Sarah Huffman

About Sarah Huffman

My career started in people leadership, long before I officially entered recruiting. For years I coached teams, developed talent, and built a reputation for helping people grow into the next stage of their careers. That passion for unlocking potential eventually led me into recruiting for startups — first at ClassPass, and later through multiple roles at Instacart.Since then, I’ve built recruiting teams from the ground up, hired for brand‑new business lines, led strategic hiring through intense growth cycles, and partnered with senior executives to design organizations that scale. I believe great recruiting is equal parts relationship‑building, operational excellence, and deep understanding of the business.What motivates me most is helping companies find exceptional talent and helping people find meaningful work, while coaching and developing the recruiters who make that possible.

Experience

1. Head of Business Recruiting

   Instacart

   Mar 2023 — Present

   Head of Business Recruiting, owning talent strategy and full-cycle hiring for Sales, G&A, Communications, Finance, Policy & Government Affairs, CX, Operations, Legal, People, and Strategic Partnerships & Acquisitions.• Lead teams of FTE and contract recruiters, including direct reports and dotted‑line leads, ensuring cohesive execution across a broad and diverse portfolio of functions.• Partner with senior leadership on workforce planning, organizational design, headcount prioritization, and capacity modeling.• Build scalable frameworks for recruiter performance, interview calibration, and long‑term pipeline health.• Drive end‑to‑end process improvements that optimize time‑to‑fill, increase hiring quality, and strengthen cross‑functional alignment with HRBP, Finance, and People Ops.• Lead the strategy for integrating AI tools to enhance sourcing, screening, and operational efficiency, helping the team innovate and work at scale.• Oversee strategic hiring initiatives including new business line launches.