Linked In hiring for new Asia-Pacific HQ

Relocating from San Francisco to head up the region is Arvind Rajan, Linked In’s managing director and vice-president for Asia-Pacific.

Rajan is tasked with driving the company’s three-pronged business model which comprises hiring solutions (recruitment licensing), marketing solutions (advertising sales) and member subscriptions. In the near-term, this will include a focus on membership engagement, sales and marketing, and strategic regional partnerships.

Apart from being in town for the announcement, Rajan told Campaign Asia-Pacific that he has been interviewing extensively for senior personnel in the key functions of HR, marketing solutions and marketing.

Asked whether Linked In is looking for ad sales executives from online publishers or agency side, Rajan said the director of marketing solutions post would require a background in online advertising but agency experience would obviously also be an asset.

The company is recruiting primarily via the Linked In network itself. Hiring solutions is a major part of Linked In’s revenue model as the site clearly positions itself as a recruitment tool.

The company chose Singapore as its regional HQ because over 4,000 multinational companies also have their regional bases on the island-state, including more than one-third of Fortune 500 corporations. 73 of the Fortune 100 companies around the world use Linked In for talent acquisition, it said.

The Singapore office will serve as the regional headquarters to more than 18 million LinkedIn members in Asia Pacific and Japan. Supporting existing markets in Australia and India, the Singapore headquarters will also be used as a launch pad for further regional expansion.  The company’s office in Japan is set to open later this year. 

Comscore reports that Linked In visitor numbers from Asia-Pacific increased by 132 per cent from March 2010 to March 2011.

Linked In is the world’s largest professional network with more than 100 million members worldwide. It recently floated on the NY Stock Exchange, valued at 500 times its earnings.

Earlier this year, Linked In appointed Clive Punter as global head of marketing solutions.

“These are exciting times for Linked In. Our membership across Asia-Pacific is being driven by professionals using Linked In to network, build their online brand, gain insights from the community and find new career or business opportunities," said Rajan. "We intend to focus our efforts on delivering the best product experience for our members in their careers, the brand marketers who want to reach them, and the recruiters who are looking to hire the best talent,” he added.