Hiring the first fifty people for a captive technology centre in India

A global product company has approved a technology centre in Bengaluru. The VP abroad wants fifty engineers within the year, and the newly appointed centre head has a list of nine roles to open on Monday. She has no brand presence in the local market, no recruiter, and a parent whose interview format takes six rounds. The first offer is already late.

Hiring the first fifty is different from hiring the next five hundred. These are the people who decide what the centre becomes. This guide covers how to sequence them, structure the process and keep the pace without lowering the bar.

Opening fifty requisitions together floods a small team of interviewers. Instead, group the roles into waves. The first wave is the leadership layer: engineering managers, a tech lead or two, and one person who will own HR and operations. The second wave is senior engineers who can set standards. The third wave is the broader engineering base, and then early-career hires.

Each wave has a different pitch. Leaders join for scope and mandate. Seniors join to shape architecture. Early career people join for learning and a stable team. Write the pitch per wave before you advertise.

• They do not know the centre, so they ask what happens if the parent closes it.
• They worry that real product decisions stay abroad and local engineers only execute.
• They want to meet the manager they would report to, not only the recruiter.
• They compare the process with firms they already know, including how quickly it moves.
• They look for clarity on career growth and on working hours across time zones.

Answer these in the first call. Have the centre head or a senior engineer speak to every shortlisted candidate for a leader or senior role. Share what the team will own, and be honest about what is still undecided.

1. 1

   Define each role in one page

   State what the person will own in the first year, the skills that matter, and what is nice to have. Agree this with the parent hiring manager before opening the role.

2. 2

   Build one scorecard per role family

   Three to five attributes, each described by what a strong answer looks like. Use it in every interview for that family.

3. 3

   Limit the rounds

   Decide how many interviews each level needs and what each tests. Avoid repeating the same question in three rounds.

4. 4

   Align time zones

   Fix interview windows when parent interviewers are available, and keep a standing weekly slot for panel debriefs.

5. 5

   Decide in a debrief

   All interviewers share ratings, then the owner decides. Write the reason. Do not let decisions drift through email.

6. 6

   Make the offer quickly

   Have pay approval ready before the final round ends. Call the candidate yourself, then send the written offer.

7. 7

   Stay in touch until joining

   Check in during the notice period, and share the joining plan.

A new centre usually combines referrals from the first hires, direct outreach to engineers at relevant firms, specialist recruiters and, later, campus and early-career routes. Direct outreach works only if the pitch is specific. A message saying a global company is hiring in Bengaluru is ignored. A message saying the centre will own a named part of a product, led by a named person, gets answers.

If your in-house capacity is thin, an outsourced recruitment team can run sourcing, screening and scheduling while you keep the decisions. GullyHR's recruitment process outsourcing service works this way: it supports the hiring process and talent acquisition, and the offer decision stays with you. For product companies, see also the notes for product engineering companies.

Role and level being assessed.
Problem solving: how the candidate breaks down an unfamiliar problem.
Technical depth in the stack the role will use.
Design thinking: trade-offs they would raise and why.
Working with others: how they handled disagreement in past teams.
Ownership: an example of finishing something no one asked for.
Interest in this centre and its mandate.
Concerns to probe in the next round.
Overall recommendation and one line of reasoning.

Without a pay history, early offers set a precedent. Build ranges by role and level before the first offer, and decide who can go beyond the range. Candidates from established firms often ask about variable pay and parent company equity. Know in advance what you can and cannot say, and get the parent to confirm in writing.

Offers should explain the whole package in plain words and show the joining date, reporting line and first-month plan. Candidates with other offers often choose the one that feels more certain.

Pressure from abroad to hit numbers is the main risk. A centre that fills fifty seats with an uneven bar spends the second year managing out the wrong people. Agree with the parent that the plan is a target, and that a role may stay open when the right person is not found. Track quality by looking at who passes probation and how the first managers rate them.

People join the centre, and then they need a place to work, a manager who knows them and a clear first month. Read the companion guide on setting up HR for a new India delivery centre for the basics to have ready before the first joiner.

• Open roles by wave, with the owner of each.
• Candidates at each stage and how long they have waited.
• Offers made, accepted, declined and the stated reasons.
• Interviewer load, so a few seniors do not carry every round.
• Joiners expected next month and their readiness.

A short weekly review with the centre head, the recruiter and the parent hiring manager keeps the plan honest. Share declined offer reasons with the parent, because they show what the market thinks of the pitch.