Hi, I’m
Katya Bulanova
Tech Recruitment Consultant
Summary
I have 15 years of experience in recruitment and 8 years in leadership roles. I built a recruitment function from scratch and scaled the team to 50 people, working across different markets and business contexts: from early-stage startups and greenfield projects to scalable product companies and enterprise environments.
I bring a broad technical understanding: I've hired for roles ranging from low-level engineers to C-level leaders, as well as product, data and AI/ML positions. I quickly dive into new domains: e-commerce, fintech, biotech, SaaS and understand how hiring needs change depending on the business model.
My focus is on results and predictable hiring: clear processes, transparent funnels, aligned expectations and steady communication with stakeholders. As a leader, I rely on analytics, clarity and respectful collaboration. Even in complex or unstable conditions, I keep the team focused and maintain operational stability.
Overview
15
years of professional experience
Work History
ToughbyteHelsinki
Recruitment Director
10.2015 - 12.2025
Job overview
- Built the recruitment function from scratch and scaled the team to 50 people.
- Scaled hiring operations across seven European markets (Finland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Spain, Estonia, Norway).
- Increased annual placement volume by 34% at peak by focusing the team on priority markets.
- Improved recruiter productivity by 35-39% (offers and hires per recruiter) through continuous training and adjustments to daily workflows.
- Reduced average time-to-fill by 61% by removing bottlenecks in the funnel, automating routine steps and strengthening communication with stakeholders.
- Achieved a 96% candidate satisfaction score (eNPS) by designing a transparent communication framework.
- Built an onboarding and training system that helped recruiters ramp up faster and deliver consistently.
- Acted as an internal customer for the company's ATS: defined recruitment requirements and initiated automation of routine tasks.
- Introduced transparent KPIs covering speed, workload, and communication quality.
- Maintained stable delivery during periods of rapid growth and later contraction.
- International recruitment platform supporting startups, product companies and engineering teams across Europe.
- Managing a distributed team of recruiters and team leads.
- Building full-cycle hiring processes for engineering, product, data and leadership roles.
- Developing sourcing strategies for hard-to-fill technical positions.
- Training recruiters in sourcing, interviewing, evaluation and analytical skills.
- Working with the product team on ATS development and automation.
- Managing metrics, workload planning and quality control.
- Partnering with stakeholders to align requirements, timelines and priorities.
- Adjusting processes and workload distribution during market and structural changes.
- Developed and implemented recruitment strategies to attract top talent across diverse sectors.
- Streamlined candidate screening processes, enhancing efficiency and reducing time-to-hire.
- Analyzed hiring metrics to identify trends and inform strategic decision-making.
Innovative PeopleMoscow
IT Recruitment Consultant
06.2011 - 10.2015
Job overview
- Worked with enterprise clients in finance and IT, delivering full-cycle recruitment for technical and management roles.
- Full-cycle recruitment: sourcing, screening, interviewing, process coordination and offer management.
- Hiring across diverse technical stacks: Java, JavaScript, C++, SAS, ABAP, DB, mobile, analytics, architecture, PM roles, C-level.
- Headhunting and targeted search for senior and niche specialists.
- Collaborating with client stakeholders to define role requirements and hiring strategies.
- Mentoring junior recruiters on sourcing methods and candidate communication.
- IT recruitment consultancy focused on hiring technical and management roles for large Russian companies.
Education
Russian New University
Psychology
01.2013
University Overview
Moscow State Linguistic University
Pedagogy from Psychology
01.2011
University Overview
Skills
- Tech recruitment
- Team leadership
- Hiring strategy
- Recruitment process design
- KPI systems
- Performance management
- Onboarding & training
- Mentoring recruiters
- Stakeholder management
- International hiring
- Boolean search
- X-ray sourcing
- Advanced sourcing techniques
- ATS requirements & workflow design
- Recruitment automation
- Market mapping
- Process optimization
- Change management
- Collaboration with product teams
- Cross-functional communication
Websites
Additional Information - Languages
Additional Information - Languages
- Russian, native
- English, C1
- German, B1
Position
Position
Head of RecruitmentPersonal Information
Personal Information
Title: Head of RecruitmentTimeline
Recruitment Director
Toughbyte
10.2015 - 12.2025
IT Recruitment Consultant
Innovative People
06.2011 - 10.2015
Russian New University
Psychology
Moscow State Linguistic University
Pedagogy from Psychology