MUMBAI: LinkedIn has appointed Nishant K Rao as the new Country Manager for India.

Rao‘s appointment at LinkedIn India comes following the promotion of former country manager Hari V Krishnan into a larger role as managing director of Asia Pacific and Japan.

In his new role, Rao will focus on scaling up operations and staying committed to LinkedIn‘s value proposition of connecting India‘s professionals to make them more successful and productive and helping enterprises hire, market and sell effectively, the company said.

Rao said, "With a member base of 18 million professionals, India is one of our fastest growing markets and the largest outside of the US. Indian marketers and recruiters are fast realising the potential of LinkedIn‘s affluent member base and are leveraging the platform for targeted and thought leadership oriented campaigns. I am excited about the opportunity to work with the LinkedIn India team to serve our customers and members in India."

Prior to being appointed as LinkedIn India‘s Country Manager, Rao was director, business operations - head of global sales strategy at LinkedIn‘s headquarters in Mountain View.

He has been with LinkedIn since September 2011.

Rao has over 10 years of industry experience with a healthy mix of sales, strategy management and entrepreneurship. He has held leadership positions with companies such as McKinsey and ARIBA Inc and was also one of the founding members of Epicentre Technologies, one amongst India‘s first call centers.