Snapdeal to hire top-level personnel across functions such as IT, operations, marketing, supply chain

Jasper Infotech, which owns and operates online marketplace Snapdeal.com, is looking to hire several key personnel, across functions, as the New Delhi-based company looks to beef up its second rung of leadership in its bid to stay ahead in a highly competitive sector.

The company is looking to fill between 10-15 top managerial positions by the end of the current financial year, spread across critical functions, such as technology, operations, marketing and supply chain, a senior company executive said.

"Snapdeal is constantly venturing into newer areas, and one needs to ensure that you're bringing on board the right leadership abilities," said Saurabh Nigam, vice-president - Human Resources at Snapdeal.

The company, according to Nigam, has already filled in 35 key positions, but is actively looking to hire top executives, who are expected to report to the two founders - Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.

"If you look at our recent hires, especially at the senior managerial levels, they have not only come on board to be an integral part of the existing functions, but also have come on board to lead newer initiatives," Nigam said.

Given that India's e-commerce industry is poised to touch $30 billion by 2020, and with competition breathing down its neck, Snapdeal will have to shell out top dollar, along with additional attractive sweeteners to get the best talent on board.

"Employee Stock Options (ESOPs) will, of course, be worked into the deal. Let me assure you, we haven't lost anyone because of money," Nigam said.

In December last year, Snapdeal named Vishal Chadha as its vice president for market development. Chadha's responsibilities include leading the company's business development and seller marketing efforts, with the goal of bringing a million small and medium businesses to the platform.

Snapdeal, which currently has about 100,000 sellers transacting on its platform, has targeted a million sellers over the next three years.

Prior to that it roped Abhishek Kumar, the ex-head of investments at venture capital firm, Palaash Ventures, in July last year, to lead its corporate developments, acquisitions and investment initiatives.

The hires come at a time when Snapdeal's biggest competitors - Bangalore-based Flipkart, which is also the country's largest e-commerce company, and Amazon, the world's largest online retailer - are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to establish themselves as the undisputed leader of the country's rapidly-growing e-commerce sector.

Both, Flipkart and Amazon, have made several high profile appointments in the recent past as well.

While Amazon named former Bessemer vice president Abhijeet Muzumdar to lead its corporate development initiatives, Flipkart appointed Nishant Verman, formerly with Canaan Partners, and who joined the company to lead its charge in acquiring new companies, as well as investing in startups.

Additionally, Flipkart was also reported to have made several other critical hires for its HR and engineering divisions, some of whom have come from a number of top global companies, including Yahoo, IBM and McAfee.