Ian Chaplin

Vice President, Talent

Neara

Jan 2026 - Current (8 months)

I have joined Neara to build and scale the business across all global geographies. Leading a globally distributed team, we are building a category defining business in the physics enabled digital twin space. Backed by industry leading investors, we are primed to be the next Aussie tech success story.

Director, Talent and Enablement

UpGuard

Jan 2025 - Dec 2025 (1 year)

I am responsible for building and scaling the global talent engine that powers UpGuard's growth. I lead the strategic direction and operational execution of Talent Acquisition and new hire Onboarding & Enablement worldwide. My focus is on creating scalable systems and impactful programs that not only attract top-tier talent but also ensure they are developed, engaged, and poised for long-term success within the organization. Key Achievements & Responsibilities: Global Talent Acquisition & Strategic Scaling: -Lead and mentor a high-performing global Talent Acquisition team responsible for scaling all Executive, GTM (Sales, Marketing, Customer Success), G&A and Technical (Engineering, Product, Design) functions across our global footprint,

Global Head of Talent Acquisition

UpGuard

Aug 2023 - Feb 2025 (1 year 7 months)

UpGuard’s mission is to protect the world’s data. We obsessively seek out elegant, robust ways to enable our customers to find, acknowledge, and remediate cyber risk. With UpGuard, organizations leverage our security expertise and software to automate what was once laborious, spreadsheet-driven processes–whether it's monitoring the attack surface of hundreds of vendors or assessing the security of their own infrastructure. UpGuard is used by some of the world’s largest, fastest-growing, and most innovative companies. Our mission is to protect the world's data. I lead our Global Talent Acquisition team and am responsible for driving growth across our global footprint.

Talent Experience Manager - Global Talent Partnering

Xero

Nov 2021 - May 2023 (1 year 7 months)

Leading a global team of Talent Business Partners, we define and execute talent acquisition strategy across all global hiring at Xero, both Technical and Non-Technical. My team and I focus on: -Headcount planning, prioritisation, budgeting and phasing -Process optimisation -Hiring team enablement -Hiring metrics and analysis (Monthly/Quarterly Business Reviews) -Delivery of all hiring within their portfolios (1600+ gross hires p/year) -Supporting Talent Specialists and Talent Experience Managers with capacity planning and prioritisation of hires -Working with Finance and People teams to support each portfolio Executive General Manager with their team growth, Diversity & Inclusion and scaling their talent brand My focus also includes:

Talent Experience Manager - UK & EMEA

Xero

Oct 2020 - Nov 2021 (1 year 2 months)

I led the expansion of the Xero business across the UK & EMEA region. Partnering with local and global executives, to plan and execute headcount growth and mature hiring practices across UK & EMEA. Key achievements: -Increased team size by 100% establishing a technical recruiting team -Increased speed of hire (53 days -> 31 days to offer accept) -Improved offer acceptance rate to 97% -356% increase in hires made (YoY) -Achieved Hiring Manager Satisfaction scores of 4.8/5 -Achieved Candidate Satisfaction scores of 4.8/5 -Matured relationship between Talent team and key teams (Finance, Legal, Executive, Compensation, HR) -Led strategic enablement initiatives to increase employer brand awareness, operational efficiency, building diverse tal

Qualified Mental Health First Aider

Mental Health First Aid MHFA England

Jul 2020

As a qualified Mental Health First Aider, I am able to identify, understand and help someone who may be experiencing a mental health issue. I am here to listen, reassure and respond in particular mental health scenarios, and even potentially stop a crisis from happening. I am able to recognise the warning signs of mental ill health and develop a holistic approach to assist and empower someone to access the support they might need to aid recovery and successful management of symptoms.

Managing Director - Talent Operations

Alinea

Nov 2019 - Sep 2020 (11 months)

I joined Alinea to build the maturity of their operations and product, helping the Founder execute their vision. I utilised my global experience to build the customer lifecycle from end-to-end, covering workforce planning right through to onboarding. I established, up-skilled and led their Talent Engagement teams (sourcing) and Partnership Management teams (client management). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the customer base diminished on an unprecedented scale and so we had to close the business in Sept 2020. Key responsibilities: -Own all project delivery and operating model design -Manage all people, financial and operational aspects of the business -Support full rebrand and asset creation -Work with start-ups to help scale their teams

Managing Partner, APAC

Elements Talent Consultancy

Sep 2018 - Nov 2019 (1 year 3 months)

Responsible for leading the Elements business across Sweden, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, managing globally dispersed teams across each region. I worked closely with fast-growth tech start-ups and scale-ups (TikTok, Beam, Zalora and SiteMinder) as well as established organisations (Petronas, Astro and Royal Bank of Canada) to build world-class TA processes and hire at scale. We are Elements, the pioneers of Embedded Talent Consultancy. We built the model around our very first embedded partners: Spotify and Atlassian. We knew that the traditional, transactional dynamic of the hiring world served neither party well. So we created something entirely different. Focusing on the transformative impact of effective collaboration, we wor

Senior Talent Acquisition Manager, Asia Pacific

Zendesk

Nov 2015 - Sep 2018 (2 years 11 months)

Leading the growth of the Zendesk business across the Asia Pacific region in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Philippines and India. Partnering with global C-Suite, Regional VP's and our Global Director of Talent Acquisition, to plan and execute headcount growth and geographical expansion across APAC. Key achievements: -Scaled APAC region from 150-700 in 3 years -90% direct hire vs external spend -Achieved lowest cost-per-hire across the global TA team -Re-invented our sourcing strategy building talent communities -Built regional TA team from 1-8 across 3 countries -Player-coach supported end-to-end hiring across 7 countries -Built scalable TA processes for each country and team (tech and non-tech) -Built multiple e

Executive Search

MitchelLake Group

Jul 2014 - Nov 2015 (1 year 5 months)

I partnered with global tech scale-ups (Square, Snapchat, Pandora, Mimecast) and Australian Start-ups (RedBubble, Envato, BellaBox) to deliver strategic hires focused on global expansion and delivering growth. I led global executive search projects hiring regional leadership and built new product teams for start-up businesses in Australia. Typical areas of focus would include: -Digital Transformation/Strategy -Country Management/VP -Online Marketing -Customer Acquisition I also held responsibility for internal systems and platforms to ensure our processes and candidate journey were optimised and best-in-class. I would monitor data integrity and produce reporting for the C-Suite. I implemented Agile working globally across the busines

Digital Marketing Recruiter

Hays

Jun 2013 - Jul 2014 (1 year 2 months)

I established a Digital Marketing recruitment offering catering to 'born digital' and 'going digital' companies in Melbourne. Built a thriving community of top-tier digital talent, connecting businesses with experts across: o PPC, SEM, and SEO o UX and Digital Strategy o Project Management o Marketing and eCommerce functions Beyond talent acquisition, I played a key role in internal systems optimization, ensuring operational excellence: o Led onboarding training for all consultants as the Internal Systems Expert, equipping them with best practices. o Pioneered continuous improvement initiatives, enhancing data integrity, system optimization, and data cleansing. o Collaborated with national systems teams to drive improvements at both loca

Talent Acquisition @ Financial Ombudsman Service

Randstad

Feb 2012 - Jun 2013 (1 year 5 months)

Played a pivotal role in delivering a large-scale Master Vendor engagement with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in London, successfully hiring 1,400+ professionals within 18 months across graduate, contractor, and experienced hires. Key Achievements: o Led high-volume graduate hiring, filling 800 permanent positions in 8 months (personally hiring 350). o Managed a contractor workforce of 450+, optimizing resourcing strategies for operational efficiency. o Partnered with hiring managers and HR to refine best practices, resource planning, and scalable recruitment processes. Beyond direct recruitment, I led the implementation of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), overseeing user acceptance testing to ensure alignment with vendor requ

Finance and Accounting Recruiter

Reed

Jan 2010 - Feb 2012 (2 years 2 months)

I focused on supporting businesses across South Wales with hiring Accountancy and Finance staff. I delivered bespoke recruitment solutions to wide of global blue-chip and SME businesses across South Wales. I became a domain specialist in finance and accountancy to build my reputation and credibility in the market.

Senior Manager, Talent and Operations

Inventive Leisure

Jan 2007 - Jan 2010 (3 years 1 month)

Senior Leadership role working within the company’s flagship site in Cardiff with annual sales volumes in excess of £5.5m. Delivered double-digit growth year on year. Winners of Business of the Year and South West Regional Business of the Year 2009. Owning P&L activities of the site supporting the General Manager with ensuring consistent revenue growth and favourable operating margin. -Lead operational efficiency projects to maximise revenue and customer experience -Managing a team of over 100 staff in both an operational and strategic capacity -Lead Recruitment and People Operations -Managed Payroll for full-time and casual staff

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