Head of Engineering Operations

HEAD OF ENGINEERING OPERATIONS

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Engineering Leadership | Delivery Management | Operational Excellence

Summary :

Location: Bangalore / Hybrid

Experience: 12-18 years in software delivery

Compensation: Rs.40-55 lakhs (including Performance Bonus) + potential 0.5-1% equity (for exceptional candidates)

Reports to: Founder/CEO

ABOUT US:

We're a US-headquartered product engineering services firm (Delaware C-Corp) with elite engineering operations in India. Over the past decade, we've built 80+ products for venture-backed startups and bootstrapped founders globally, with a 50% success rate (products that raised funding or reached profitability).

Our Differentiation

• We specialize exclusively in building B2B SaaS products and Production-Grade Gen-AI Applications.
• We deliver production-ready MVPs in 4-6 months (not 12-18 months)
• 40% of revenue from US clients; 60% from global markets (UK, EU, India)
• We're a strategic technology partner to founders and SMEs, not a typical offshore vendor.

Current State

• Revenue: $1.2M annually
• Team: 50 people (38 developers, 3-4 PMs, 2 designers, 2 QA, 5 support)
• Tech stack: Python/Django/FastAPI/Flask/GraphQL, Rust/Go, React/Node/Typescript, Flutter/React Native,PostgreSQL/MongoDB, AWS/Azure, Redis/RabbitMQ/Kafka, Databricks/Snowflake, Langchain/Langgraph/n8n/VectorDBs/LLMs
• Strong client satisfaction (NPS >8) and referral-based growth

Growth Target

• Scale to $5-6M revenue in 24 months (5x growth)
• Grow team to 95-100 people
• Improve gross margins by at least 15-20%

We need a strong engineering operations leader to help us scale without sacrificing quality or margins.

THE ROLE:

As Head of Engineering Operations, you will own the entire delivery organization and engineering operations. You'll ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget, with exceptional quality, while building the systems and processes to scale our team 2x in 24 months. This role has a clear promotion path to CTO/COO/CDO as we scale to $5+ M USD revenue.

This is not a typical project manager role. You'll have full P&L ownership, build delivery infrastructure from scratch, and shape the future of our engineering organization.

Key Responsibilities

P&L OWNERSHIP OF ALL DELIVERY PROJECTS

• Own project profitability - fix occasional 30% cost overruns
• Improve gross margin by at least 15-20% through better estimation and resource utilization
• Manage and scale resource utilization across 40+ person delivery team
• Make build vs. buy decisions, vendor management, cost optimization

BUILD DELIVERY INFRASTRUCTURE FROM SCRATCH

• Create delivery playbooks, estimation frameworks, project templates
• Document tribal knowledge into repeatable, scalable systems
• Establish quality standards, code review processes
• Implement project tracking discipline and risk mitigation
• Build/establish reusable accelerators to speed up delivery

MANAGE GLOBAL CLIENT STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIPS

• Primary contact for US, UK, EU clients across timezones
• Handle escalations and difficult conversations professionally
• Build long-term trust (maintain NPS >8)
• Work evening hours (8-10 PM IST) for US clients as needed
• Transparent communication and expectation management

SCALE THE TEAM FROM 50 TO 100 PEOPLE

• Hire, onboard, and retain top engineering talent
• Coach Technical Project Managers and Tech Leads
• Maintain culture and quality during rapid 2x growth
• Build bench strength - develop other managers
• Keep attrition below 10% while growing aggressively

REVENUE OPERATIONS & BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

• Manage collections and receivables
• Track project profitability, create monthly delivery P&L
• Negotiate contract changes and scope amendments
• Support pre-sales with scoping and estimates
• Free Founder from 80-100% of delivery management time

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

MUST-HAVES (Non-Negotiable)

ENGINEERING BACKGROUND: Graduate/Post-Graduate Degree in Engineering (Preferably Computer Science/Information Technology)

12-18 YEARS IN SOFTWARE DELIVERY: At least 6+ years managing teams of 25+ people. You have been through multiple growth phases.

FIXED-PRICE PROJECT EXPERTISE: Managed dozens of fixed-scope projects. You know how to estimate accurately and prevent overruns. T&M-only experience is not sufficient.

SERVICES/AGENCY BACKGROUND: Experience with Thoughtworks, EPAM, Sahaj, Hashedin, product studios, or boutique agencies strongly preferred. Pure product company background typically may not be a fit.

US/GLOBAL CLIENT EXPERIENCE: Comfortable with US timezone (evening calls 8-10 PM IST). You understand US/Global startup culture and communication style.

TECHNICAL BREADTH & DEPTH: Conversant with building secure and scalable technology platforms using modern web/data stack: Python/Django/FastAPI/Flask/GraphQL, Rust/Go, React/Node/Typescript, Flutter/React Native,PostgreSQL/MongoDB, AWS/Azure, Redis/RabbitMQ/Kafka, Databricks/Snowflake, Langchain/Langgraph/n8n/VectorDBs/LLMs. Can review architecture and guide technical decisions.

PROVEN TEAM SCALING: Grown teams from 20-30 to 60-80+ people while maintaining quality and culture.

PROCESS BUILDER FROM SCRATCH: Built delivery processes, playbooks, estimation frameworks from ground up - not just maintained them. Can show examples.

BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL ACUMEN: Understand project P&L, manage receivables/collections, negotiate with clients. Think about delivery profitability, not just completion.

HIGH OWNERSHIP MINDSET: Comfortable being THE person responsible when things go wrong. You own problems and solve them. Can give examples of projects you rescued.

EXCELLENT ENGLISH COMMUNICATION: Fluent written and verbal. Can handle difficult client conversations with diplomacy, objectivity and clarity.

STRONG PREFERENCES (Nice-to-Have)

• Management Degree
• Prior experience in India to US/Global services delivery model
• Experience with remote/distributed teams across timezones
• Previous Founder, CTO, VP Engineering, or Head of Delivery experience
• Startup/scale-up background (vs. only large companies)
• Experience building and coaching other managers
• Exposure to AI/ML projects and Gen AI integrations

WHO YOU ARE (Culture Fit)

YOU ARE A GREAT FIT IF YOU:

• Fix broken processes - you see chaos and immediately organize it
• Own outcomes - analyze root causes when things go wrong, not blame
• Build systems - create frameworks that make future projects easier
• Lead through influence - get people to follow your direction
• Communicate clearly - translate technical to clients, business to engineers
• Thrive in ambiguity - building from scratch excites you
• Think commercially - profitability and sustainable growth matter
• Stay humble - no task is beneath you if it helps the team

YOU ARE NOT A FIT IF YOU:

• Need established processes to operate (we are building some of them now)
• Are uncomfortable with client-facing escalations
• Only want to manage, not build (this is a hands-on builder role)
• Need large team/budget to be effective (we are scrappy, at least for now-:))
• Are looking for a low-stress role (scaling teams to 2x and revenue to 5x is intense)
• Prefer strict 9-6 hours (evening flexibility needed for US clients)

WHAT YOU WILL GET

COMPENSATION PACKAGE:

Base Salary: Rs.35-45 lakhs annually (based on experience)

Performance Bonus: Up to Rs.5-10 lakhs annually, Tied to: Overrun reduction, margin improvement, team scaling, client satisfaction

Equity: Potential 0.5-1% for exceptional candidates (vests over 4 years)

Total Package: Rs.40-55 lakhs all-in

IMPACT & GROWTH OPPORTUNITY

• Own an entire function for a fast-growing company (5x growth in 24 months)
• Build delivery org from ground up - your processes, your playbook
• Direct reporting to Founder/CEO - high visibility, high autonomy
• Clear path to CTO/COO/CDO as company scales to $5+M
• Work with cutting-edge global startup/SME technology ecosystem

CULTURE & ENVIRONMENT

• Small, nimble team (50 people) - immediate impact
• 10-year track record - stable, profitable, not risky early-stage
• Founder who values delegation and trusts leaders
• Interesting technical challenges (AI/ML, complex B2B platforms/Enterprise Challenges)
• Flexible hybrid work environment
• Collaborative culture - no politics, just execution

HOW TO APPLY:

Send your resume and a brief note (3-5 paragraphs) addressing:

1. YOUR BIGGEST DELIVERY WIN

Describe a project you saved or scaled. Situation, approach, outcome with numbers.

2. YOUR PROCESS-BUILDING EXPERIENCE

Give an example of a system you built from scratch. Problem, approach, impact.

3. WHY THIS ROLE?

Why this specific opportunity? What excites you? What concerns you?

Applications with these three elements will be considered with priority.

INTERVIEW PROCESS:

Timeline: 3-4 weeks for qualified candidates

• 1. 30-min screening call with Founder (culture fit, basic experience)
• 2. 90-min deep interview with Founder + Senior Leadership (case studies, scenarios)
• 3. Reference checks with previous managers/clients
• 4. Final conversation (compensation, expectations, day plan)

We are reviewing candidates on a rolling basis and expect to move quickly for the right person.