in partnership with business leaders, resulting in 28 internal promotions and a 92% retention rate after 12 months.
Integrated HR analytics dashboards (Power BI, Yandex DataLens, Jira/Confluence) to track KPIs (time-to-hire, cost per hire, quality of hire, retention, eNPS, internal mobility) and deliver actionable insights to leadership.

Достижения: Key Achievements 3x team scaling: Grew technical teams from ~100 to 300 employees in 2 years 240+ senior IT hires + 40+ leadership placements 65% reduction in cost per hire 92% retention (12-month), 100% C-level retention, 8% voluntary turnover 85%+ offer acceptance rate, 35–60 days executive time-to-hire, 9/10 manager satisfaction 28 internal promotions in one year Technical Coverage & Expertise Infrastructure & Cloud: Head of Infrastructure, Lead/Senior DevOps, SRE, Build Engineering, Cloud Platform Engineers Software Development: Backend (Go, C, JS/TS), Frontend (React, JS/TS), Software Architects, Principal Engineers QA & AQA: QA Lead, AQA Lead/Senior, Team Lead Manual QA, Performance Testing Data, ML & AI: ML Engineer, Data Scientist Product & GTM: Product Managers (Cloud), Solution Architects, Head of Professional Services, Senior Presale Engineers, BDMs Management & Support: Head of Development, Head of Support, PMO / Head of Project Office