Denis Akushode

I've spent over 7 years in full-cycle recruitment, and most of that time has been in the kind of scrappy, build-it-yourself environments a recruiter role demands. I've recruited over 100 people across tech and non-tech roles, but more importantly, I've built the systems that made that possible: setting up ATS workflows, creating market maps, designing sourcing strategies from scratch, and training teams on the tools. At SAND Technologies, I didn't just fill roles. I launched a job-placement initiative called JobShop, streamlined recruitment processes for a 70,000-person community, and placed over 300 people. That mix of hands-on sourcing and process-building is exactly what a founding hire needs to do, because there's no playbook waiting for you. You write it. I'm also comfortable owning the whole pipeline solo, from defining the role with a hiring manager to closing the offer. In my current role I run global sourcing across multiple regions, screen for high-bar communication, and manage offers end to end. I move fast, I take ownership when things go wrong, and I actually like the ambiguity that comes with being early.