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Location: Hyderabad

The Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced leader as ADB SAFEGATE Labs India – Director/Site Leader (Engineering background) to join our team in Hyderabad, India. This on-site management position requires a 5-day office presence. You will report to the VP Group Transformation & ADB SAFEGATE LABS India, and regularly interact with global stakeholders across multiple time zones, including the CTO, Global Business Lines, the Airside Intelligence lead, and Product and Platform Leaders.

This is a management role with site leader responsibility. You are the accountable owner of India Labs on the ground, and you take full ownership and accountability for engineering delivery of Airside Intelligence (Airside 4.0): the integration platform and the first commercial modules to rollout. You build and scale the team, establish delivery discipline, productivity and retention, and turn the global roadmap into predictable results.

The Role

Build & Scale India Labs

• Lead the structured scale-up of India Labs, including hiring, onboarding, team structure, and building the leadership layer.
• Build a strong performance culture with clear accountability, execution discipline, and retention focus.
• Position ADB SAFEGATE Labs India  as an attractive, stable employer in a highly competitive talent market.
• Establish strong operating cadence, delivery rituals, and management routines.

Own Airside Intelligence Delivery (Airside 4.0)

• Take full ownership and accountability for delivery of the Airside Intelligence engineering roadmap in India, from integration platform to pilot airports.
• Lead architects, engineers and data scientists; set technical direction together with the CORTEX team and architecture team in Europe & USA.
• Drive measurable productivity, output quality, and predictability comparable to mature EU/US R&D hubs.
• Manage external engineering partners on bounded work packages, including scope, acceptance, and cost.
• Implement KPI-driven performance management and transparent reporting.

Integration & Stakeholder Leadership

• Act as the single accountable owner of India Labs on the ground.
• Serve as the interface between India Labs and global business lines, product owners, and technology leadership.
• Translate global business and product priorities into clear, executable technical roadmaps and work packages.
• Proactively manage dependencies, tradeoffs, and cross-functional alignment.

Governance, Cost & Platform Readiness

• Operate India Labs with strong cost awareness and budget discipline (cost center governance).
• Prepare the platform for future governance expansion, including SteerCo and P&L responsibility.
• Ensure operational stability, compliance, and scalability as the organization grows.

Success Criteria & KPIs

• People: Hiring delivered in line with plan and budget; attrition below market average; development of a stable leadership layer within India Labs.
• Delivery: Adherence to the agreed Airside Intelligence roadmap.
• Productivity: Output and quality benchmarks comparable to EU/US R&D centers.
• Cost & Discipline: Strong budget discipline and smart talent investment decisions.
• Forward Looking: Contribution to software monetization and long-term business impact (emerging KPI).
• Time Horizon: First visible impact within 6–9 months; platform stabilization and measurable impact within 12–18 months.

Candidate Profile

• Fluent in English.
• University Degree.
• Strong software/engineering foundation with credibility to engage at senior technical level, ideally including platform, cloud, data or computer vision work.
• Proven experience building and scaling engineering organizations (from early stage through scale).
• Track record of end-to-end delivery ownership in complex, fast-paced, and ambiguous environments.
• Demonstrated ability to define and execute roadmaps, KPIs, and predictable delivery cadences, and to manage external partners and budgets.
• Ability to translate global business and product requirements into technical execution.
• Experience operating in transformation-heavy, performance-driven, PE-backed environments.
• Comfortable working in high-accountability settings with strong execution expectations.
• Strong people leadership capability with a clear execution mindset.
• Willingness to maintain a high on-site presence in Hyderabad to enable culture building and execution stability.
• Helpful: aviation or safety-critical systems experience.

Why Apply?

• Shape the future of ADB SAFEGATE Labs in India and build a new business line from its first release.
• Advance your career in a dynamic, collaborative, and innovative environment.
• Career development opportunities, with a path to wider governance responsibility as the business grows.