Technical Lead & Manager

Madrona Venture Labs; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 2,500,000 - 3,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Madrona Venture Labs is seeking a Technical Lead & Manager in Bengaluru, India. This unique role blends hands-on technical work with leadership, aiming to shape and scale the engineering organization while ensuring high-quality output.

The ideal candidate will have experience in building complex software systems and a passion for developing future technical leaders. Join a strong team dedicated to innovating AI-powered analytics and elevate engineering leadership in India.

Qualifications

• Years of experience in building and shipping complex software systems.
• Management experience with a focus on growth and development of engineers.
• Genuine love for engineering and desire to stay technically involved.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering organization with a mix of technical contributions and leadership.
• Mentor engineers and develop future technical leaders.
• Drive technical excellence and maintain high standards as the team grows.

Skills

Building complex software systems

Mentoring and coaching engineers

High technical quality and execution

Strong product instincts

Experience with distributed systems

Job description

We are WisdomAI.

We exist to help people unlock clarity from complexity.

WisdomAI builds AI-powered analytics that put answers directly in the hands of the people closest to the business. Our platform doesn’t just surface insights — it explains the why behind them, helping teams move from data to decisions with speed, confidence, and context.

We’re trusted by companies like Cisco, Patreon, and Rubrik — and we’re just getting started. The problems here are hard, and the expectations are high. Our team is energized by both. If you’re compelled by ambitious problems, high standards, and meaningful ownership, you’ll thrive here.

The Role

We're looking for our first Technical Lead & Manager in India. This role will help shape the next chapter of that organization while remaining deeply involved in the technical work itself.

How we work

Hands-On Leadership

We don't see management and engineering as separate tracks. Our Technical lead will participate in architecture reviews, code reviews, technical discussions, hiring decisions, and occasionally jump into code themselves. The ideal balance is roughly 40% leadership and 60% technical contribution.

Ownership

Both the geographies - India and US - own meaningful parts of the product and platform. Engineers are trusted with end-to-end ownership and leaders are expected to create the environment where that ownership thrives.

Talent Density

We're intentional about every hire. The team includes engineers from companies such as Google, Meta, Rubrik, Glean, and other world-class organizations. Maintaining and raising that bar is one of the most important responsibilities of this role.

Product Thinking

The best engineering decisions start with understanding the customer problem. We look for leaders who can connect technical choices to customer outcomes and help teams prioritize accordingly.

Builders

We value people who can build from first principles. Processes, operating rhythms, performance management, career development, organizational design—none of these are finished products. You'll help create and evolve them as the organization grows.

What you'd work on

Scaling a High-Performance Engineering Organization

The India team has grown rapidly and now spans backend systems, platform infrastructure, frontend experiences, and machine learning.

You’ll help build the systems that allow that team to scale without losing speed, quality, or culture.

Developing Future Technical Leaders

Many of our engineers are capable of becoming future staff engineers, tech leads, and engineering managers.

A significant part of this role is helping them get there through mentorship, coaching, feedback, and career development.

Raising the Hiring Bar

We’re actively growing.

You’ll partner closely with leadership to identify exceptional talent, evaluate candidates, and ensure every hire improves the organization.

Driving Technical Excellence

As the organization grows, maintaining a high technical bar becomes harder.

You’ll help guide architecture discussions, participate in design reviews, review code, and ensure engineering quality scales alongside headcount.

Building the Next Generation of Analytics

From agent orchestration and reasoning systems to distributed data infrastructure and AI-powered user experiences, you’ll work alongside the team solving technically ambitious problems at the intersection of AI, data, and enterprise software.

You may be a good fit if you

• Have spent years building and shipping complex software systems
• Have managed engineers and genuinely enjoy helping people grow
• Still love engineering and want to remain technically involved
• Hold a high bar for technical quality and execution
• Operate with high ownership and low ego
• Can balance speed with sound engineering judgment
• Have strong product instincts and care about customer outcomes
• Want to help build an organization, not simply inherit one

Strong candidates may also have

• Experience at companies that have built at scale and have strong engineering cultures
• Startup or founding engineer experience
• Experience scaling engineering organizations from
• Experience with distributed systems, infrastructure, AI, data platforms, or developer tools
• Experience hiring and developing senior engineering talent

Not sure this is the right fit?

• Looking for a pure people-management role with little technical involvement? This probably isn’t it.
• Looking for a remote role? We work together in-office five days a week.
• Looking primarily for title progression? We’re more interested in builders than titles.

Why WisdomAI?

You’ll join a company founded by repeat entrepreneurs and early builders from companies including Rubrik and Glean.

We’re tackling one of the largest software categories in the world: business intelligence and analytics.

We’re backed by leading investors including Kleiner Perkins and NVIDIA Ventures.

Most importantly, you’ll inherit a strong team and have the opportunity to shape what engineering leadership looks like in India from the ground up.

Equal opportunity employer

WisdomAI is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive team where everyone can do their best work.