Professional recruitment · India
A recruitment agency for India's professional workforce.
We find, assess and deliver the people who run your functions — from the first executive on a desk to the head of the business.
About us
Who we areMeritscape is a professional recruitment agency. We hire across the white-collar spectrum — junior executives through managers, functional heads and CXOs.
Two kinds of hiring sit under that spectrum, and they are not the same craft. A team of twenty executives has to be filled quickly, consistently and at a sensible cost. A single functional head has to be found, approached discreetly, assessed properly and persuaded to move. We are built to do both, and we run each on its own process rather than forcing one into the shape of the other.
We work the way a good recruitment agency has always worked. We learn the role and the team it sits in before we approach anyone. We go out and find people rather than waiting for applications. We interview every candidate ourselves and send a short list, not a long one. And we stay with the process through the offer, the notice period and the first months on the job — because a hire that doesn't stay isn't a hire.
We are paid when a candidate joins. Until then, the mandate costs you nothing.
Shortlists, not CV floods
A handful of properly assessed profiles against your brief. Your managers should be interviewing, not filtering.
Discreet by default
Senior and confidential mandates are run without your name in the market until you choose to put it there.
Functions we recruit for
What we hire forAcross every function below we hire at all levels — executive, manager, senior manager, functional head and above.
Finance & accounting
Accountants and accounts payable / receivable · Financial analysts and FP&A · Controllers and finance managers · Taxation and statutory compliance · Internal audit and assurance · Treasury · Finance heads and CFOs
Sales, marketing & business development
Inside sales and business development executives · Key account and relationship managers · Area, regional and zonal sales managers · Brand, product and category managers · Marketing and communications · Sales heads, CMOs and CROs
Human resources & administration
HR generalists and business partners · Talent acquisition and recruitment · Payroll, statutory compliance and employee relations · Learning, development and training · Compensation and benefits · Administration and facilities · HR heads and CHROs
Operations, supply chain & projects
Operations executives and managers · Procurement, sourcing and vendor management · Supply chain, planning and logistics management · Quality assurance and process excellence · Project and programme managers · Plant, unit and business heads · COOs
Legal, compliance & risk
Legal counsel and contract managers · Company secretaries · Regulatory and statutory compliance · Risk, governance and internal control · Heads of legal and compliance
Information technology & analytics
Developers, engineers and testers · Infrastructure, networks and support · Business analysts and product roles · Information security · Project and delivery managers · Technology heads and CTOs
Sectors we serve
Two ways we are engaged
How we're engagedProfessional search
Mid-senior, leadership and CXO mandates. We map the market, approach candidates directly, assess them ourselves and reference them before you commit.
Exclusive · Retained · ConfidentialVolume professional hiring
Junior and mid-level positions hired in numbers — a new team, a new office, an expansion or a standing annual intake. Same assessment standard, run to a weekly rhythm across functions and locations.
Teams · Offices · Annual intakeOur process
How we work- 1
Understand the role and the team it sits in
A proper briefing with the hiring manager, not a forwarded job description. We capture the reporting line, what the person owns in their first twelve months, the compensation band and structure, and what has made people succeed or fail in that seat before.
- 2
Map the market and approach candidates directly
We agree a target list of companies and profiles, then work our own network, referrals and direct approach to reach people who are doing the job today — including those who are not looking. Advertising supplements the search; it does not replace it.
- 3
Interview and assess before you see anyone
Every candidate is interviewed by a consultant. We validate the career history, test against the competencies the role actually needs, and establish current compensation, notice period, location and the real reason for a move. You receive a short list with a written note on each person, not a folder of CVs.
- 4
Run the interview process and keep it moving
We coordinate across panels and time zones, brief candidates before each round, and carry honest feedback in both directions. Good professionals are lost to slow processes more often than to better offers, so we hold the timeline as firmly as we hold the brief.
- 5
Manage the offer, the references and the counter-offer
We help structure an offer that will be accepted, complete reference checks before it is released, and prepare the candidate for the resignation conversation and the counter-offer that usually follows it. This is where senior hires are won or lost.
- 6
Stay with them through notice period and joining
Notice periods run to three months and a lot can happen inside them. We stay in contact to the joining date, tell you early if a candidate is wavering, and check in with both sides through the first months on the job.
Where our candidates come from
- Our own network of professionals, built function by function
- Direct approach into a mapped list of target companies
- Referrals from placed candidates and industry contacts
- Candidates we have interviewed on earlier mandates
- Professional job portals and candidate databases
- Alumni networks, industry associations and professional forums
- Business schools and campuses for entry-level intake
- Advertised search, where a mandate calls for it
What you can expect
Working with usOne consultant who knows your business
A named point of contact who understands your structure, your compensation bands and your hiring managers — not a different recruiter every week.
A short list, properly assessed
A handful of candidates against the brief, each interviewed by us, each with a written note on fit, motivation and compensation.
Confidentiality as standard
Your mandate is discussed with candidates only as far as it needs to be, and never with the market. We do not approach employees of the clients we work for.
Honest reading of the market
If a band, a title or a location will not attract the profile you want, we say so at the briefing rather than three months into a search.
Commercial terms
Success fee only| Success fee only | You pay when a candidate joins. No retainer, no registration charge, no upfront payment. |
|---|---|
| Fee agreed in advance | Set in writing before we begin — a percentage of annual CTC, or a flat amount per hire on volume mandates. |
| Positions | A single search or an entire team, at one location or across the country, as the mandate stands. |
| Exclusive and retained work | Contingent, exclusive or retained. Exclusive and retained mandates let us commit dedicated consultants, and their commercials may include a fixed component alongside the fee on joining. |
| Confidentiality | Mandates and candidate information are handled in confidence, under an NDA if you prefer. |
| Invoicing | Raised after the candidate has joined. |
| No cost to the candidate | We never charge a candidate a rupee, at any stage, for any reason. |
Getting started
Send us one roleSend us one role to begin with. Share the job description, the reporting line and the compensation band, and we will come back with a market view, a realistic timeline and our fee for that position, before you commit to anything.
