Chewy Case Study

Client Overview

Chewy, a leading online retailer in pet products and services, partnered with Sustainable Talent to address a surge in technical hiring needs. Chewy required a scalable solution to recruit 145 specialized technical roles across engineering, product development, and technology within a 6-month timeframe.

Challenge

Chewy faced rapid expansion and needed to onboard high-caliber technical talent swiftly to keep up with growing demands. The challenge was to fill roles efficiently while ensuring the quality of hires met Chewy’s standards and aligned with their cultural values.

Solution: Customized Sourcing Pods

Sustainable Talent implemented a Recruiter-On-Demand (ROD) model tailored for Chewy's high-volume technical recruitment needs. This solution involved 8 dedicated sourcing specialists, each responsible for filling between 3-5 technical roles per month. Key elements of this approach included:

1. POD/Interview Blitz Model: Weekly interview days were organized with pre-screened candidates to maximize efficiency. Chewy’s hiring teams could evaluate multiple candidates in AM and PM sessions, expediting hiring decisions.
2. Enhanced Coordination and Feedback: Through pre-brief and debrief sessions, hiring managers and sourcing specialists remained in sync on candidate expectations, leading to quick feedback loops. Qualified candidates received offers within 24 hours post-interview, minimizing time-to-hire.
3. Data-Driven Sourcing: Sustainable Talent monitored critical metrics such as candidate conversion rates and time-to-hire, providing Chewy with insights into recruitment progress and enabling continuous optimization of sourcing strategies.

Roles Filled

The sourcing pods successfully hired for a range of technical roles, including:

• Software Engineers
• Data Engineers
• Product Managers
• Site Reliability Engineers
• Data Scientists
• Cloud Infrastructure Specialists

Results

1. Time-to-Hire Reduction: Sustainable Talent met Chewy’s target, filling 145 technical roles within the 6-month timeframe by leveraging interview blitzes and targeted sourcing strategies.
2. Quality of Hire: Candidates sourced through the pods demonstrated a strong alignment with Chewy’s technical needs and culture, resulting in high satisfaction from hiring managers.
3. Sustainable Partnership: The success of this model led Chewy to view Sustainable Talent as a long-term partner. This performance solidified the Recruiter-On-Demand model as an effective solution for ongoing technical hiring needs.

Conclusion

Sustainable Talent’s sourcing pod strategy provided Chewy with a scalable, responsive recruitment solution tailored to their unique needs. By focusing on rapid, high-quality talent acquisition, Sustainable Talent helped Chewy enhance its operational capabilities and ensure project success.

Impact

The partnership enabled Chewy to build out a skilled, aligned team that bolstered their service capabilities and customer satisfaction. Sustainable Talent’s approach to collaborative, data-driven talent sourcing strengthened Chewy’s competitive edge in a fast-growing market.

Client Feedback

“I have been at Chewy for 5 years as part of the TA organization. 2021 was a growing and demanding year for most retailers. We had to think of additional solutions when it came to hiring, and Sustainable Talent was our go-to for Chewy’s first Recruiter-On-Demand solution. We needed to calibrate fast, especially since the ROD team would be supporting our revenue-generating department in time for peak season. We met our goal, built a great rapport with the business, and now see Recruiter-On-Demand as a long-term strategy for Chewy. A great win for both sides.”
— Maria Pacquee, Associate Director, Merchandising TA at Chewy

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