VP Product Engineering and Site Lead, India

About StarRez

StarRez is the global leader in student housing software, providing innovative solutions for on and off-campus housing management, resident wellness and experience, and revenue generation. Trusted by 1,400+ clients across 25+ countries, StarRez supports more than 4 million beds annually with its user-friendly, all-in-one platform, delivering seamless experiences for students and administrators. With offices in the United States, Australia, the UK, and India, StarRez blends the robust capabilities of a global organization with the personalized care and service of a trusted partner.

The StarRez India Office in Hyderabad is a strategic pillar of StarRez's global growth - a hub for product innovation, technology delivery, and engineering excellence. Over the next few years, the office will scale from 20 to more than 200 team members across Product & Technology, Customer Operations and Go-To-Market, building on strong foundations of culture, quality, and innovation.

The Role

As the Vice President, Product Engineering, India & Site Leader, you are a senior leader responsible for building and leading high-performing product engineering teams while serving as the senior-most leader at the StarRez India Office, combining:

• Product engineering leadership (70%) - driving excellence in engineering, product, design, quality, delivery and team capability across StarRez's product ecosystem.

• India site leadership (30%) - leading the StarRez India Office as it scales rapidly, ensuring operational alignment, cultural integration, and global collaboration.

In this role, you are pivotal to StarRez's global growth and overall Product & Technology strategy. You will blend strategic foresight with operational execution, ensuring the StarRez India Office becomes a world-class, high-performing, and fully integrated part of StarRez's global organization.

Role Specifics

• Work Location: Hyderabad, Telangana - Hybrid 3-4 days in office

• Travel: ~10-15% (domestically and internationally - primarily to Australia / USA)

• Reporting Structure: Reports into Chief Technology and Product Officer

Key Responsibilities

Product Engineering Leadership (70%)

Build High-Performing Teams

• Hire, onboard, lead, mentor, and scale multiple Product Engineering teams across StarRez's SaaS platform.

• Shape the delivery culture by embedding engineering and product best practices, agile operating cadences, and a focus on continuous improvement.

• Balance speed-to-scale and rapid delivery with long-term sustainability and technical quality.

Deliver Product and Engineering Excellence

• Collaborate globally, partnering with Product, Design, and Technology leadership to ensure consistency in engineering and product standards and processes while aligning outcomes with business and customer value.

• Work transparently and collaboratively across regions, ensuring India is tightly integrated into StarRez rather than siloed.

• Oversee technical direction, and engineering standards to ensure the development of secure, scalable, and high-quality software.

• Foster a pragmatic, data-informed engineering culture that values experimentation and continuous learning.

Lead Strategy and Governance

• Define and execute a clear engineering strategy that accelerates delivery and innovation while maintaining product reliability and scalability.

• Establish robust product and delivery management practices, capacity planning, and outcome reporting frameworks.

• Identify and proactively mitigate risks related to delivery, scalability, and team performance.

Empower and Inspire Leaders

• Coach and develop the team, cultivate leadership capability, influence and accountability.

• Champion succession plans and clear career development frameworks for product, design and technical talent in India and contribute ideas back into global P&T frameworks.

• Create and foster an environment where collaboration, curiosity, and ownership drive performance and engagement.

StarRez India Office Leadership (30%)

Strategic Leadership and Alignment

• Define and execute the strategic vision for the StarRez India Office, aligned to global business, technology, and talent strategies.

• Translate global goals into India-based initiatives that deliver measurable impact and value.

• Ensure the India office operates as an integrated global hub, collaborating seamlessly with teams across the U.S., Australia, and the U.K.

• Identify capability expansion opportunities (e.g., AI, automation, cloud engineering) that enhance StarRez's product and technology ecosystem.

Organization Building and Scaling

• Lead the expansion of the India office from approximately 20 to 200+ team members over the next 2+ years, building organizational capacity across engineering, product, design, and supporting growth across Customer Operations, and Go-To-Market.

• Co-design and implement a sustainable reporting structure with clear spans of control, leadership layers, and career paths for team members.

• Develop local leadership programs, succession plans, and mentoring initiatives to foster a strong pipeline of mid- and senior-level leaders.

• Instill a performance-driven, high-accountability culture that emphasizes quality, innovation, and inclusion.

Talent Brand and Employee Experience

• Position the StarRez India Office as a top employer in Hyderabad's SaaS and technology community.

• Partner with People & Culture to design and execute a local talent brand and hiring strategy, including university partnerships and engagement in the local tech ecosystem.

• Ensure exceptional onboarding, learning, and career development experiences aligned with StarRez's values.

• Champion diversity and inclusion, ensuring balanced representation and equitable opportunities.

Operational Leadership and Governance

• Oversee site operations, including facilities, finance coordination, IT infrastructure, compliance, and local HR processes.

• Develop scalable governance structures for budgeting, procurement, and vendor management, aligned with global policies.

• Define and regularly report site-level KPIs covering operational performance, team member engagement, and overall site health.

• Partner with global Finance and People & Culture teams to ensure transparency, compliance, and accountability.

Cross-Functional and Global Collaboration

• Act as the primary interface between the India site and global leadership.

• Foster strong working relationships with P&T, Customer Operations and Go-To-Market peers across regions.

• Ensure effective cross-time-zone collaboration through structured operating rhythms, communication frameworks, and transparent reporting.

• Represent the India office in global forums, business reviews, and strategic planning sessions.

Culture and Engagement

• Build a cohesive StarRez India identity that reflects global values while celebrating local strengths.

• Lead engagement initiatives such as town halls, innovation days, and leadership connect sessions to strengthen community and inclusion.

• Maintain an accessible, visible leadership presence that builds trust and alignment.

External Partnerships and Ecosystem Engagement

• Represent StarRez India externally with universities, industry bodies, and technology partners to strengthen StarRez's visibility and employer brand.

• Foster partnerships that support innovation, early talent programs, and local technology leadership.

• Stay informed on regional trends in workforce dynamics, compliance, and technology innovation.

Change Leadership and Scale Readiness

• Anticipate and lead organizational changes as the site scales - managing transitions in structure, process, and culture.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CTPO and executive leadership on India site strategy, performance, and scaling readiness.

• Ensure StarRez India remains agile, resilient, and aligned with the evolving needs of a global SaaS organization.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

• 10+ years of Engineering or Product leadership experience in a SaaS or enterprise-scale software Product company.

• Proven success building and scaling teams operating in a global environment.

• Demonstrated ability to lead complex delivery across multiple product lines or technology domains.

• Outstanding communication, stakeholder management, and cross-cultural leadership skills.

• Experience managing through growth, ambiguity, and organizational change.

Preferred

• Prior experience establishing or scaling an India technology site for a global SaaS company.

• Background in higher education technology, property management, or mission-critical B2B platforms.

• Experience working internationally in an organization backed by private equity (Vista or similar).

• Deep knowledge of lean product practices, agile delivery, and modern product and engineering approaches (discovery, rapid prototyping, cloud-native, DevOps, automation).

• Track record of building inclusive, high-engagement cultures across regions.

Measures of Success

• The StarRez India Office scales effectively to 200+ employees with a sustainable organizational structure, strong leadership pipeline, and high engagement.

• Product Engineering demonstrates measurable improvements in velocity, quality, and customer value delivery over time.

• The India office is recognized as a trusted, integral part of the global organization - consistently contributing innovation and delivery excellence.

• Team member engagement and retention metrics meet or exceed global benchmarks.

• StarRez India builds a visible presence within the Hyderabad technology ecosystem.

Why Join StarRez

• Lead at Scale: Spearhead the growth of StarRez India from a 20-person office into a 200+ person strategic global hub over the next 24 months.

• Shape the Future: Drive engineering, product, and design excellence in a mission-critical B2B SaaS platform trusted by 1,400+ institutions across 25+ countries.

• Private Equity Backing: Operate in a high-impact environment backed by Vista Equity Partners - join a network of 18,000+ Vista professionals based in India.

• Strategic, Not Support: This is not a cost-arbitrage or back-office function. You'll lead product engineering for globally critical products, influencing roadmap, quality, and velocity.

• Return with Purpose: Ideal for Indian nationals with global experience returning to Hyderabad - contribute deep technical and cultural leadership where it counts most.

• Culture that Cares: Join a people-first company where transparency, autonomy, and inclusivity are the norm - not the aspiration.

We are proud of our diverse workforce and are dedicated to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all employees. People from various ethnicities, ages, genders, and abilities are encouraged to apply.

Notice to external Recruiters and Recruitment Agencies:

StarRez will not accept unsolicited resumes from recruitment agencies, headhunters, or any other third parties for this role through this website or directly to any employee. StarRez and any of our subsidiaries will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company. In addition, we ask that you do not reach out to any employee with regards to this position, or any other positions, now, or in the future.

StarRez is an equal opportunity employer.