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 Li Ke

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 Attribut es

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.