--- title: 'Director of Talent Acquisition at Instead' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-talent-acquisition-instead-bengaluru-9cty014apmas' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # Director of Talent Acquisition at Instead - **Company:** Instead - **Location:** Bengaluru, India - **Posted:** 2025-10-07 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/instead/jobs/7491201003 ## Job description ## About Instead Instead is where tax work gets done. Our AI agent orchestrates the entirety of how work gets done in tax, from preparation and compliance to filing and advisory. It’s a fundamentally new way of doing tax work, and it’s why top 500 firms, Big Four teams, and enterprise corporate tax departments are choosing Instead. What makes us unique: we hold full government approvals with the IRS, 48 states, and all cities to e-file 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120S, and 1065, with 706, 709, 990, 5500, and 2290 coming for tax year 2026. No one else can offer this, and no one else will for years as it takes that long to pass government approvals. This lets us build product experiences that are simply unmatched in the market. Instead is backed by Conviction, IRIS (the largest tax software provider in the UK), Skylark, and many of our partners and customers. Our team includes leaders from Intuit, Thomson Reuters, Wolters Kluwer, Gusto, PwC, BDO, RSM, and KPMG. The national publication Accounting Today, twice recognized me as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in the Accounting Profession - Ones To Watch”. ## About the role We’re seeking an experienced Director of Talent Acquisition to lead and scale our global recruiting function at Instead. You’ll be responsible for overseeing the entire end-to-end recruiting process—from workforce planning and sourcing strategy through to offer acceptance and onboarding—across all departments and regions. This role leads a growing talent team, currently including two junior recruiters, and will be directly responsible for ensuring we attract, assess, and hire exceptional talent for every position across the organization. You’ll partner closely with executive leadership and department heads in the US and India to build scalable recruiting systems, deliver an outstanding candidate experience, and ensure our hiring goals align with Instead’s rapid growth. This is a high-impact, leadership role based in our Bangalore office, working closely with both India and US teams. ## What you'll do - Lead, manage, and mentor a growing team of recruiters responsible for full-cycle hiring across all departments. - Design and execute a global talent acquisition strategy that supports current and future hiring needs. - Own the end-to-end recruiting process—including sourcing, interviewing, selection, offers, and onboarding. - Partner with hiring managers and executives to define role requirements, success profiles, and hiring plans. - Implement data-driven recruiting processes, ensuring clear metrics on time-to-fill, pipeline health, and quality of hire. - Build and maintain a robust candidate pipeline through proactive sourcing, networking, and partnerships. - Oversee ATS management, recruiting operations, and compliance with global hiring policies and standards. - Champion a world-class candidate experience, ensuring professionalism, transparency, and consistency at every stage. - Drive employer branding initiatives to strengthen Instead’s reputation as a destination for top global talent. - Continuously improve interview processes, scorecards, and recruiter enablement through training and tools. ## What you'll need - 8+ years of experience in talent acquisition or recruiting leadership, preferably in a technology, SaaS or Tax services environment. - Proven experience managing and developing recruiters and building scalable hiring processes. - Strong understanding of end-to-end recruiting across multiple disciplines (engineering, product, tax, marketing, G&A). - Demonstrated ability to partner with senior leadership and hiring managers globally. - Experience with modern recruiting platforms, sourcing tools, and applicant tracking systems (ATS). - Excellent organizational and communication skills with strong attention to detail. - Ability to operate in a fast-paced, high-growth environment while maintaining quality and consistency ## Nice to have - Experience building recruiting operations in a startup or high-growth global company. - Familiarity with AI or tech recruiting and global hiring strategies. - Prior experience scaling teams across India and the US. - Background in employer branding and recruiting analytics. ## Why join us - Lead the global recruiting function for a cutting-edge AI-powered tax technology company. - Build, scale, and shape the future of Instead’s hiring process and talent strategy. - Be part of a collaborative, mission-driven team transforming an entire industry. - Competitive compensation and benefits. - Growth opportunities in leadership, people strategy, and global operations. - Direct impact on company success through hiring the best talent across every function. ## Equal Opportunity Employer - M/F/D/V As a global business, we rely on diversity of culture and thought to deliver on our goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status, or any other protected classification under applicable law. We also make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law. We trust our team with sensitive information, so all candidates who receive and accept employment offers must complete a background check before joining us. ## About Instead ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Instead builds an AI agent that orchestrates end-to-end tax preparation, compliance, filing, and advisory for CPA firms, corporate tax teams, and family offices. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed‑II) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States - **Founded**: 2023 - **Founders**: Not publicly available ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: AI‑powered tax software / financial technology (tax preparation and filing) - **Target customers**: B2B – CPA firms, Big Four teams, enterprise corporate tax departments, family offices, high‑net‑worth individuals, and tax preparers - **Mission or purpose statement**: “Build the AI agent for accountants. We start with tax, the most complex and highest‑stakes service line, and expand into every area where intelligent agents can help professionals deliver more for their clients.” ## Products & Services - **Instead Agent** (SaaS / AI Agent): A dedicated AI agent assigned to each client that handles research, planning, preparation, filing, and defense across all entity types (1040, 1041, 1120, 1120S, 1065). Supports e‑file to IRS and 48 states, document extraction, tax research from 1,500+ sources, and voice interaction. - **Instead Platform** (SaaS): The underlying infrastructure that powers tax workflows, multi‑entity compliance, report generation, workpapers, and tax planning. Includes free tier with unlimited users and entities; paid via credits used only when the agent performs work. - **Tax Research & Planning Tools**: Integrated research engine and strategy memo generation, designed to replace manual offshore prep and seasonal contractors. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed - **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – $15M (Seed‑II) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Conviction, IRIS (largest tax software provider in the UK), Skylark, and several partner/customer firms - **Growth Signals**: - First company in decades to receive IRS approval to e‑file across all five entity types. - Authorized e‑file provider for 140+ government jurisdictions. - SOC 2 Type II certified. - Used by top 500 firms, Big Four teams, and enterprise corporate tax departments. - Expanding to additional form types (706, 709, 990, 5500, 2290) for tax year 2026. ## Competitive Advantages - **Regulatory moat**: Full government approvals from the IRS, 48 states, and all cities for e‑filing – a barrier that takes years for competitors to replicate. - **End‑to‑end AI agent**: One agent that owns the entire tax workflow, from research and planning to preparation, filing, and defense, rather than piecemeal tools. - **Multi‑entity support**: Handles individuals, trusts, partnerships, S‑corps, and C‑corps within a single platform. - **Pricing model**: Free access to the platform; only pay credits when the agent performs work, enabling firms to scale without adding headcount. ## Strategic Focus - **Current priorities**: Deepening the AI agent’s capabilities, expanding e‑file approvals to additional form types, and scaling the platform to serve more CPA firms and corporate tax departments. - **Growth direction**: Moving beyond tax preparation into advisory and strategic work, positioning accountants as “orchestrators” of AI agents. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Mission‑driven, focused on transforming the accounting profession; team includes leaders from Intuit, Thomson Reuters, Wolters Kluwer, Gusto, PwC, BDO, RSM, and KPMG. - **Remote/hybrid policy**: Remote‑friendly with offices in San Francisco, CA (515 Folsom Street). “Work where you do your best work.” - **Notable perks**: - Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents. - Competitive salary, equity, and performance bonuses. - Annual learning budget for conferences, courses, and books. - Generous PTO and flexible schedules. - MacBook Pro, monitor, and equipment provided. - **Engineering culture**: Building an AI‑first product; hiring across platform engineering, software engineering (SF and Bangalore), and product design. ## Sources 1. [instead.com](https://www.instead.com/) 2. [instead.com/resources/careers](https://www.instead.com/resources/careers) 3. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/instead](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/instead) 4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/instead) 5. [linkedin.com/company/tryinstead](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tryinstead) ## Other roles at Instead - [Senior Director of Data Analytics & Business Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-director-of-data-analytics-business-systems-instead-san-francisco-1w6tfmtwnam8) — San Francisco, CA - [Software Engineering Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineering-intern-instead-san-francisco-fdaj4k7njge7) — San Francisco, CA - [Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-instead-san-francisco-8xchcf3kcaf2) — San Francisco, CA - [Tax Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/tax-manager-instead-salt-lake-city-q4vhxs4bv2qp) — Salt Lake City, UT - [Tax Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/tax-manager-instead-san-francisco-5z10g7110a9t) — San Francisco, CA - [Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-instead-san-francisco-8hs5y46hmeyx) — San Francisco, CA - [Engagement Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/engagement-manager-instead-lehi-esxz64f61psh) — Lehi, UT - [Software Engineer (Bangalore)](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-bangalore-instead-bengaluru-m2agqqf3qcye) — Bengaluru, India - [Forms Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/forms-specialist-instead-hyderabad-qj69ab2g1hqa) — Hyderabad, India - [Product Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/product-designer-instead-bengaluru-fdma1zmvnbbb) — Bengaluru, India