Director of Engineering/AI

Davies; Pune District; On-site; INR 5,000,000 - 8,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Davies in Pune seeks a Director of Engineering/AI to build and scale the Pune software engineering organisation for Consulting & Technology. The role will establish Pune as a Centre of Excellence for AI oriented engineering, guiding global teams and aligning with UK/US directors.

You will lead engineering, QA, and product ownership, drive modern practices, AI-enabled workflows, and foster a high-trust culture. Strong strategic vision and talent leadership required.

Qualifications

• Deep engineering background with hands-on software development earlier in career.
• Strong awareness of cloud engineering, enterprise SaaS platforms, security standards, scalable architectures, and quality engineering.
• Experience with technology stacks used in large scale B2B software delivery.
• Experience managing or guiding architects and senior engineers.
• Strong understanding of how AI transforms engineering workflows, team structures, and software lifecycle practices.
• Experience managing AI practitioners, AI adoption readiness, or AI augmented engineering environments.
• Not required to be an AI engineer, but must be highly AI fluent and deeply aligned with AI driven engineering evolution.
• Proven ability to build and scale engineering organisations including leadership of people leaders.
• Comfortable managing India based teams while influencing colleagues globally.
• Experience working in matrixed environments with dual reporting or distributed authority models.
• Ability to coach, mentor, and grow talent at multiple levels of seniority.
• Excellent communicator able to work across time zones, cultures, and disciplines.
• Confident in presales, client facing conversations, and executive level discussions

Responsibilities

• Leadership of the Pune Organisation: Recruit, develop, and manage individual roles and people leaders across engineering, QA, product ownership, and support.
• Build high performing squads in Pune with strong delivery discipline and clear engineering career pathways
• Ensure all squads deliver consistently against workflows provided by UK based Directors of Product, Delivery, QA, and Support and Onboarding
• Shape and evolve the dual reporting model as the India organisation grows in size and maturity
• Create a high trust, high performance, psychologically safe culture grounded in servant leadership and stoic principles
• Global Technical Leadership and Standards: Provide technical direction and guidance to global colleagues including teams based in the UK and US
• Work closely with Director of Engineering and Architecture to set consistent engineering standards, coding practices, architectural approaches, and quality expectations across all C&T squads regardless of location
• Ensure engineering excellence across cloud engineering, enterprise SaaS, insurance technology, and other regulated software domains
• Provide hands on technical insight when required, while operating primarily as a senior leader
• Embed modern engineering practices influenced by AI including AI supported development workflows, automation, and engineering efficiency improvements
• AI Oriented Engineering Leadership: Position Pune as the global Centre of Excellence for AI oriented engineering within C&T
• Lead the adoption of AI enhanced tools, processes, and engineering methods across all squads
• Manage AI focused engineers and specialists, ensuring safe, effective, and value driven use of AI within engineering processes

Job description

Director of Engineering/AI

Department: IT

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Pune

Description

The Director of Engineering, Pune will build, lead, and scale the Pune based software engineering organisation for Consulting & Technology. This role will be a senior engineering leader in India, responsible for establishing Pune as a Centre of Excellence for AI oriented engineering when developing non claims B2B software that C&T sells to clients globally. The role combines organisational leadership, technical direction, engineering excellence, and global collaboration. It will manage both individual roles and people leaders across engineering, QA, product ownership, and support. It will act as a named technical authority in presales and will play a central role in shaping the long-term operating model for C&T in India.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership of the Pune Organisation

• Recruit, develop, and manage individual roles and people leaders across engineering, QA, product ownership, and support.
• Build high performing squads in Pune with strong delivery discipline and clear engineering career pathways
• Ensure all squads deliver consistently against workflows provided by UK based Directors of Product, Delivery, QA, and Support and Onboarding
• Shape and evolve the dual reporting model as the India organisation grows in size and maturity
• Create a high trust, high performance, psychologically safe culture grounded in servant leadership and stoic principles

Global Technical Leadership and Standards

• Provide technical direction and guidance to global colleagues including teams based in the UK and US
• Work closely with Director of Engineering and Architecture to set consistent engineering standards, coding practices, architectural approaches, and quality expectations across all C&T squads regardless of location
• Ensure engineering excellence across cloud engineering, enterprise SaaS, insurance technology, and other regulated software domains
• Provide hands on technical insight when required, while operating primarily as a senior leader
• Embed modern engineering practices influenced by AI including AI supported development workflows, automation, and engineering efficiency improvements

AI Oriented Engineering Leadership

• Position Pune as the global Centre of Excellence for AI oriented engineering within C&T
• Lead the adoption of AI enhanced tools, processes, and engineering methods across all squads
• Manage AI focused engineers and specialists, ensuring safe, effective, and value driven use of AI within engineering processes

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Deep engineering background with proven experience in hands on software development earlier in career
• Strong awareness of cloud engineering, enterprise SaaS platforms, security standards, scalable architectures, and quality engineering
• Experience working with technology stacks used in large scale B2B software delivery
• Experience managing or guiding architects and senior engineers
• Strong understanding of how AI transforms engineering workflows, team structures, and software lifecycle practices
• Experience managing AI practitioners, AI adoption readiness, or AI augmented engineering environments
• Not required to be an AI engineer, but must be highly AI fluent and deeply aligned with AI driven engineering evolution
• Proven ability to build and scale engineering organisations including leadership of people leaders
• Comfortable managing India based teams while influencing colleagues globally
• Experience working in matrixed environments with dual reporting or distributed authority models
• Ability to coach, mentor, and grow talent at multiple levels of seniority
• Excellent communicator able to work across time zones, cultures, and disciplines
• Confident in presales, client facing conversations, and executive level discussions