How Circula cut its time-to-hire and scaled its Leadership hiring

Circula is a leading Software-as-a-Service(SaaS) provider specializing in employee expense management for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Berlin, the company has grown rapidly, serving over 150,000 users with a dedicated team of approximately 150 professionals.

Designed to simplify and automate financial processes, its platform covers a wide range of expense management needs, including:

• Travel expense tracking
• Per diems and reimbursements
• Corporate credit card management
• Employee benefits administration

Circula has earned the trust of thousands of companies, positioning itself as a market leader in financial workflow automation.

However, despite its impressive growth and technological edge, scaling the business required an efficient talent acquisition strategy. One that could attract top-tier talent, reduce hiring bottlenecks, and accelerate market expansion.

The Challenge: Overcoming Talent Acquisition Roadblocks

Despite the success of its innovative platform, Circula faced challenges in scaling due to a shortage of resources within its talent acquisition team. This resulted in several hiring challenges that slowed down its growth:

• Limited scalability & automation in recruitment processes – Manual processes slowed down the hiring cycle.
• Suboptimal candidate experience – A lack of streamlined communication impacted its employer brand and talent attraction.
• Insufficient talent pool – Difficulty in sourcing high-quality candidates, especially for tech and international roles being in high demand.

The Solution: Tribe.xyz’s Data-Driven Talent Acquisition Strategy

To drive Circula’s recruitment transformation, we developed a comprehensive talent acquisition (TA) strategy focused on scalability, efficiency, and an enhanced candidate experience.

Automating & Streamlining Recruitment for Scalability.

• Revamped the interview process to increase efficiency and reduce time-to-hire.
• Leveraged automation for scheduling, follow-ups, and candidate tracking, reducing administrative workload.

Enhancing the Candidate Experience

• Aligned recruitment strategies with Circula’s core values, fostering a strong employer brand at every step of the process.
• Optimized and personalized the candidate journey, from initial outreach to final offer.
• Improved response times, transparent communication, and real-time feedback loops to strengthen candidate engagement.

Expanding the Talent Pool & Driving International Growth

• Implemented targeted talent acquisition campaigns to attract both tech and non-tech professionals.
• Launched a structured interview training program for Circula’s hiring managers to enhance long-term recruitment effectiveness and candidate interactions.
• Integrated Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) initiatives to build a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Measurable Results: Scaling Circula’s Workforce with Precision

Tribe.xyz’s data-driven recruitment strategy yielded exceptional results, significantly improving Circula’s hiring efficiency and market reach.

• 94 successful hires from October 2021 to present.
• 46-day average time-to-hire (significantly optimized).
• 94% offer-to-hire ratio – demonstrating highly effective talent matching.
• 54% conversion rate from profile views to candidate outreach.
• 69% success rate in advancing candidates from initial screening to managerial interviews.

Diversified workforce – hiring for both technical and non-technical roles.

Circula perspective

“Tribe.xyz has been pivotal in building our teams in both Germany and new markets. Their support extends beyond conventional recruiting. With their competencies, skills, and data-driven approach, they’ve been instrumental in our hiring success, ensuring we find the right talent to scale our teams effectively.”

Karen Lindner, VP People & Culture, Circula

Continuous Innovation in Talent Acquisition

By leveraging our embedded hiring expertise, Circula successfully optimized its recruitment strategy, reducing hiring time and increasing candidate satisfaction. The success of our partnership is based on three key principles that our solutions offer over traditional recruitment models:

Deep Alignment: Recruiters become integral to the company, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and culture.

Agility: This model allows for rapid adjustments to changing hiring needs, essential in the fast-paced SaaS industry.

Cost Efficiency: By reducing reliance on external agencies, companies can achieve significant cost savings.

Ready to Optimize Your Hiring?

If your company is facing similar hiring challenges, we can help. Whether it’s filling niche leadership roles, reducing time-to-hire, or optimizing your recruitment process, our embedded hiring model is designed for fast-moving SaaS teams.\

📩 Let’s chat!