Kohila Palanisamy
Talent Acquisition And Employer Engagement Leader With 15+ Years Of APAC Experience Delivering End-to-end Recruitment, Senior Leadership Hiring, And Employer Partnerships Within Corporate And Higher Education Ecosystems.
Kuala Lumpur
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
3
3
Certifications
Work History
Senior Talent Acquisition Partner
Prudential Services Asia
11.2024 - 11.2025
- Led end-to-end talent acquisition for the HR, Group-Wide Audit, Finance, Technology, and Data Management Centres of Excellence (COEs) within the Value Creation Centre (VCC), delivering senior to director-level hires aligned with organizational growth, capability building, and evolving business priorities.
- Partnered closely with business leaders, HRBPs, Reward, HR Operations, and external recruitment agencies to shape sourcing strategies, manage complex offer negotiations, align hiring with compensation frameworks, and ensure full compliance with local labour legislation and corporate governance standards.
- Served as a strategic advisor to business leaders on talent market intelligence, succession planning considerations, and workforce alignment, while driving recruitment reporting and hiring analytics to translate pipeline performance, time-to-fill metrics, offer acceptance rates, and market intelligence into actionable insights for leadership decision-making; selected as a core pilot team member for AI-enabled hiring initiatives (SeekOut and Evie) to strengthen sourcing capability and elevate candidate experience.
Freelance Recruiter
Remote
05.2023 - 10.2024
- Strategically sourced and placed top-tier candidates across diverse industries, including IT (Software Development & IT Services), Finance & Banking (FinTech and Banking Technology), Retail & E-Commerce (Online Retail and Retail Technology), Healthcare (HealthTech, Biotech and Pharmaceutical), and Entertainment & Media (Gaming and Streaming Services), supporting cross-border hiring across EU markets while operating in a freelance capacity during recovery from a sports-related injury.
Lead, Placement Partnership
airasia academy
07.2022 - 05.2023
- Led the Placement Team at airasia academy, an ed-tech and innovation institution in the ASEAN region, overseeing graduate placement initiatives across technology programmes including Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, and Cloud Infrastructure, as well as on-demand courses supported by Google Cloud Platform.
- Managed job placement initiatives for graduates under government-funded programmes (MOHE, MOSTI, MIGHT), NGOs (Yayasan Peneraju, Ratu Tech), and corporate sponsors (SDEC, SCENIC, Carsome, Airbus, MBInc), ensuring achievement of placement targets, programme outcomes, and revenue objectives.
- Built and strengthened employer partnerships through branding initiatives and collaborations with universities, professional bodies, government agencies, and GLCs, while organising employer engagement activities—including career fairs, industry forums, talks, workshops, and student visits—and delivering CV and career preparation sessions to enhance graduate employability.
Lead, University Recruitment Specialist - APAC
Baker Hughes
12.2021 - 07.2022
- Established the APAC university recruitment team under a 6-month contract, leading graduate recruitment and campus engagement across Southeast Asia and the wider Asia Pacific region (SEA & APAC). Positioned Baker Hughes as a preferred employer in the energy technology sector by building strong relationships with business leaders and university partners across more than 10 countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, India, China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
- Recruited top talent across Engineering Technology, Field Operations, Digital Technology, Finance, and HR functions, developing targeted sourcing strategies and leading campus engagement initiatives including assessment centres, career fairs, workshops, and diversity events. Supported workforce planning through headcount forecasting, offer acceptance tracking, and streamlined recruitment processes to enhance hiring manager and candidate experience.
Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS)
Covid Redundancy
08.2020 - 11.2021
Associate Director, Global Employment Consultant
The University of Nottingham
03.2013 - 07.2020
- Served as a pioneer member of a global employability consultancy team across the UK, China, and Malaysia, identifying employment opportunities for students, graduates, and alumni by developing and maintaining a strong network of multinational employers and corporate partners across Southeast and South Central Asia.
- Developed deep insights into recruitment requirements, graduate roles, and internship opportunities while sharing labour market intelligence with career services teams across international campuses to support student employability outcomes.
- Collaborated with global employers, university partners, and career services stakeholders to identify new partnership opportunities and spearheaded employer engagement initiatives including career fairs, industry workshops, and targeted employer events.
- Represented the university at international conferences and major recruitment events including the Graduate Job Fair UK, Malaysian London Career Fair, Welcome Home, and alumni and fundraising events - promoting “Nottingham Talent” to global employers while developing targeted employer marketing initiatives. Created and disseminated labour market insights through YouTube videos, blogs, articles, and newsletters in collaboration with the Malaysian Student Society, UKEC, and Southeast Asian student and alumni societies, while managing extensive engagement travel across Southeast Asia, South Central Asia, and the UK.
Client Recruitment Specialist, SEA
Talent2 HRO
06.2010 - 02.2013
- Spearheaded the establishment of Schlumberger Malaysia’s financial hub recruitment team, driving end-to-end hiring for more than 800 Finance, Tax, and Accounting professionals.
- Led American Express’s international recruitment initiatives in Singapore and Malaysia, delivering mid- to senior-level hires across IT, HR, Finance, Customer Service, Analyst, and Fraud Prevention functions while implementing multi-channel sourcing strategies to attract top-tier talent.
Recruitment Specialist
Manpower Staffing Services
06.2008 - 06.2010
- Delivered talent acquisition solutions for multinational clients including IBM, HP, Intel, and Shell, supporting recruitment across multiple corporate functions and developing sourcing strategies to identify and attract high-quality candidates.
Education
Counselling and Psychology
Allied Education College Singapore & Open University
MalaysiaMBA -
University of West Scotland
Malaysia03-2027
Availability
From March 2026
Certification
Workplace Leadership
Timeline
Senior Talent Acquisition Partner
Prudential Services Asia
11.2024 - 11.2025
Freelance Recruiter
Remote
05.2023 - 10.2024
Lead, Placement Partnership
airasia academy
07.2022 - 05.2023
Lead, University Recruitment Specialist - APAC
Baker Hughes
12.2021 - 07.2022
Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS)
Covid Redundancy
08.2020 - 11.2021
Associate Director, Global Employment Consultant
The University of Nottingham
03.2013 - 07.2020
Client Recruitment Specialist, SEA
Talent2 HRO
06.2010 - 02.2013
Recruitment Specialist
Manpower Staffing Services
06.2008 - 06.2010
Counselling and Psychology
Allied Education College Singapore & Open University
MBA -
University of West Scotland