Director, Software Engineering & Site Leader

Overview

This is a dual-mandate leadership role at one of Quest Software's most strategic engineering locations. You will have full engineering leadership responsibility for a product within Quest's data management portfolio while serving as Site Leader for our Hyderabad development center of approximately 150 employees.

The priorities are clear:

- Development Management : Deliver exceptional product outcomes through high-quality engineering execution.

- Site Leadership : Grow Hyderabad's capability, culture, and strategic importance within Quest.

A third, critical responsibility cuts across both mandates: leading the Hyderabad organization toward an AI-first software delivery model , transforming how engineering teams design, build, test, and deliver software.

Responsibilities

Priority 1: Development Management

You will lead a Hyderabad-based engineering organization responsible for a product within Quest's data management portfolio.

Delivery & Execution

- Own end-to-end product delivery, including roadmap execution, release commitments, quality, security, performance, and supportability.

- Translate product strategy into achievable engineering plans and ensure predictable execution.

- Partner with architects and senior engineers on key technical and architectural decisions.

- Balance innovation with operational excellence, including technical debt, supportability, and customer-reported issues.

- Communicate delivery status, risks, and dependencies effectively to senior leadership.

Customer & Business Partnership

- Partner closely with Product Management and go-to-market teams on customer engagements, evaluations, and proofs of concept.

- Bring customer insights into product planning and prioritization.

- Support Sales, Professional Services, and Customer Support on strategic customer opportunities.

Team Leadership

- Lead through engineering managers and senior technical leaders.

- Hire, develop, and retain high-performing teams.

- Build leadership depth, succession plans, and future engineering leaders.

- Foster a culture of accountability, growth, and continuous improvement.

Data Management Expertise

Experience in the data management domain is strongly preferred, including areas such as:

- Data architecture and modeling

- Data lineage, metadata management, and governance

- Data quality, integration, and intelligence solutions

- Enterprise data platforms, cloud data warehouses, lakehouses, relational and NoSQL technologies

Priority 2: Hyderabad Site Leadership

As Site Leader, you will be accountable for the growth, culture, and reputation of the Hyderabad engineering organization.

Site Growth & Capability

- Drive Hyderabad's growth strategy in partnership with HR, Talent Acquisition, Finance, Facilities, and IT.

- Expand engineering capability and increase strategic product ownership within the site.

- Develop career paths, technical communities, and learning opportunities that strengthen engagement and retention.

Culture & Communication

- Lead regular town halls and site-wide communications.

- Promote a high-performance culture focused on customer value, engineering excellence, accountability, and collaboration.

- Serve as the primary bridge between Hyderabad and Quest's global engineering and business teams.

External Leadership

- Represent Quest within the Hyderabad technology ecosystem.

- Build relationships with universities and academic institutions to strengthen graduate hiring and talent pipelines.

- Participate in industry forums, technology communities, and employer-branding initiatives.

AI-First Software Delivery

A core expectation of this role is to lead Hyderabad's transition to AI-first engineering.

You will:

- Define and implement an AI-first software delivery strategy.

- Embed AI-assisted practices across development, testing, code review, documentation, and support.

- Establish governance for quality, security, intellectual property, and responsible AI usage.

- Measure outcomes through productivity, quality, delivery, and employee experience metrics.

- Lead the organizational change required to drive adoption.

- Share best practices across Quest and position Hyderabad as a center of excellence for AI-enabled engineering.

Qualifications

Essential

- 5+ years of second-line engineering leadership experience managing organizations of 30-50+ engineers through managers.

- Proven record of delivering enterprise software products to market.

- Experience partnering with customer-facing and go-to-market teams.

- Demonstrated success building high-performing engineering organizations.

- Strong technical credibility and ability to influence architecture and engineering decisions.

- Excellent communication skills with experience engaging executives, large employee audiences, and external stakeholders.

- Experience operating in global organizations across multiple time zones.

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

Preferred

- Experience in data management, governance, metadata, lineage, or related enterprise software markets.

- Experience leading AI-assisted engineering transformation initiatives.

- Site leadership experience in India.

- SaaS and cloud platform experience.

- Expertise in modern engineering practices, including cloud-native architectures, DevOps, CI/CD, quality engineering, and secure software development.

- Experience scaling engineering organizations.

- Strong network within the Hyderabad technology community.

- Advanced degree in engineering, technology, or business.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first 12 months:

- Deliver product commitments with high quality and clear customer value.

- Build a strong leadership team with healthy engagement, retention, and succession plans.

- Establish measurable adoption of AI-assisted software delivery.

- Successfully scale the Hyderabad site while strengthening culture and communication.

- Increase Quest's visibility and reputation within the Hyderabad technology ecosystem.

Leadership Attributes

We are looking for a leader who:

- Maintains a strong bias for delivery and results.

- Builds leaders and develops talent.

- Can effectively balance multiple strategic responsibilities.

- Communicates with clarity, candor, and consistency.

- Remains focused on customer outcomes.

- Embraces change and innovation, particularly AI-driven transformation.

Why Quest Software

Quest Software helps organizations manage, secure, and maximize the value of their data and IT environments. This role offers a unique opportunity to own product delivery, lead a 150-person engineering organization, and shape how software is built through AI-first practices at one of Quest's most strategic engineering locations.