Pune Engineering GCC, US Climate Fintech, Series C
0 to 28 engineers in 14 months. 93% retention at 18 months. Pune was the city recommendation, not the default. Leadership-first sequencing before any pod hiring. EOR-to-subsidiary transition without onboarding disruption. Engagement ongoing.
0 to 28 engineers in 14 months.
Pune was the recommendation,
not the default.
A Boston-based Series C climate technology company was building its first India engineering GCC. They had approved headcount, no India entity, no employer brand in India, and no prior India operating experience. Their initial plan was to start on an EOR, hire in Bengaluru, and figure out the rest as they went. Talhive changed the sequence before any search began.
Three decisions that determined
whether the build would succeed.
Pune over Bengaluru
Their stack, Python, Kafka, dbt, cloud-native data infrastructure, had better supply/demand dynamics in Pune. 15–20% lower compensation, materially less competition for mid-senior data and backend engineers, and lower attrition risk for a company without India brand recognition. Bengaluru was the default they came in with. Pune was the recommendation they left with.
Leadership first
Their initial plan was to hire a small pod of engineers and promote a leader from within. Talhive's recommendation: hire the Head of Engineering India first. The India lead sets the quality ceiling for every subsequent hire, and engineers evaluate a GCC based on who is already there. The HoE India search launched first, two months before any other role.
EOR first, subsidiary later
The initial plan to "figure out the entity later" was clarified early: an EOR was recommended for the first 10–12 hires while the subsidiary was set up in parallel. This prevented onboarding delays and compliance gaps that typically create early attrition in GCC builds.
14 months. Full-cycle hiring from first search to 28th engineer.
Once the sequencing was agreed, Talhive owned the full hiring execution, sourcing, assessment, offer management, and 90-day retention check-ins for every hire across the 14-month engagement.
Head of Engineering India
Retained executive search for the India lead. City calibration, market mapping, and employer narrative built before outreach. HoE India placed and in role before any subsequent search launched.
Founding engineering layer
First 8 engineers hired around the India lead. Backend, data, and cloud infrastructure profiles. Each search briefed against the India lead's technical standards and culture expectations, not just the job description.
Scale to 20
Three concurrent search tracks: data engineering, backend, and a second leadership layer. Compensation benchmarks updated mid-engagement as market moved. Two offer-stage recalibrations when competing offers came in above initial band.
Scale to 28 and beyond
At 28 engineers the team transitioned to an embedded RPO model as volume exceeded what retained search could absorb efficiently. The engagement continues in its second year with Talhive inside the hiring process.
93% retention at 18 months. Leadership-first sequencing was the variable.
Comparable India GCC builds without a leadership-first sequence, where pod hiring precedes the India lead, average 60–70% retention at 18 months in Talhive's dataset. The 93% outcome here is a function of the sequence, the city choice, and the EOR-to-subsidiary transition managed without onboarding disruption.